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Splinter: It Won’t Go Away on Its Own
Recently, I got to watch the horror flick “Splinter”. It made me think twice about having any wooden furniture in my house.
When I first saw the advertisement for “Splinter”, I thought, “You have to be kidding me.” I’ve had my share of splinters in the past, but none of them have been scary. Little did I know, a scary splinter was possible.
Splinter was a great film. It was nominated for several awards, most notably an award for special effects. I couldn’t agree more and I’m actually surprised it didn’t win. I have no idea how the director of Splinter managed to put together some of the spookiest and freakiest scenes in film history, but somehow it was possible.
So what happens in Splinter? Basically, a pretty shitty double-date turned splinter-parasite mania. A white-trash couple abducts a college-educated couple and holds them hostage but they all end up in an isolated gas station, attacked by a zombie-like creature who has been infected with some sort of splintery disease which turned him into a spiky monster. It’s hard to kill these creatures, and in addition, they seem to be unstoppable as even their severed limbs are capable of attacking.
This film has everything you need in a horror movie–suspense, creepy images, frightening moments, explosions, disease, paranoia, and even character development, which seems to be nonexistent in most modern horror films. My main gripe, however, is that the college-educated female in the movie seems totally dull. The crackhead trailer trash woman had a lot more personality. All the other girl seems to do is cry. In addition, one of the actor’s resemblance to Screech from Saved by the Bell really irks me. But I guess that’s not so important.
Another not-so-great aspect of the film is that it starts off slower than I would have liked. While the action begins early with the kidnapping, the splintery action doesn’t start until basically halfway through the movie, so for a while I thought I might have been watching the wrong film. However, it’s important to pay close attention to the beginning, as plot-changing moments occur early on, which could easily go unnoticed.
Once the first half is over, you’ve got constant action and perfect suspense. Old horror movies get so much credit, but people overlook these new gems. So should you see Splinter? Yes.
