Splinter

Splinter attempts to claim some kind of genre authenticity specifically because they couldn't get together a decent budget or conceive of anything outside well worn horror archetypes. I intend for this review to be a warning of the movie's poor quality, so I'm just going to cut to the chase and lay down some bullet points. The plot borrows heavily from John Carpenter's The Thing. Nothing wrong with having influences (especially when you're stealing from the best) but the other ideas in this are so weak and lacking that I frequently wondered why someone would bother to write a script if all they can achieve is to copy the key ideas of a better one and then try to b.s their way through the rest of it. I feel as if I should be saying 'the budget is so low, it's practically set at a gas station'. But no. The movie is actually set at a gas station. Which gives you some idea of how narrow the story's scope is. Infective monster splinters sounds like an excuse for some neat fx make-up but the actual results are pretty pathetic, looking pretty much like whatever generic zombie effect you care to imagine but with a few spines thrown in. I wasn't expecting much but even so, the quality of the acting isn't far about * and the stillborn attempts at tension and drama were stillborn. As if all this wasn't bad enough the quality of the film is really low, it has this nasty yellow-ish hue to it that makes everything look even cheaper. In summary I hated it. It's entirely possible that Splinter was made for horror b-movie horror enthusiasts who are going to revel in all of the elements that I've listed, but honestly can't think of a single positive thing to say about it. Not long after seeing this I watched a Korean horror called G.P. 506 which also revolved around an infective virus that overcomes its hosts. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means but it had just enough spark and innovation to make the concept work. Not that much, but enough. G.P 506 left me feeling that I'd seen something more interesting than it probably had any right to be considered. Splinter left me feeling as if I had wasted 90 minutes of my life. Both were flawed, but one made an effort which put it head and shoulders above the other.

I rate this negative -10/10, this is what we call group presentation in school, there are only 6 cast, and the one that makes me livid is the camera man, the whole movie is poor and the camera man is making it poorer, shake10x, But good job how you edit the parasite.

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!