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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  Split Second (1992) « previous next »
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Author Topic: Split Second (1992)  (Read 3207 times)
akiratubo
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« on: March 20, 2016, 10:55:12 AM »

The year: 2008.  The place: London.  The polar ice caps have melted, plunging most of the city under a few feet of water, and the sun never seems to shine.  People still try to go about their daily business but, as you might imagine, it's pretty grim.

Against this poorly-lit milieu, Rutger Hauer plays a renegade cop whose name is unimportant because I'm just going to call him Rutger.  As it happens, Rutger wasn't always a renegade cop.  He was a regular cop until his partner got killed by a serial killer monster several years ago, which pushed him over the edge.  Rutger believes himself to have a psychic link to the serial killer monster, as he sometimes hears heartbeat sounds overlaid with screaming.  Following this, he comes across a murder scene at a strip club, along with a message written in blood seemingly meant for him, specifically.  As the killings mount, it becomes clear that the killer really is doing all this just to get at Rutger, and a showdown between him and killer is inevitable.

Hmm.  Sounds like it could be a fairly interesting supernatural serial killer movie, right?  Well, forget it.  Rutger soon finds himself partnered with a by-the-book nerd stereotype and Split Second dissolves into one of the most tepid, paint-by-numbers buddy-cop movies ever made.  Split Second is also full of "witty" references to other movies and even comic books.  Barf.  The only time this actually kind of works is when Rutger's nerdy partner sees the serial killer monster for the first time and declares, "We're going to need bigger guns!"  Not a bad spoof of the famous line from Jaws and it even makes sense in the context of the film.  However, they quickly run it into the ground by having the very next scene be set at the police armory, where Rutger's partner runs around shouting, "Bigger guns!  Bigger guns!  No, no, BIG f**kING GUNS!"

Once they get their "big f**king guns" and track the monster to its lair in a flooded subway tunnel, the final showdown is ... ok.  It's certainly the best part of the movie but that's about like saying the best bite of a truly awful meal was the last, just because that meant it was over.  The monster looks pretty cool (even though its head is obviously a slightly decorated motorcycle helmet) and certainly seems like it should be dangerous, what with its resistance to injury and tremendous strength.  However, it just sort of stands there and lets Rutger kill it at the end.

There's also a "The End?" moment.  You see, Kim Katrall (and her boobs) are in this movie.  She plays Rutger's ex-girlfriend - who is also his dead partner's wife.  The monster kidnaps her as bait.  When Rutger finds her in the monster's lair, she's suspended over an absurdly brightly lit spot of water in the flooded tunnel.  After Rutger and his partner rescue her and defeat the monster, bubbles rise from the bright spot.  It seems Kim was hung there as an offering to something even bigger and nastier than the monster itself.  Sadly (?) no sequel has ever been produced, so we'll never know.  Oh, well.

Now, you may be asking, what was with that strikeout business with the serial killer monster?  It's obvious - I mean, really obvious - that when production started, this was just a movie about a serial killer.  There's no indication until well into the movie that the killer is anything but human.  He can fit into a crowd, write messages in blood, call people on the phone, hire a delivery boy to ferry evidence to a police station, etc.  Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, HOLY s**t IT'S AN EIGHT FOOT MONSTER.  Obviously, someone decided the movie needed more punch (or was able to buy the monster suit cheap from an aborted production) so they hastily tossed in the monster business.  Despite it making little to no sense, it's a good thing they did, because absolutely no one would remember, or even have bothered to see Split Second in the first place, without the monster.  Also, I don't think this movie was intended to be set in London.  Everyone talks like an American (trash can instead of rubbish bin, for example), the police cliches are all American police cliches, and even the characters sometimes don't seem to realize they're not American.  The production probably realized it could save money by shooting overseas, I guess.

Despite all this Split Second is actually worth watching at least once.  If nothing else, the setting is the closest I've seen a live-action movie come to replicating anime-ish future dystopia.  Come to think of it, Split Second would have been a pretty awesome early-90s anime.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2016, 11:00:01 AM by akiratubo » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2016, 09:22:48 PM »

Aw, I really enjoyed that movie!  "We need bigger guns!" was a phrase my friends and I used for months after seeing it.

Going to see if it's on DVD now.  Thumbup
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akiratubo
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« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2016, 12:04:20 AM »

I saw it when it came out back in 1992.  I remember not thinking much of it, but I remembered Rutger's performance and the monster perfectly, all these years later.  That must count for something.

A second (actually, third but the first was 24 years ago) viewing made it go down easier.  Rutger does a great job playing an absurd role perfectly straight.
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Newt
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« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2016, 07:54:06 AM »

I'll watch a movie just for Rutger.   He is the best part of this one and makes all the difference between 'avoid' and 'watch it once'.

Would have been interesting to see it made with the 'serial killer' in place of the monster.  A much more challenging proposition to carry off: but I would have liked to see Rutger have the chance to do it.  His talents are under-used, imo.
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WingedSerpent
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« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2016, 10:26:21 AM »

Maybe the serial killer/monster was sort of a werewolf situation.  The man was possessed and could turn into the beast when needed.  Maybe he even preferred being the demon because he felt it better reflected his inner self and allowed him to be the monster he wanted.  It would allow him move undetected when he needed too.

Or there really was a monster moving about unseen that was intelligent enough to do what it did.  Either situation has some disturbing implications to it.

Still, I really liked this film.  

Edit:  Just checked amazon and there are some blue ray copies of the movie that are reasonably priced.  I say this, because this was a movie I went looking for a few years ago and a single DVD was priced over $500.
« Last Edit: March 25, 2016, 10:28:45 AM by WingedSerpent » Logged

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akiratubo
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« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2016, 11:08:14 AM »

I'll wager the original script intended the killer to be Rutger's old partner, Foster.  Rutger sure does call out his name a lot when he has his psychic visions.  Then somebody got the monster idea.  The shapeshifter idea is pretty nifty.
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« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2016, 12:45:07 AM »

Great movie.

I would recommend this to anyone.

Loved the shot guns at the end.  Damn.
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« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2016, 04:16:43 PM »

Had to watch it again after seeing this thread. Good times. Yay, Hulu!
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