Split Second

When sci-fi horror meets detective story, it can make for some pretty odd results. Case in point is “Detective Stone”, a film by veteran director Tony Maylam (familiar to horror fans for the decent “The Burning” – 1981), set in a flooded London where rats splash around alongside mutant creatures.

The resulting film is somewhat raw and rough around the edges (a slapdash, muddled screenplay doesn’t help). It also has no compunction about ripping off as much as possible from its better-known counterparts, such as a dark, impoverished urban environment straight from “Blade Runner” (1982), combined with nods to eternal classics such as “Alien” (1979) and “Predator” (in particular, there are numerous elements in common with the latter’s 1990 sequel directed by Stephen Hopkins).

That aside, the film can still be appreciated for Rutger Hauer’s over-the-top performance as a cynical, caffeine-addicted police detective who, between one pithy quip and another, flounders in his attempts to emulate investigative methods of great detectives from cinematic history, ranging from the intuitive profiling technique of former FBI agent Will Graham in “Manhunter” (1986) to coarser, more direct expedients along the lines of Clint Eastwood’s in “Coogan’s Bluff” (1968).

The film’s brutality angle is especially emphasized (although somewhat mitigated by an undertone of black humor), apparently in line with the goal of depicting an oppressive urban reality populated by a myriad of neurotic, if not downright psychotic, individuals. Using a mutant creature as a serial killer might have been a more intriguing idea if only it had been developed with a bit more discernment. Ultimately, when you set out to depict some sort of xenomorph with the habit of smearing walls with astrological symbols, you run a high risk of straying into the realm of the ridiculous.

As simply a violent entertainment film, “Split Second” hits the mark.