I need to extend my deep apologies to my new friend Toby Wilkins who waited for this review whilst I indulged in AFI as I must make a point to cover this review now. Further, I want to say congratulations as SPLINTER was awarded six top prizes in Screamfest 2008 including Best Picture and Best Director which he wowed the audiences with. Not a hard start for the release of a film. And, what of SPLINTER? Forgetting one’s breath, Wilkins not only provides us with a new unique “horror” franchise and astonishing novel creature design, but he also gives us a great fresh new storyline, remarkable characters, terror, and horror that one feels from within, and some truly comical moments. There are many parts and dialogues that would make you try to “splinter” your sides with laughter! Fully confident, and still disappointed, that there would be more “horror tension” and suspense (even though the thought of a creature invading and ripping you apart from within at varying degrees of cell division is frightfully disturbing), I had no idea and embraced the humor of the film stupidity-based blended with an element of true human nature. It was refreshing.
Seth and Polly are your average couple that are not a perfect fit for each other.
Seth is a PhD candidate who can best be described with the words “geeky” and “Ross Geller” and it makes no sense that he is with an outgoing athletic woman like Polly. But regardless of logic, the couple is still together and preparing to head out to an anniversary camping trip (which Seth now understands is actually an elaborate scheme as he had been tricked into going by the promise of anniversary sex under the stars). Sadly, as most people are able to guess, Seth’s outdoor skills as well as athletic ability are subhuman, so within moments he irrevocably damages their tent before it can even fully assemble, compelling them to find a motel.
Dennis, a convict on the loose, is being chased by the Oklahoma State Police because he wants to reconnect with his girlfriend Lacey, rehab her, and then proceed with some “business.” As intelligent as Dennis is though, he has no means of travelling to Lacey, but luckily for Seth and Polly, they have a car and it happens to be driving through a secluded forest road.
Polly and Seth are also having vehicle troubles, but end up getting car-jacked by Lacey and Dennis. Before long this peculiar foursome finds themselves stopping at a deserted gas station surrounded by a forest. Dennis and Polly have assumed the less-than-ideal leader position of the pack, which leaves stupid Lacey trying to find the station’s bathroom so she can “get a fix” and succumbing to the fate that they are all doomed to suffer a parasitic splintery creature that infects and assumes monstrous forms through mitosis and osmosis.
With survival in mind, the remaining trio trap themselves in the convenience store and use anything from merchandise to each other to endure the night and survive.
I have to hand it to the casting agent for this one. Shea Whigham has long been one of my favorite actors, and after seeing him portray Dennis, I admire him even more. Intense. Complex. Emotionally textured. A strong commanding presence. The four words that best describe him. The manner in which he dismantles the callous exterior of Dennis to reveal his heart and the actual essence of his crime is admirable. WOW! Regarding Rachel Kerbs, one wouldn’t guess this is only her second film. She does an admirable job as the drug-addicted Lacey. Paolo Costanzo is to me a one-trick pony. He is geek personified which fits the character of Seth, but he is very boring. With his geeky bookishness, I expected a more convincing “biological” explanation for the happenings that were taking place. Unfortunately, at times throughout the film, his delivery comes off as off-kilter and flat. Jill Wagner, on the other hand, has done well as Polly. There is a lack of positivity as with most people, and she shows it through deeper insecurity laced with vapid stupidity, which is – I say it, sad to her weaker character mitigating her frustration towards the passivity on the side of the masculine characters, which she portrays well. Strong as it is, she doesn’t go “Ripley” and totally commandeer the situation.
Wagner gives Polly the opportunity to show some compassion to Costanzo’s Seth, offering new dimensions to not only her performance but to his as well.
When Wilkins received the script, he completely reworked the entire film, only keeping some parts of the original character’s outlines in place. Key parts of the story were the developments and origins of the Splinter creature. “My partner George Heyward and I were trying to come up with a concept for a creature for a couple of years. It sort of turned into one of those ‘what if’ scenarios. What if it gets inside you and takes over the human stuff, but without regard for how joints normally function or how a person moves? His visually stimulating hypothesis was something that really excited the both of us as very creative people.”
As it evolved in the primal stages, every creature kept getting more depth and painful to fathom which affected my sanity it perpetuated parasitic infection that had many real-world concepts into forming a creature and how beautifully terrifying would it be to put that onto the movie screen for everyone to witness. “The script was practically screaming reminiscences of my childhood classics like Alien, The Thing, Dawn of the Dead, and Night of the Living Dead tremendously awe-inspiring movies focusing majorly on the conflict in the realms and the psychological development of the characters.
Since, Wilkins has so drastically worked in the importance of the visual effects world, selecting him as the director wasn’t a point of discussion.
He obviously applies his knowledge of effects and creature creation in the camera blocking and more importantly the visual distortions of blood, “frosted breath” on the cooler doors, etc. to amplify the suspense and everybody’s primal fear of the unfamiliar. For instance. Does Lacey truly exist? All that is visible is a blond mop in a pool of blood. You never see her face or body clearly, even though there are many mid and long shots that show the torso in its various grotesque forms. All you get is the vague idea of terrible metamorphosis which not only gives some hope to the character Denny that she can be rescued, but also the audience. Now, this is the hope that creates a tension-filled dichotomous situation.
I do appreciate Wilkins for his inventiveness and creative talents when making the creature using prosthetics, “a national championship gymnast, a mime and a stunt guy all playing various different roles to achieve various different movements all with very time-consuming and intricate make-up” instead of CGI depicting “how far can we take it.” This not only shows real artistry, but also collaborates with hand-held camera shots, and stiff lensing in the confines of the convenience store. In addition to the fascination of the creature creation and its conception which was, in fact, so central, Wilkins and DP Nelson Cragg use the technique of not really capturing the creature in all of its forms much like Victor Salva did with his JEEPERS CREEPERS. The viewer is subjected to what one might call a horrific visual onslaught where the reveal of the creature’s face is not seen in full view until the film’s sequel.
Jennifer Spencer was instrumental to the production, which is why I neglected to mention her earlier. Working with the writers and Wilkins, she made sure attention was focused on the details of the store’s merchandise, which was well stocked (much of it, including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, was donated). Like all creative people, the characters were given the opportunity to be desperate and very innovative with a variety of available tools and products.
My only disappointment, as I shared with Wilkins, was the lack of a satisfactory explanation for the events that transpire. On the bright side, all the clues are there if one chooses to look closely enough.
It’s time for the sequel but this time the tension and fear factor should be heightened a whopping ten times! As Wilkins holds a dozen more sketches featuring some other mitotic, splitting, ‘creature’ form, we are in for some astonishing splintering-animal-human hybridization, which is the true horror of this incredible franchise, so it seems.
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