It’s never said that the creature in this movie is actually Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in fact in the commentary they refer to it as some sort of raccoon that lived in the ocean or something, but it’s a small furry animal with splinters, so I’m just going to assume it’s actually Splinter from TMNT after Michelangelo did something stupid and just sent him off in a furious rage.
Although, if that were the case, he’d probably just use his ninja skills to kill everyone instead of following this story arc. Speaking of story, here we have 2 couples: one is a convict and his girlfriend carjacking their way to Mexico, the other couple is trying to camp out for their anniversary. And wouldn’t you know it, the two couples just happen to meet when the convict carjacks the romantics. Instead of just taking the car however, they take the romantics as hostages. As they’re driving along they hit the creature and get a flat tire and puncture the radiator. The convict gets a splinter in his finger while helping change the tire. And so starts the fun.
The splinter carries some sort of virus that kills the host so whatever the parasite is can take control of the body. Basically, the splinters turn you into a zombie. So we now have normal zombies, zombies with rabies, and zombies from splinters. The splinter zombies are probably the coolest because their bones break in such awesome ways. And I should point out right here; this is NOT a zombie movie. This is not an “all hope is lost” movie; I’m just trying to describe how the splinters work.
After they get the tire changed they start driving again at least until they car starts overheating, at that point they pull into a gas station, a gas station that earlier in the movie was the site of the first attack. The rest of the movie from here is trying to figure out what the creature is, how it functions and how to get out of the gas station alive. All while the convict is slowing turning into the creature.
There are some damn cool visuals in the movie. From a police officer being ripped in half, to fingers and arms bending ways they are not supposed to. The finger breaking is pretty much awesome for one reason, it’s pretty much real. No, they don’t actually break someone’s finger, the guy is double jointed, so they pull it back over its self and then add a little bit more in editing, but with the sound added it’s a pretty sick experience.
That can be said for most of the movie. It’s a pretty sick experience. Plenty of blood, some guts, a nice amputation and a sick looking creature. The creature isn’t always frightening. In fact, at two points during the movie the creature is basically Thing from the Addams Family. Just a hand. And yes, it is funny to watch them run from a freaking hand.
The actors do a pretty good job with the story. Shea Whigham plays the convict and his performance makes you feel bad for him even though he carjacks the hero couple and pistol whips Jill Wagner. Speaking of Jill, not sure if this is a step up for her or not, but she’s pretty much famous already for her work in the Mercury commercials. So if you ever stared longingly at those commercials wishing you could see more of her, here’s your chance. It’s not often you see commercial actors succeed at movie work, but she holds her own.
Splinter is presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and 5.1 Surround Sound. It looks good and they actually picked that aspect ratio because it’s what all the great horror movies are shot in, according to the director.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor Commentary. Interesting if you’re into the technical side of movie making. Which I am, so it’s a good listen.
Director and Cast Commentary.
The Splinter Creature The history and decisions around the creature.
Creature Art Gallery I’ll give you three guesses…
The Wizard No, not the guy from the cell phone commercials. This guy blows stuff up. Really short, could have been better.
Building the Gas Station Again, pretty short for what they could have covered. Basic, glossed over stuff.
Shooting Digitally A good number of people who view this movie probably have no idea there is a difference between digital and film. So why bother?
Oklahoma Weather It’s not just Oklahoma that has that weather.
How to make a Splinter Pumpkin Must have been used as a promotion piece for when the movie was in theatres. Useless may be an understatement.
HDNet: A Look at Splinter
Splinter is surprisingly good. I was expecting bad, Bad, BAD. But what we get here is actually pretty good. There is enough gore to make it fun, and not so much that it overtakes the rest of the movie. There are a couple nice jump frights, and enough of the physiological stuff to make it worthwhile. Worth a Netflix at least and probably worth owning.
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Magnolia Home Entertainment presents Splinter. Directed by Toby Wilkins. Starring Shea Whigham, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Wagner, and Rachel Kerbs. Written by Ian Shorr and Kai Barry. Running time: 82 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: April 14th, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.
