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Review

Splinter – Movie Review

  • Directed by Toby Wilkins
  • Starring Shea Whigham, Paolo Costanzo, Jill Wagner and Rachel Kerbs

This flick turned out to be a very watchable little monster movie, I was very impressed with what Wilkins was able to do with such a small location and cast, he manages to create a very creepy atmosphere in a relatively short time, as the film is only about 80 minutes long.

Wasting no time, the film sets up the threat early, as we watch the attendant at a remote service station investigate noises in the brush adjacent to the station, only to be attacked by what could’ve once been a dog, but is way too mutilated and bloody to be fully recognizable.

We meet our happy couple, Polly (Wagner) and Seth (Costanzo) driving to their campsite, they pass a sign that says something about an Ëœexperimental extractor field site’, though no attention is paid to it later, perhaps that’s just a subliminal hint that there could be some sort of explanation for the creature that we see later. Their camping plans quickly go downhill as their tent rips as they try to put it together, so they admit defeat and head out to find a cheap hotel to spend their anniversary in.

Meanwhile, Dennis (Whigham) and his girlfriend Lacey (Kerbs) have abandoned their broken down pickup and started walking. On the run from the law, with Lacey coming down off a meth high, they’re teetering on the edge.

Lacey flags down Polly as they drive by, but before they can decide if they should help this edgy looking stranger, Dennis appears at the driver’s side window and brandishes a gun, pulling Polly from the vehicle. They drive on together, trading insults and digging through their wallet and purse for valuables until Polly hits an animal in the road and blows a tire. Further investigation reveals that the pulped animal is still moving, which freaks out the already manic Lacey, who had been convinced that it was some animal she owned named ËœGinger’ to begin with. Polly and Dennis have changed the flat, with Dennis catching a strange splinter (duh) in his finger from the punctured tire.

They continue on their journey, with Dennis trying to calm Lacey down, none of the aware that the accident also punctured the radiator, spiked by the spiny projections off the dead animal. The vehicle soon begins to overheat and they pull in at the deserted gas station. Lacey heads to the bathroom for a hit, as she’s still freaking out only to discover the attendant locked in the room, begging her to kill him. The mutation/virus/whatever has taken over most of his body, and he pursues her to the front of the building and attacks her while Dennis and Polly are inside and Seth is gassing up the SUV.

Dennis manages to kill the attendant, but not before he makes short work of Lacey, the three survivors hole up inside the station, but Dennis soon notices that Lacey is still moving when he looks at the security camera feed from outside¦

This film moves along at a brisk pace, and the creature effects are suitably drippy and disgusting, at times reminiscent of John Carpenter’s re-make of The Thing, as the creature adapts and absorbs the various things it comes in contact with. There’s rather disturbing use of the sound design as the infection mutates and twists the hosts’ body, snapping limbs and extremities in the most wince-inducing fashion, complete with noises that remind me of someone snapping a chicken bone.

I really enjoyed this; it’s a very lean little monster film that doesn’t really waste any time in getting to the disgusting, bloody, mutating heart of the matter. The only time it might put a foot wrong is with some of the editing in the attack sequences, the camera gets a little more jittery than I prefer, but it also goes a long way to disguise some of the practical effects like severed hands attacking, which is going to look pretty silly unless you get fairly creative, and I think the film acquits itself very nicely.

Give it a rental, it’s a fun, quick little watch.

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About The Author

Kingmob

Kingmob has been spending his time writing online reviews for the better part of two years and has nothing but the ability to speak about himself in the 3rd person to show for it. This review and others like it can be found at Big Suck Loser and you can read about the daily minutiae that drives him slowly mad and informs his useless opinions of pop culture at his blog, Dear Bastards.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Saturday, May 23rd, 2009
  • Author: Kingmob
  • Filed Under: Film, Review
Tags: , , , , ,

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