Split Second

"He's seen the future. Now he has to kill it."

1992 1h 30m EN

😐

6.0

MID

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.0TMDB · 380●26Metacritic★6IMDB · 18,062

Science FictionActionCrimeThrillerHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a flooded future London, Detective Harley Stone hunts a serial killer who murdered his partner and has haunted him ever since — but he soon discovers what he is hunting might not be human.

“He's seen the future. Now he has to kill it.”

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Cast

Rutger Hauer
Stone
Kim Cattrall
Michelle
Michael J. Pollard
The Rat Catcher
Alastair Duncan
Durkin
Alun Armstrong
Thrasher
Pete Postlethwaite
Paulsen
Ian Dury
Jay Jay
Roberta Eaton
Robin

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tony Maylam
Writers: Gary Scott Thompson
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 78% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tony Maylam, shot by Clive Tickner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Francis Haines. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dan Rae shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rutger Hauer and Kim Cattrall and Michael J. Pollard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He's seen the future. Now he has to kill it.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tony Maylam directs. Clive Tickner behind the camera. Francis Haines scores. Dan Rae cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Earned back only 78% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
334 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Directed by Tony Maylam, shot by Clive Tickner. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Francis Haines. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Dan Rae shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Rutger Hauer and Kim Cattrall and Michael J. Pollard carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "He's seen the future. Now he has to kill it.".
9IMDB entry: tt0105459 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "london, england", "pollution", "dystopia", "coffee".

The technical file

Cinematography: Clive Tickner
Original score: Francis Haines
Editing: Dan Rae
Production design: Chris Edwards
Costume design: Antoinette Gregory
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $7,000,000
Box office: $5,430,822
Return: 78% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Split Second (1992)
Metacritic: 26/100
IMDB rating: 6/10 · 18,062 votes
MPAA: R

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Tony Maylam

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-07-25
★ 7/10
We are not chasing it, it's chasing us. Split Second is directed by Tony Maylam and Ian Sharp and written by Gary Scott Thompson. It stars Rutger Hauer, Kim Cattrall and Neil Duncan. It was filmed in London, England, predominantly at the Hartley Jam Factory in Southwark, with Clive Tickner the cinematographer. London, 2008. "After forty days and nights of torrential rain, the city is largely submerged below water, a result of the devastating effects of continued global warming. The warnings ignored for decades have now resulted in undreamed of levels of pollution where day has become almost endless night..." and something is stalking the watery city and tearing hearts out of its victims... Plot follows a familiar course, and in truth there's no surprises here. A psychic link between Stone and the killer is sadly never fully formed, which is a shame because it had the potential to make the film more interesting. To offset that though, is that there is some nice babble involving astrological and satanic matters which are thrown up during the search/investigation. In its favour as well, is that Maylam and his team sensibly keep the perpetrator hidden for most of the film, instead choosing the odd flashing glimpse of a clawed hand, or a murky torso running across the frame, while the idea to only show the bloody aftermath of a kill hits home harder than if we had actually viewed it. The look is spot on for an apocalyptic sci-fi piece, all greys, silvers and low lights, while the cheap production design works well in context of the tone of the picture. There's even some Schwarzenegger like cheese dialogue, the likes of which the big Austrian would have got paid millions to speak at around the same time Split Second was released. The killer, once revealed, will disappoint many, mainly because it looks overly familiar, but it does impact for the finale set at a flooded tube station. While the music (co-scored by three different people) is ideal as it sounds very tinny, in fact it's very 1980's like. Judging by the critical reaction to it you have to think some folk were taking it a bit too seriously. Never fully convincing as a lead man, Hauer pitches this just right, with tongue in cheek, a grizzled personage and a swagger to match the glint in is eyes. He's playing a burned out cop character called Harley Stone, his partner, who of course is the polar opposite, is named Dick Durkin! Take this seriously? Never! Cattrall is merely here to be a love interest, to scream and show some flesh for the discerning hound dog, while her haircut, some black dyed German Helmet effort, is totally unflattering. Duncan does a fine job as the nerdy copper, working the comedy off of Hauer very well, while fleeting support comes from great British actors Alun Armstrong and Pete Postlethwaite. In cameos we get song man Ian Dury and Michael J. Pollard. Leave the brain at the door and you have a good chance of enjoying this low-budget British sci-fier. 7/10
JPV8522020-10-06
★ 6/10
Tonally awkward at times and mismatch of various genres with apocalyptic-future science fiction horror mixed with buddy cop comedy, but for all its flaws, found this to be an absurdly entertaining film thanks to Rutger Hauer's charmingly gruff performance. Some interesting production design clearly inspired by Blade Runner, especially early on, and the brief moments we see the creature looks like a cross of the xenomorph and Venom. 3.0/5
Sierbahnn2026-06-16
★ 9/10
Dark, absurd, and deeply scary I came here for Rutger, not gonna lie about that. However, what I got was a comic-book like horror-story with great visuals, characters that felt believable and distressed, and a badguy you don't get exposed too too early, too clearly or so much that you you get bored with it. It has funny moments as well, a great cast overall, and great effects and gunplay. It is one of my favorites, even if Rutger had not been in this.