Starring: Shea Whigham, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo
I came across this movie in the local library DVD section and decided to give it a shot. Rarely am I treated to such an unknown pleasure, but this was a special case. I'm not saying it was amazing, but you could do a lot worse with low budget indie-horror. If movies like Black Christmas
(which I regrettably gave my money to) can be a major release in theaters, this definitely deserved to be in theaters everywhere. Upon research, Splinter
did find its way to a limited release on Halloween in 2008. Too bad it didn't come to Kansas City, because it could have made 5 dollars more on a weekday.
(which I regrettably gave my money to) can be a major release in theaters, this definitely deserved to be in theaters everywhere. Upon research, Splinter did find its way to a limited release on Halloween in 2008. Too bad it didn't come to Kansas City, because it could have made 5 dollars more on a weekday. |
| Good Splatter = Good Poster |
Anyways, Splinter is about a couple who decide to go camping for their anniversary but fail to properly set up a tent, so they decide on driving to a nearby cheap motel to spend their magical evening. While driving to said motel, the lovers played, by Jill Wagner and Paulo Costanzo (High Times cover boy in Road Trip), run into another group of stranded lovers on the run. As always, stopping to pick them up turns out to be a bad idea (shocker). However, they all become stranded at a nearby gas station after their getaway car breaks down. This gas station seems to be abandoned at first, but the attendant that lurks outside has been taken over by a deadly virus caused by these splinters.
is about a couple who decide to go camping for their anniversary but fail to properly set up a tent, so they decide on driving to a nearby cheap motel to spend their magical evening. While driving to said motel, the lovers played, by Jill Wagner and Paulo Costanzo (High Times cover boy in Road Trip), run into another group of stranded lovers on the run. As always, stopping to pick them up turns out to be a bad idea (shocker). However, they all become stranded at a nearby gas station after their getaway car breaks down. This gas station seems to be abandoned at first, but the attendant that lurks outside has been taken over by a deadly virus caused by these splinters. Seth (Paulo Costanzo) almost has his Ph.D in Biology, so he is constantly analyzing this splinter parasite and tries to keep the group from doing anything too stupid throughout the film. He plays the part of the nerdy, wimpy boyfriend very well but its tough to like him at first. The best character in this movie is the criminal Dennis (Shea Whigham), who plays a bad guy at first, but becomes a very likable guy by the end. The female lead isn't too bad either, making this a rare horror movie with good performances all around.
On to the production side of the film, they chose to use live creature effects and not CGI. While Michael Bay might laugh at this insane notion, I heavily prefer it. If necessary, using a little CGI doesn't bother me, but it can ruin a film when many death scenes are laughably fake. An example would be the movie, The Midnight Meat Train
. Even though I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated, it suffered from overusing CG blood and gore. It sort of shows me the director chose an easier way out of filming a scene, aka cheating or being lazy. That being said, there was no computerized blood being shed in Splinter. Thank you Toby!
. Even though I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated, it suffered from overusing CG blood and gore. It sort of shows me the director chose an easier way out of filming a scene, aka cheating or being lazy. That being said, there was no computerized blood being shed in Splinter. Thank you Toby! Unfortunately, they did use a trick which I despise almost as much as CGI: the 'shaky camera' effect. This is when the director gets up close and personal to the action and the camera moves so much its hard to tell whats going on besides blurs of people and a bloody mess. I get why they do this (to cover up shoddy effects), but it is somewhat disappointing considering how good the effects looked the rest of the movie. Luckily, I only noticed this at the beginning a few times, so I either got used to it or they quit doing it.
Overall, I would recommend seeing this film over many indie-horror flicks you might find on the shelves of your local video store. It has all the elements one could hope for in a quality horror film: good acting, believable effects, genuine scares, and realistic blood. The atmosphere of the whole movie is great; they can't let the virus in, but they can't stay in the gas station forever. It contains some horror clichés, like the inept cop who shows up at the worst possible time, and the person who gets infected but keeps it a secret as long as possible. However, besides a few hiccups, and the fact the ending could have been stronger, it is deservedly being compared to The Thing
and it keeps the thrills coming. It's a shame it hasn't been seen by a wider audience. This is most likely because it isn't a cookie cutter slasher film like most of the genre that makes it on to the Silver Screen. Sure, not everyone will love every decision made in this movie, but its easy to say that while safely sitting on a couch drinking an ice cold beer. All you need to do is just sit back and enjoy the well-paced 82 minute ride. You will be pleasantly surprised.
Total Score: 7/10
Buckets: 3/5
For some good non-CGI FX, I would recommend a film called Sunday Murders. I heard there is a sequel on the way too, almost out of pre-production.
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