Splinter

Splinter (2008): Once again, a low budget independent movie, shot in Oklahoma of all places, outdoes Hollywood in producing a gripping tale of terror with a cast of relative unknowns. While the plot has been done many times before, the quality of the telling frequently is more important than the tale itself. And this one is well told and pretty flippin scary too. Two couples come together during a carjacking. The jackees are threatened with guns, beatings, and tire changing. The jackers are running from the law and one is withdrawing from controlled substances and not too rational but well armed. As the movie progresses, all of them have to work together to survive their encounter with a spiny creature that may not kill you right away but will use your parts for food until finally you are absorbed. The movie gives its characters a chance to develop and you will find yourself caring about the survivors. The battle is not about firepower but about brainpower and that is what makes this movie stand out from many of Hollywood’s digital spectaculars that are peopled with drones rather than characters. In this movie, the humans are clearly overmatched and must use their brain wattage to figure out how to deal with the spiny fungus or mold or whatever the heck it was. The flick reminded me just a little bit of the original “The Thing” made in the 50’s. Both have a small group of people isolated from the rest of the world in a battle to the death with an unknown creature. This is a superior suspense/horror effort and highly recommended. The movie is rated R for: excessive screaming, pistol whipping, shot gunning, elbow bending, wrist wringing, finger walking, trooper halving, head used as a battering ram, fungus among us, and for the amputation sans drugs.