Splinter (2008)

Crappy film

Admirable film.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

You can tell it was low budget, but only with the creature. It is a creature flick (my only spoiler).You cannot generally tell it's low budget by the acting (with one exception, which is thankfully brief) or direction.The story is so simple, and easy to follow which alone, nearly makes you uneasy. There are some fantastic moments of pure suspense. You fall in love with every character, even the creature. Yes, even the creature was given character, which I loved intensely.I did not get bored. My butt didn't hurt. It's not too long, nor is it too short. The pacing is spot on. It's not meant to be a work of art, so you don't get a whole lot of character development. What you do get are eerily familiar, and realistic characters that don't see a need for talking too much about themselves (because most, real people don't).I'd like to see the actors and director again. Could've been edited slightly better though.

Likable characters (even the bad guy, in the end) and an intense plot add up to some good entertainment for me. I did have to pause it a few times and take a break because it was so in-your-face intense. Some folks did not like the shaky-cam effects, and normally, I would be right in there with them. If overused, it is nauseating and irritating to the extreme! In this movie, I think it was used effectively to show the chaotic, happened-in-a-nanosecond experience that occurs in real life violent events. Unfortunately, I've personally experienced some of these in my life, and can testify that they look just like that when you are experiencing them.Give it a watch if you are a horror fan. I don't think you will be disappointed, but YMMV. :-)Much appreciation to the IMDb website crew for the recommendation, because I would not have heard of it or viewed it without that. Thanks!

I am a fan of horror movies; cheesy horror movies, scary horror movies, big budget horror movies, and the latter. However, the unfortunate part about following horror movies is that it can be a difficult genre to articulate masterfully.The movie Splinter makes the most out of what it is given, and it puts into place horrific devices that make the horror genre really shine. The film offers wit so far as having space for individual character development and unique character choices. However, the pacing of the movie is not cogent and the movie steered too far away from what makes a movie scary.Still though, it offers sci-fi aspects to it and is well acted throughout - I give Splinter a 6 out of 10.

Smart little horror this, what it lacks in story originality it more than makes up for elsewhere.Young lovers Seth (Paulo Costanzo) and Polly (Jill Wagner) find their attempts at a romantic camping trip usurped by their inadequacies in the great outdoors. But this soon becomes the very least of their problems, because they are car-jacked by escaped convict Dennis Farell (Shea Whigham) and his drug addict girlfriend Lacey Belisle (Rachel Kerbs). When they run over what they think is an animal of some sort, it signals the start of a terrifying ordeal that will see the group backed into the interior of a gas station and forced to fight for their lives.What follows is a solid hour of suspense, terror, horrifying scenes and rich character dynamics. It's a siege situation with the enemy some sort of porcupine – vegetable – human hybrid, and it's relentless and clever. Director Toby Wilkins doesn't once let the picture sag or suffer from filler, all scenes and character interactions are integral to the plotting. Mercifully free of characters doing the dumb things that are so inherent in this splinter (hrr hrr hrr) of horror, Wilkins' film is consistently effective in what it wants to achieve.The effects are kept to a minimum and the only real complaint is that for every attack by the creature we are subjected to shakycam. If this is to hide the effects work we don't know? And it's always great to have a horror assailant be used sparingly on a visual level, but the shakycam becomes annoying and feels like a bit of a cheat in the final quarter. The small cast offer up some sterling performances, with Whigham standing out as the hateful villain, while Nelson Cragg's photography strips the colours down to primal indie level and the film is better for it.A pleasant surprise and recommended to horror fans after a quick and bloody siege horror that never disappoints. 8/10