Yet there’s an undeniable charm and energy to it, which mainly comes from a very game cast. The plot makes little sense, the few action sequences are underwhelming and its futuristic world feels chintzy and unconvincing. Split Second can’t objectively be called a great movie. Tony Maylam signed on to direct and while Thompson pictured Harrison Ford for the lead, he was more than pleased when Hauer took the role.

The setting was changed from Los Angeles to futuristic London and the project was renamed Black Tide, before being christened Split Second before release. The script was well received, yet similarities to Lou Diamond Philips thriller The First Power led to changes being ordered. This draft followed a detective chasing a satanic killer who murders five victims every five years, leaving pentagram symbols at each scene. Split Second started life as Pentagram, a serial killer script by Gary Scott Thompson ( The Fast and the Furious ). He’s partnered with a by the book geek named Dick Durkin (Alastair Duncan) on the case, and as they work together they discover there’s much more to this killer than meets the eye. Stone is a paranoid, chain-smoking, caffeine-addicted mess, but wouldn’t you know it, he’s also the best damn cop on the force. The story follows Hauer’s cop Harley Stone hunting a serial killer who cuts out the hearts of his victims. Split Second is set in London in the distant, dystopian future of 2008, which is partially flooded thanks to global warming.

Regardless of the merits of the final product, those craving a darker, bloodier interpretation of the character may want to give 1992’s Split Second a chance, which pits Rutger Hauer’s on the edge cop against a monster who bears an uncanny resemblance to everybody’s favorite alien parasite.

In a split second