One hell of a killer

Fun as it is, Split Second bears the scars of constant rewrites, with the nature of the villain being a prime example. The movie eventually reveals the killer isn’t a man at all, but some kind of monster made up of human and rat DNA. It also bears a major resemblance to Venom, right down to the toothy grin, oily black skin, and razor-sharp claws; for some reason, he also sports a visor. Apparently, the indecision over what the monster would be left creature designer Stephen Norrington (future director of Blade) with mere weeks to come up with something, but to his credit, it’s a cool design.

Split Second never reveals how the creature came to be, but given his occult activities, Durkin thinks it could be Satan himself. Once the story reveals the killer is a monster, however, a number of things don’t make sense in hindsight. There are a few POV shots of it looking at Stone in a nightclub in the opening – which is a tad strange considering he’s an 8-foot tall demon going unnoticed on a crowded dance floor. Hauer later gets into a shootout with it and never cottons on to its monstrous form either. The movie hints it might have shape-shifting abilities that only allow it to be seen by animals or children, though a solid answer is never provided, which is likely due to the script being made up during shooting.

The stress of filming an ever-evolving screenplay led Tony Maylam to step aside towards the end of production, with Ian Sharp coming on to shoot the finale, which takes place in a flooded London Underground tunnel. This is where the creature effects finally get a chance to shine and the showdown is a genuinely atmospheric one. It’s also the closest cinema will likely come to Rutger Hauer fighting Venom on the big screen, which is reason enough to give it a chance. Split Second has a small but loyal cult following these days, and while it’s not quite a lost classic, it does prove a b-movie with bags of personality can make up for any numbers of narrative flaws. For those Venom fans hoping to see the character in a more traditional creature feature setting, Split Second is – for now at least – their best bet.