Splinter

In all honesty, I actually thought it would be rubbish. However, to my surprise it was quite good. Okay it is not perfect, some of the effects are mediocre, the sound is murky and the editing in scenes could have been tighter, there are times when it is rather shaky. That said, Splinter could have been so much worse than how it turned out. The story is loose, well paced and benefits from a good and well-thought-out idea, the monster is appropriately effective and the direction, script, performances and characters(the antagonist especially is very interesting and original, which was really refreshing in itself) are all good. All in all, I thought it would be really bad, but it was actually much better than expected. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is a quick-moving well done little horror film. It has some similarities to John Carpenter's The Thing, but def isn't on that level. If you like Monster movies/Body horror this is one to check out.

The acting is solid. The FXs were really well done. The movie moves along at a great pace. This is a prime example of a film working because of a shorter runtime. I think any longer and this might have started to bog down some. Instead, it kicks into high gear early and doesn't slow down until the end.

I really didn't have any major issues with anything in the film. Some of it did feel familiar, and there were a few annoying character moments. Overall, that's all very minor and nothing that hurts the film in any sort of way.

If you haven't checked it out, it's worth a watch!

My Rating: 6/10

So this movie is a kind of an independent horror film. It's working with a lower budget.

But first off the acting is not just adequate, it's great.

The characters are believable and well cast.

Splinter makes great use of it's low budget. With good acting, some gnarly gore and good creature design. It's the best it can be on a low budget. And it is good.

Is it amazing? No. But it doesn't have any glaring flaws. A nice movie for a friday night.

It's a great indie sci-fi/creature feature movie. With a solid script and no glaring flaws.

I thought about giving it a 6/10 because it's not earth-shattering but I think it deserves a 7/10 for how solid and well executed it is.

In the end it is a smart little creature feature that makes the most of it's budget.

This movie is stuck somewhere between a theatrical release-quality film and a direct to DVD movie, but much better than your ordinary Sci-Fi channel special.

The acting is top quality. All characters, especially the one portrayed by Shea, are portrayed exceptionally well. The plot keeps you glued to your seat, and you can't wait to see what happens next or how they will think of a way out of their predicament.

The only problems lie in the filming of the "monster" and to a lesser degree, the sound. I'm not a personal fan of the "flicker" style of filming so it may work for others. I prefer a fluid style of filming throughout the entire film. It's hard to keep track of the events occurring when things "flash" around rapidly.

But if you can overlook it's extremely minor flaws, you're in for a treat with this one. The acting and the central theme of the plot are strong enough to overcome its shortcomings.

My final ratings: Quality: 7 Entertainment level: 7 Overall: 7 Consensus: This might be Toby Wilkins' break as a writer/director and is a standout performance for Shea Whigham

Plot wise, this is a pretty typical zombie/infection style story - but the type of infection is a really great twist. I'll keep it that vague just so that you can enjoy it as blind as possible. Acting is decent, and while it's definitely a low budget movie, most of the effects look pretty good (there's some shots that are pretty rough though).

The problem is with the "action" scenes. I can handle some shaky cam, but the shaky cam in this movie is some of the worst I've ever seen - you can't follow anything. In one scene, a character gets killed but I literally couldn't tell until the other characters were reacting to it after it happened. I have to assume that the shaky cam is done to hide the lower budget effects, but it's bad enough that I'd rather see low budget effects.

Overall I do think that the movie is worth a watch because it's a really fascinating spin on the zombie/infection type of story - just know that the shaky cam is VERY bad.