Splinter

Icon Films

R4 DVD

With Hollywood producing more and more horror remakes and sequels, it is always a joy to see an Indie low budget horror, especially one with bite. Splinter is a gore ridden monster film with a wicked sense of humour, a quirky beginning and some great special effects.

As the film opens you wonder what exactly you are in for, it seems a bit like a crime story even an Italian Giallo. It is a little slow, but it does offer background and character development leading to the heart of the film. Seth and Polly are a yuppie couple, Seth is a biologist by trade, but doesn’t actually get out into the wilderness very often. Under pressure from Polly, he agrees to go native for their anniversary, but as tents collapse and a lack of camping knowledge comes to the fore, they decide to retire to a motel for a night for celebratory lovemaking.

Not far behind them are escaped con Dennis and his unstable meth addict girlfriend Lacy. Lacey stands on the side of the road, flailing her arms and looking suitably lost and disturbed and with typical middle class sympathy Seth and Polly stop to help. Before they know it Dennis has a gun to Polly’s head and they are well and truly carjacked. It seems Dennis and Lacy not only want their vehicle but hope to extract the contents of their bank accounts at the next town. Interesting characters, bit of violence - it looks like a bit of a nasty crime story so far.

Along the way they hit a strange animal which appears to be a very rabid squirrel. However, they are soon to learn that even being rabid would not be so bad compared to the parasite that has invaded the local region. The parasite (which Seth soon analyses with his nerdy biological skills) invades the body quickly and within minutes you are some sort of flesh eating urchin or hedgehog. The pathogen is spread by even a minor pin prick and unless you act quick you are history and so are those around you.

The roadkill has destroyed the car’s engine and as it splutters and smokes, they pull in at the next service station. Alas, the owner of the station has already been infected and soon it is on for young and old. This unlikely group must band together to fight off the monster and make sure they are not infected along the way.

The monster itself is a real throwback to the creature-features of the Seventies and Eighties, it is a sort of giant urchin thing which spikes and sticks everything it comes across when it is not ripping them up and eating them.

While this may be a low budget film the special effects are impressive, the characters interesting as well as eccentric and the plot unusual enough to keep your interest. There may have been a flood of indie monster films of late but there is lot of innovation in this one and it really does stand out.

The various personal interactions are nicely explored even if the characters are somewhat stereotypical. The nerd vs armed crim who actually has a “heart of gold” is pretty obvious but works well in this context.

There is a black humour running throughout the film and enough blood and guts to keep any gorefiend happy. The scene with a hand chasing them around the gas station is a real show stopper and certainly you will be chilled when the only solution to being infected by a “splinter” is to cut off your arm with a box cutter !

Splinter is an excellent gore ridden monster horror film and certainly packs a punch. It harkens back to old midnight movies and will more than satisfy the horror film buff who wants something a bit more interesting than mainstream fare.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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