Splintered (2010)

I'm not exactly certain what to make of this movie. At first it starts out with a bunch of (surprise) college kids on a car trip and then moving out into the woods. Rather than the epic story line that almost always takes place in the woods in movies like this, it instead continues to surmise that the whole affair of being chased by a 'werewolf' is instead just a dream, much like night terrors one has as a kid. The college students, which quickly turn into teenagers with high school drama, start fraternizing about sex, who is getting laid, how it matures a person, and how virgins need to get laid. This is not original of course, and serves as fuel for the fire later on. As always, their fighting and angst is quickly forgotten as the movie transitions into a more common medieval modeled 'brutality' flick. People get attacked, flesh wounds are common (gore is surprisingly absent) and the very nature of the way of God, virginity and chastity is questioned.The movie quickly changes into something else as the girl gets away. She actually sees the light of day along with two of her surviving friends. This is a nice touch to a movie which was otherwise a miserable affair to watch. Not only could the entire church scene have been done away with, but the movie seemed to insist on showing this dreary chapel for the duration of the movie. It would have been good if this movie featured the cast running and then leading up to the scene of her escaping with her friends. The ending of the movie truly is scary – she looks like she is possessed.I do recommend the movie, but be prepared for an otherwise lackluster performance throughout until the latter part of the film.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/?p=2938)

SPLINTERED is a near unwatchable shot-in-the-woods slice of British horror, not to be confused with the excellent American horror flick SPLINTER, in which Shea Wigham fought a horrible monster at a gas station. This one has almost no story, just a bunch of unlikeable characters travelling out into the Welsh woods where inevitably they meet their deaths in various unpleasant ways.It's the kind of story which is clichéd beyond belief, not that there's much in the way of story to begin with. The big reveal made me groan inwardly, thinking "not another one of THOSE stories". There's little to no bloodshed here, and little in the way of atmosphere or suspense either. The characters are very thinly drawn and none of them are in the least bit likable or interesting. It doesn't help that the cast members have been drawn from WATERLOO ROAD and the like. Looking back, I can't think of a single reason to bother watching this one.

I saw the UK Premier in Manchester. Due to a technical hitch, no dialogue was audible for the opening ten minutes; initially, I hadn't realised that this was accidental - believing it to be an intentional method of creating an eerie tone. Then, the projectionists remedied the problem and started the film over a again: the clunking dialogue destroyed this potential eeriness and any pathos one might have felt for the lead. "Splintered" failed to register in any sense: as a horror film, it wasn't frightening or emotionally resonant; one could not empathise with the protagonists; the acting was average-to-poor; the camera work and cinematography (aside from the closing frame - which looked relatively impressive and summed-up the main character's plight) generally added little; the writer's handling of a sensitive social issue was crass and perfunctory...I can't recommend the film in any sense.

I saw this film at the English premiere and felt compelled to write. This review contains spoilers.Synopsis: The film begins reasonably enough with a young girl ('Sophie') hiding from a monster that enters her room at night. I liked the way this scene was handled and felt there was a palpable sense of fear. However, I felt it went down hill from there. The film fast-forwards to the present day, where the girl has become a 'goth-lite' (to use a character's phrase) woman who enlists a group of her friends to go off in search of a mysterious animal that is terrorising livestock. The good: The locations looked suitably spooky, and I felt that unusually good use was made of the backdrop in the camping scene. Holly Weston ('Sophie') was able to convey most of the emotion of the part, particularly at the end, even if she looked a little too physically perfect (in my opinion). Stephen Martin Walters playing the saner brother, Gavin, was able to engage sympathy. The best part of the film is his final speech.The bad: Some of the dialogue is clunky, particularly between the teen group at the beginning. Some of the acting (particularly from the avenging priest) is extremely wooden. I'm a total coward, yet after the first five minutes, I didn't find this film even remotely scary - too many close-ups on people drooling just made it seem silly to me. I found the supporting teenagers to be too stereotypical for words, though 'Dean' did at least gain sympathy. and finally (here is the main spoiler)I found the film unbelievably crass. To recap: the film is about some kids who go off to find an animal that is attacking people/livestock. They find out that this animal is actually a human who has lived with dogs for years. This human is at times apparently superhuman, sometimes apparently not, for unexplained reasons. The final scene shows the lead character's 'real' motivation was that she had reinterpreted her own childhood sexual abuser (her father) as the demon-type monster in her dreams. I felt that this ending seemed tacked on to the film to give it gravitas, and that because the rest of the film is so light and frankly silly in places, it seemed completely inappropriate. At least films like Last House on the Left keeps a level tone to justify themselves. I watch some pretty hardcore horror, yet because of the sheer ineptness of execution, this is the one I consider to be in questionable taste. Films earn 'worth' through good execution - skillful storytelling and acting - not by having a serious issue stuck on the end up justify the stuff in the middle. I felt it actually made a mockery of the serious things it was trying (through flashbacks etc) to discuss.