Bonus Review!

Okay,

So I said "one per week" but there's not much going down this afternoon, so I'm going to go for a second review... I'm going to discuss another small, lower budget type movie....

Splinter, Horror, 1 hour, 23 minute run time

To begin this one, I really enjoy a good monster movie. I've told different people this over the years, a lot of times I get - monster movies are stupid, cheesy, not scary, etc. It also doesn't help that there are two big dumb horror trends in hollywood right now (well, three if you count the Saw sequels). #1, pointless remakes of 70s and early 80s horror movies and #2, pointless PG-13 remakes of original Asian ghost movies.

The other downfall of monster movies is the overuse of CGI for horror movies. To me, most CGI just looks fake and isn't scary (Relic and Deep Blue Sea come to mind), despite the fact that you should be able to do more with computers than you can do with puppets or stuntmen in suits (Alien or The Thing remake). Finally, utilizing the imagination of the audience... In general with horror movies, less is more. People can think of things a lot scarier than most directors can put on the screen.

So I should talk about the movie I'm supposed to be reviewing... Okay, Splinter... Basic setup... Two young couples get stuck at a gas station with a monster after them and try to escape. Not the most original of plots. I forgot to mention that the couples are a wimpy biologist and his girlfriend and a convict and his crazy girlfriend who carjacked the first two. Not really any notable faces among the four leads, (I recognized Paulo Costanzo, who plays the flustered nerd, as the stoner from the Tom Green/Breckin Meyer opus Road Trip) but all four can act. I have to give special props to Shea Wigham who plays the nasty, tough convict. It's a part that a lot of actors would play one note evvill, but Wigham puts together a really nice, multi-dimensional character and ultimately steals the movie for me (I had only seen him in a minor ole in the quirky Wristcutters).

As for the monster, it's fairly original, gory, and pretty nasty, and that's all the specifics you get, much more would completely ruin the movie. Due to budget constraints, you don't see a whole lot of critter, a happy problem. What you do see is an awesome composite of puppeteering and stuntwork (see, that rant I started with ties back in here). There's a fun little DVD extra that shows the combination of male gymnast and mime that bring the beast to life. Toby Wilkins, in his feature film directorial debut, keeps the pace tight and fully uses the claustrophobic harsh lighting inside the gas station.

The last thing about the movie is the writing. To me, it avoids both the bad exposition (there's no scientific specialist who gives a five minute talk about the specifics of the monster) and the bad jokes (no obnoxious comic relief character either) that can submarine a good horror flick. There are also some nice homages to Alien and Evil Dead 2, and the humor does cut the tension when it needs to. The characters aren't complete idiots and seem to make more realistic decisions than in most horror movies.

After I rave about it for 4 paragraphs, is it perfect? No... The acting out of the actress who plays Wigham's girlfriend goes from ehh to bad to terrible, there's some stupid character decisions solely to move the plot along, and a few good sized logic holes that make some of the movie a little silly(for example, what kind of gas station carries fireworks??).

It's a recommend for some excellent suspense, nice gore, intense Shea Wigham, and good directing. It's a no go if you don't like monster movies/horror at all (go watch Bride Wars then, wait... don't waste an hour and half of your time... bake some cake or read a book if you aren't confident with your baking abilities).

For me, it's a 8 out of 10. And that's all I have to say about that.