As luck would have it, I didn’t have to go to the theater to see this one, and no I didn’t get a screener . Nope, I used a little device on my television set called “on demand” and by the luck of browsing, I just so happen to come across this film. Lucky me, because I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about this film, and I must say the hype by all the other sites that this film got were well worth it.
A couple who’s camping trip is not turning out the way they planned calls it quits and decides to go rent a hotel room instead. On their way to finding a cheap place to spend their vacation together they come across an escaped convict and his sick girlfriend who take them hostage in their own automobile. While driving to their next destination, the hit some kind of animal in the road that is infected with some kind of splinter like organism. They think nothing of it until they come across a gas station and where they find that one of the gas station workers is infected with the same kind of splinter disease. With the infected outside and the splinters in need of blood, our characters trapped in this nightmare must learn to survive the onslaught and think of a way to escape before it’s too late.
Films such as 28 DAYS LATER, THE RUINS, CABIN FEVER, IDLE HANDS and THE THING come to mind when describing the story of this film and it’s atmosphere. Except in it’s element in plot this movie is quite different, but has similarities of the films mentioned. SPLINTER has a very complex script, which many may find a bit mysterious and loopy at first. But in the long run you’ll find it to be very well written story wise, with the characterization pretty much taking a little bit of backseat to the story. Not to say that the characters are not well developed, but the plot is more of the objective here over the characters.
I was very impressed by the acting in the film. Usually with low to mild budgeted horror flicks the acting is usually what suffers the most. Now I will admit towards the beginning of the film with the corny dialogue and the cheap one liners, I really thought the performances were going to be just as lame as the lines, but as the film progressively got more serious, the acting got seriously better. The three lead roles in the film are played by actors who are for the most part television actors, included in the trio are actress Jill Wagner whom you might know from the short lived BLADE television series and PUNKED. All the performances grow better as the film moves along which also compliments the great directing by director Toby Wilkins.
The production value is another plus this film has. While the set design and overall locations are pretty basic and offer nothing great in the way of eye candy for the visual effects junkie. The films gas station set does play into the mood of the film more than one would think. The film does have limited visuals effects with the splinter like organism which looks really good on screen and actually has a real looking effect similar to that of a sea urchin. There are some great make-up effects that can only be compared to the creature like effects in John Carpenter’s THE THING, which seems to be one of the films that inspired this motion pictures.
Overall, while SPLINTER does come off as a collaboration of many horror films of the past, in it’s own way it only borrows certain elements from those other films. I for one really enjoyed SPLINTER and think it’s one of the best films I’ve saw last year. SPLINTER is the second film from Magnolia pictures that I happen to see in 2008 and I must admit I’m really liking the way this company picks their horror films. We finally have a distributor who knows good horror films when they see them. SPLINTER is well worth checking out.
The DVD includes a lot of special features. Which includes commentary with director Toby Wilkins and the cast of the film, and then commentary with the Toby Wilkins and the crew as well. Then there is the features such as The Splinter Creature, Building the Gas Station, Shooting Digitally, Oklahoma Weather, HDNet: A look at SPLINTER, The Wizard, as well as how to make a SPLINTER Pumpkin and a creature concept art gallery.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
