Splinter
It’s easy (particularly for a “glass is half-empty kind of guy like me…) to look at the current spate of horror films out there and think “man, we’re in a really bad place”. Every time you turn around someone’s announcing a remake of a perfectly good film, another Saw sequel, or the Americanization of some Asian flick. It’s a bummer-I know. That being said, 2008-2009 has actually been a pretty decent time for horror as well. Yeah, we had to sit through The Unborn, but we’ve also had films like Tokyo Gore Police, Alien Raiders, and Martyrs to counterbalance all of the mainstream crap. If that weren’t enough (and it shouldn’t be-you can never have too much good horror), you can add Toby Wilkins’ excellent monster movie Splinter to the positive side of the ledger.
Splinter is another one of those small horror films that deserved a lot more exposure. However, since it’s not a remake, a sequel, or some Anglicized version of an Asian film, it’s been mostly relegated to festival showings and DVD-where word of mouth has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m not going to get off on a rant here about how Hollywood would be better served by promoting these films instead of cramming crap down our collective gullet, but I will say that Splinter certainly deserved a lot more press and attention than it received.
The story is simple-a couple (Paulo Costanzo and Jill Wagner) are celebrating their anniversary. When camping doesn’t work out quite the way they’d planned, they run afoul of an on the run convict (Shea Whigham) and his girlfriend. If that weren’t bad enough, they soon encounter some sort of strange new biological parasite with a taste for human blood. Our heroes hole up in a deserted convenience store and try to figure out how to escape and stay alive in the process.
I’ve long been an advocate of horror films that tell simple stories with compelling characters, and Splinter is a complete success in this regard. Too often, mainstream horror flicks get caught up in the idea of “high concept”, which invariably leads them down a path toward mediocrity. Many of the best horror tales are the simplest-finding universal fears and presenting them in a way that allows the audience to react to them (while identifying with the action on a personal level) tends to always work better than the more complicated and complex stories. Splinter is simple-and it works because it never burdens itself with trying to anything other than keep an audience engaged through the characters and their plight. Other films would try to explain where this splinter-monster comes from, why it’s here, what it wants, and ten thousand other extraneous (and largely pointless…) things. Wilkins (and fellow writers Kai Barry and Ian Shorr) understand that this isn’t the way to go-and the film’s better for it.
Still, calling Splinter “simple” almost seems like a negative. The film is only simple in that it tells a very calculated tale that wastes no time on things that aren’t absolutely integral to entertaining the audience. The characters are surprisingly deep. It’s nice (and very rare) to see a genre film where the people involved make logical and sensible decisions instead of doing something that seems totally stupid just to keep the narrative train steaming ahead. The Thing is a fine example of a film wherein no one does anything inherently dumb-and Splinter reminds me of Carpenter’s remake in that regard (and a few other minor ways, as well). Splinter’s characters are clever, resourceful, and most importantly, likeable.
All three of the main cast members turn in fine performances, but it’s Whigham who shines the brightest. His portrayal of a down on his luck convict (who displays a much softer side as the story progresses) is one that could have easily revolved around cliché. Instead, Whigham brings an intensity and humanity to the character that makes him arc in a way I didn’t really anticipate. Jill Wagner is only slightly less impressive in her role. Costanzo is the least interesting of the trio, but it’s more a case of the way his character is written (he’s sort a nerdish brainiac) than his performance. He still finds moments here and there to create a unique character, he’s just overshadowed by the power of the other two performances.
If there’s anything to really complain about in Splinter, it’s the filming style of the action scenes. I’ve long been on record complaining about action sequences with hyper-editing and Splinter takes this approach. I prefer a more traditional approach to editing action scenes-one wherein I can actually tell what I’m looking at and what’s happening. I suspect some of the decision to over-cut these parts of the film were to keep the monster of Splinter shrouded in mystery, but this approach to cutting a scene still gives me a headache and takes me right out of the action every time it’s employed. That being said, the editing is the only blemish on an otherwise excellent directorial job by Toby Wilkins. The filmmakers use of the camera to create space is particularly interesting as the convenience store where the majority of the film takes place has been shot in such a way as to seem gigantic at some points, and very small at others. This works perfectly to keep the tension ratcheted up throughout the story.
Finally, just a few brief words about the gore (because everyone knows I love the gore…). Splinter isn’t the most splattery movie I’ve ever seen, but it does feature a few really great gore sequences. A woman is ripped in half (which was quite impressive) and there’s blood and splinters and body parts all over the place. That being said, the film features an absolutely brutal arm breaking and amputation. The FX work is great, but extra kudos go to the foley department because the bone snap is what really puts the scene over the top. I don’t squirm often, but that sequence definitely made me cringe. Bravo.
It should be clear is that I really dug this movie. Splinter is another reaffirmation of my faith that the genre can be more than boring remakes and sequels. It’s proof that there are still good ideas out there-and while they may not get the wide mainstream releases they deserve, they still exist. It’s up to us as fans to seek them out and spread the gospel.
For more Splinter info, be sure to check out Toby Wilkins blog, which can be found here.
Horror Geek Rating: 4 out of 5
Tags: Film Reviews, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Shea Whigham, Splinter, Toby Wilkins
