This weekend’s so-bad-it’s-good film is this gem from 1992, Split Second, starring Rutger Hauer. Set in the far future of 2008 this film manages to incorporate nearly every trope of 80s and 90s cop films, plus some. Hauer plays a “crazy” cop with a bunch of weird habits whose methods are questionable, but always get results. His boss is perpetually angry and on the verge of throwing Hauer off the force, but he will keep him on for know if he takes a new partner. The partner is, of course, the other half of an odd couple. Geeky. Intelligent. And by the book with not a lot of street smarts. Hauer is after a supernatural serial killer who rips out his victims’ hearts and eats them, and, of course, killed Hauer’s old partner. If that wasn’t all cliche enough, Hauer has a thing going with his partner’s widow, played by Kim Cattrall. And the film is set in a dystopian future for no particular reason. And the villain is supernatural. And the title of the film has absolutely nothing to do with the film.
Despite the color by numbers set up, this indie sci-fi movie has some good moments. Hauer is fun to watch and carries the film. The dialog is often hilarious. And the cast of 80s go-to character actors is impressive. For bad movie watching, it’s hard to go wrong with Split Second.