Well made but dull (Splinter (DVD))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	Splinter (DVD)
Date:	18/07/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well made

Disadvantages: Ropey effects, not fun enough

The horror film has come under fire in recent years for being far too self serious and thus, the accompanying thrills and spills aren't as much thrilling as they are trite and banal. Comedy horror films such as Shaun of the Dead, Severance, and most recently, Drag Me to Hell, have been critical and commercial success, and so Splinter, an incredibly low-budget horror, runs along the same sort of B-movie, intentionally cheesy bent.

Splinter begins as a hapless gas station attendant (Charles Backer) is mauled by a crazed creature of some sort, transforming his body via a parasite. Seth Belzer (Paulo Costanzo) and Polly Watt (Jill Wagner) are in town for a romantic weekend away, but after being car-jacked, wind up at the aforementioned gas station, where all Hell breaks loose. The parasite has grown and infected more and more people, and they must fight for their lives or join the army of the grotesque.

Sadly, this is a fairly flavourless horror outing that's mercifully short, but feels as though it goes on for about double it runtime - the acting is fine and for a low-budget outing it's got decent cinematography, but it doesn't run with its own kitschy tone, and instead is a middling work that's neither well-crafted enough to work as a serious horror, nor amusing enough to be a comic one. It's a staunch effort but there's enough promise here from director Toby Wilkins that he may be capable of better things with a bigger budget.

Although well-shot for an independent production, Splinter is poorly paced despite an 82-minute runtime, and includes little in way of humour or inventiveness to differentiate itself from other horror films. Furthermore, shaky cinematography is too-frequently employed to compensate for the meager creature effects, and the film is too happy to adhere to genre cliches.

Summary: A curious low-budget horror