Splinter

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Horrorphile - June 2009

Splinter

June 24th 2009 01:39

I missed the screening of Splinter (2008) at the recent A Night Of Horror international film festival here in Sydney. It turned out to win three festival awards; Best Actor (Shea Wigham), Best Special Effects and Best Film. I ended up ordering the DVD from the States, I couldn’t wait for a local release (who knows when that could happen).

I was very impressed indeed. It’s a relatively conservative affair; set almost entirely in and around a lone Oklahoma gas station, with a cast of only six actors, and a running time of just over 80 minutes. But it makes up for its budgetary constraints with a tight script, solid acting from a charismatic cast, and inventive special effects that skillfully blend good old fashioned gruesome prosthetic appliances and sly CGI work. There’s plenty of dark blood and bodily goo, and a few sensationally wince-inducing moments.

Splinter Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner, Shea Wigham

Paulo Costanzo as Seth, Jill Wagner as Polly and Shea Wigham as Dennis

Seth (Paulo Costanzo), a wimpy biology thesis student, and his spunky girlfriend Polly (Jill Wagner) pull off the road to set up tent for a romantic sex-under-the-stars weekend, but Seth accidentally breaks the tent. He was more keen on a motel anyway, so much to Polly’s disappointment, they head back out on the road. Next thing they know they’ve been carjacked by a dangerous escaped convict Dennis (Shea Wigham) and his strung-out meth addict girlfriend Lacey (Rachel Kerbs).

Not what you want to find in the gas station toilet

After running over some very strange roadkill which freaks Lacey and Seth out and causes an oil leak, the two couples are forced to pull into a gas station for fuel and repairs. The lone station attendant is nowhere to be found. Well, actually, Lacey discovers him on the floor in the outside toilet, looking decidedly worse for wear covered in blood and gore, with huge black spikes protruding from him, begging to be killed. Something very nasty is going on, and it’s about to get a whole lot worse.

Dance of the parasitic hand

Splinter is a monster movie that pulls influences from a variety of classic and not-so-classic horror movies. The first that came to mind was Prophecy (1979), suggesting chemical interference with the land has resulted in a mutant form of parasite, in this case a voracious and relentless creature that turns living beings into ghastly, hideous mutilated hosts that are still alive, but no longer human. There is also inspiration from John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), where parts of the parasitic creature can be broken off and become their own living entity. There’s actually a direct reference with a severed hand with broken fingers scuttling around the floor, although this was also provoked an unintentional moment of comedy as the scene reminded me of Ash’s severed hand running amok in Evil Dead 2 (1986). This spider-like extremity also reminded me of the face-huggers from Aliens (1986).

Some splinter infections are worse than others

These overt references don’t hinder the movie though. The screenplay by Kai Barry and Ian Shorr wisely doesn’t try and explain what this monstrous beast is, it simply lets it exist and create havoc and carnage. Even more wisely director Toby Wilkins, a special effects whiz on his feature debut, skillfully directs the camera (along with the terrific editing) so that you never get to linger on the creature long enough. It’s a rapid-moving, limb-failing, splinter-spewing, blood-pissing piece of nightmare flesh and bone. Imagine a xenomorphic parasitic zombie, and you’re close.

Dennis and Polly seek shelter in the cool store ... at least there's beer

How Seth, Polly and Dennis manage to fend themselves against this fiendish species is inventive. There’s also a nice touch (prick?) with Dennis receiving a splinter early on (from the roadkill on the tyre of the Toyota), letting the audience in on some bad news that is bound to erupt into worse news later on, as it does, which results in a particularly horrendous amputation (my only gripe being no one would be holding a lucid conversation after that kind of makeshift surgery!)

It’s a shame director Wilkins has gone on to directing a straight-to-DVD production of The Grudge 3 (2009), his talents deserve better than that. I wish I’d seen Splinter on the big screen, I’m pretty sure it will end up on shelves down under. It’s been given an Australian rating (MA), so keep your eyes peeled.

Here's the (very average) trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

9 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

June 24th 2009 04:31

This looks like a lot of fun.

I like the concept and the location.

I just hope it does not become a long line of sequels.

Too much cashing in on the franchise only kills the experience.

Comment by Natalina

June 24th 2009 05:12

My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog

This one sounds very entertaining! I like Paulo Costanzo. He's such a nerd in every movie, but he's just one of those people that makes me smile.

Comment by Bryn

June 25th 2009 01:25

Horrorphile

Damo, it has an open end in case they do want to make sequels. Let's hope not.

Natalina, all four leads are excellent. And yes, it entertains indeed.

Comment by Anonymous

June 28th 2009 10:02

Bryn...keep up the good work!
_Lord Anthony

Comment by Bryn

June 28th 2009 23:05

Horrorphile

Lord Anthony, why thank you! Dig deeper, read on ...

Comment by Amy Wang

June 29th 2009 14:33

Why So Cynical: The Unabashed Ravings of a Loudmouth Malcontent
Films, Films And More FIlms

Unrelated to this post (although not ignoring its awesomeness!) - I bought a copy of Braindead

. Now I no longer have to resort to Youtube for a viewing.

Comment by Bryn

June 29th 2009 22:47

Horrorphile

Amy, congrats! Now you can see me in it! Well, kind of ... I body-doubled for a couple of shots as the zombie grandmother. There's a particular shot of her lurching at the camera whilst at the graveyard with her hands outstretched. That was me in full prosthetic zombie gloves and mask! Also, near the end of the movie when the zombie punk's entrails are slithering around, I got to puppeteer the anal sphincter from under the floorboards. Yup. Classic fun, I kid you not.

Comment by JohnDoe

July 2nd 2009 19:57

Film & TV on DVD

Hi Bryn my pal,

I just saw the DVD trailer for this the other day and it looked like it had potential amusement. Your first two paragraphs were enough for me to put it on the "list".

Comment by Bryn

July 2nd 2009 23:09

Horrorphile

JD, yeah, you'll dig this one fer sure. Shame the director has gone on to do the straight-to-DVD The Grudge 3, which looks like a piece of crap.

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