Review: Splinter (2008)

Splinter (2008)

I just saw this independent horror film from last year and thought others might find it interesting. I saw some very brief advertising for it last Halloween, but never noticed whether or not it was playing in cinemas. It looked promising: some sort of parasite that produced splinter-like black spores that slowly (or rapidly) took over the human body and made people do crazy things.

So how was it? Well, for what it was, it was pretty good. I may even go as far as to say it was one of the best horror films I have seen this year. Of course, that isn't saying very much. The only other one that may be better is The Last House on the Left remake, which I technically saw last year at a test screening. This year's horror offerings so far have been akin to last years push to put out a shitty Kate Hudson-starring romantic attempt-at-comedy every month. We have had The Unborn, The Uninvited, The Unwatchable, and then of course the Haunting of you-name-the-state. Having not seen any of those, I can assure you anyway that Splinter was better.

The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that the creature is kind of silly. Luckily, the lead character is working on his biology PhD and can therefore offer us, the audience, some insight as to how this fungus creature works from a practical standpoint. It doesn't take a person with a biology degree to see through the obvious bullshit, but if you go with it the film is actually kind of fun.

Here's what works. The writing is solid, but not great. The actors make up for this for the most part. Shea Whigham, who plays the bad boy trying to escape the law by fleeing to Mexico, in particular, is very effective. Especially if you do not watch Lost and can't help but liken his Southern accent to a bad Josh Holloway impression. However, he did a great job with the part.

The effects are admittedly low budget, but effective if you are willing to go along with body parts that seem to have a life of their own once infected with the parasite. Some of the larger effects are filmed with the standard shaky camera and quick editing that prevents us from really seeing how cheap the effects actually were. But the shakiness isn't excessive and it actually works by heightening the tension in some key sequences.

The best thing I can say about the film is that it does not outstay its welcome. At 82 minutes, it is not a second too long, and the running time allows the film to make the most of its premise without bogging itself down by filling time with unnecessary character exposition and dialogue. So kudos for not wasting my time.

It's not a great movie, but you'll have fun and it sure beats anything else that the world of horror film has to offer right now.

Professor P