During the month of October, there are a smorgasbord of horror movies to watch on cable and network television.  One of the best parts about this is that we get to revisit perennial favorites, including horror anthologies, which have dwindled in the last decade.

Now comes word that the horror anthology might be making a comeback.  Arrow in the Head is reporting that a powerful slate of international horror directors might participate in a new anthology based in Paris.  The film is tentatively titled Paris, I’ll Kill You.

Joe Dante, Paco Plaza, Vincenzo Natali, Xaviern Gens, Christopher Smith, Ryuhel Kitamara, Julien Maury, Alexandre  Bustillo, and Joern Heitmann will all be contributing stories for the film.  That is exciting news indeed, as these are the talented  men that brought us Gremlins, Rec, Splice, Frontiers, Midnight Meat Train, and more.

It is possible that this film could be the first in a franchise, each movie honing in on a certain “horror city.”  This could certainly be an exciting way to infuse the horror world with fresh blood, so to speak.

Outside of the Three Extremes franchise, we can’t recall many anthologies as of late.

Given the current spate of advances in genetic engineering, Splice seems eerily prescient. After all, we have already seen the rapid evolution of cloning. Supermarkets now carry cloned produce, and mammals are routinely and successfully cloned as well. Is it really unreasonable to assume we will see a human-animal hybrid in our lifetime? Who’s to say one doesn’t already exist?

It is hard to believe that director Vincenzo Natali (Cube) first conceived the idea for Splice almost 15 years ago, all because he was intrigued by the shocking image of the Vacanti mouse, that little white mouse that had a human ear growing out of its back. The result is this chilling sci-fi/horror hybrid that is teeming with the ethical and moral implications of genetic research.

Elsa (Sarah Polley, The Sweet Hereafter) and Clive (Adrien Brody, The Pianist) are gifted young genetic bio-engineers, who have successfully spliced the genetic material of different animals into a hybrid. A pharmaceutical company has sponsored them, in the hopes of developing new medications.

Frustrated, Elsa chomps at the bit to add a little human DNA to the next experiment, but the company shoots her down, deeming it too risky, not to mention illegal.

This Friday, the Science Fiction/Horror hyprid Splice hits theaters, and we recently got the chance to speak with director Vincenco Natali. Natali spoke about the upcoming film, the horror genre, and even his prospects of working on a film adaptation of the DC Comics character Swamp Thing.

In Splice, Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star as genetic engineers who recklessly splice human and animal DNA, the result being Dren (nerd spelled backward), a creature that brings to light the unintended consequences of messing with mother nature.  

The Flickcast: The movie touches on medical ethics, moral implications of medical research, and it is very timely and  topical right now. Was that your intention, or is it just fortuitous that some of these things are closer to  becoming a reality?

Vincenzo Natali: The movie was really inspired by this thing called the Vacanti mouse, which was a mouse that appeared to have a human ear growing out of it’s back, it was pretty disturbing.

You know, we have a very visceral reaction to these things, and it really inspired me in a way. As it turned out, in the length of time that it took me to develop the script the science really evolved exponentially.

We’ve been following director Vincenzo Natali’s latest film Splice for a little while now because, among other reasons, we’re big fans of sci-fi around here and his first film, Cube, was a pretty great low-budget first feature effort. And now, thanks to the power of the Internets (and the folks at Collider), we can bring you a new clip from the film as well as a poster.

In case you’re not familiar with Splice, it concerns “superstar genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in splicing DNA from different animals to create incredible hybrids.” These driven scientists use human DNA to create a hybrid that, at first, surpasses their wildest dreams.

But as this hybrid, called Dren, begins to grow, those dreams turn into nightmare as it begins to develop unexpected abilities and appetites. Well, that does sound scary and after looking at this latest clip, I’m even more interested in this film. The effects look pretty good for such a low budget and who doesn’t love science gone wrong allegories? I know I do.

We’ll bring you more on this film as it gets closer to the release date, including an exclusive interview with director Vincenzo Natali, so be sure and check back soon. Until then, check out the clip and poster after the jump. Splice hits theaters on June 4.