By: debbie lynn elias
First, I must apologize to my new friend Toby Wilkins who took a back seat to AFI with my delayed release of this review. Second, I have to say CONGRATULATIONS as SPLINTER walked away with six top awards last week at Screamfest 2008, including Best Picture and Best Director. Not a bad start to the release of a film. And as for SPLINTER? Besides giving us an entirely new “horror” franchise and incredible fresh new creature creation, Wilkins gives us a plausible storyline, interesting characters, white knuckle terror and suspense and some really funny stuff. There are some scenes – and dialogue – that will have you “splintering” your sides with laughter! And while I was fully expecting more “horror tension” and suspense (although the terror of a creature infecting and mangling you from the inside out at various rates of mitosis is horrifically frightening), I saw and embraced the humor of the film – humor based on stupidity – and even ingenuity – of human nature. Resourceful and refreshing!
Seth and Polly are your average mismatched couple. Geeky and very “Ross Geller”, one has to wonder what the PhD candidate nerd Seth is doing with an athletic, energetic outgoing gal like Polly. But, nevertheless, they are together and about to embark on an anniversary camping trip (which apparently Seth was lured into with the promise of anniversary sex under the stars). Unfortunately, given Seth’s outdoor ineptitude, within minuted he breaks their tent before it can even be constructed, forcing the couple to go seek out a motel.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Police have a dragnet out for Dennis, an escaped convict, who is determined to hook up with his drugged out girlfriend Lacey, get her cleaned up and then go “take care of some unfinished business.” But as luck would have it, they have no transportation but then, Seth and Polly have a car and are alone on a deserted stretch of wooded highway. Suffering their own car trouble, Seth and Polly are quickly carjacked/kidnapped by Dennis and Lacey and we soon find our very unique foursome stopping at a small gas station convenience store in the middle of nowhere shrouded in darkness from the towering forest surrounding it. With Dennis and Polly fighting for the Alpha position of the group, it’s poor Lacey trying to find the gas station bathroom to “get a fix” that falls victim to the fate that awaits them all – a parasitic splintery creature that infects its host, assuming monstrous shapes and melding through mitosis and osmosis.
With survival foremost on the minds of the remaining three, they lock themselves in the convenience store with only their wits, merchandise, resourcefulness and each other to get them through the night and hopefully survive.
Kudos to the casting agent with this one. I have long been a huge fan of Shea Whigham and after his performance as Dennis, even moreso. Intense. Complex. Emotionally textured. Strong commanding presence. The way he breaks down the hardness of Dennis to reveal his heart and the true nature of his crime, forces an admiration of Dennis. WOWWWW! As for Rachel Kerbs, one would never know this was only her second film. She does a notable turn as druggie Lacey. Paolo Costanzo is to me a one trick pony. He is geek personified which fits the character of Seth, but he is very lackluster. With his geeky bookishness I would have expected a more convincing “biological” explanation for the events unfolding before him. Unfortunately, his delivery seemed off kilter and flat at times. Jill Wagner on the other hand does an admirable job as Polly with a strong presence that has undertones of insecurity and vapid stupidity at times – but it works given the nature of the characters and situation. Her frustration with the inaction of the male characters is commanding but at the same time, she doesn’t get all “Ripley” and totally take control of the situation. Wagner allows Polly to show some graciousness to Costanzo’s Seth that adds welcome new dimension not only to her performance but his as well.
Written by Ian Shorr and Kai Barry, the film took on a life of its own from the original script once it landed on the desk of Toby Wilkins. While retaining core elements of the characters and their personality traits (described as Wilkins as being “quirky, real and flawed who embrace their flaws and rise above them”), key to the story is the genesis of the of the splinter creature. According to Wilkins, he and his partner George Heyward had been “brain storming this creature for a couple of years trying to figure out what we could do with it. It was sort of one of those ‘what if’ scenarios. What if it gets inside you and takes over the human stuff with no regard for how the joints normally work, no regard for how it normally moves. What would that look like. Both being very visually minded people, that jumped out of our brains as something that would be awesome to bring to the screen. And then from there it sort of progressed through the thought process of how would it propagate itself; what does it feed on; what is it’s drive; what attracts it to different animals; how does it survive in different environments; could it survive under water; all of these things. And the concept of this parasitic infection spreading of this thing which really defines the term ‘creature’ completely, how cool would it be to bring that to the screen.”
The original script landed on Wilkins’ desk with “great reminiscing alarm bells of all the great movies that my generation grew up on – Alien, The Thing, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead. . .great siege movies where what the movie is really focusing on is the character and their stories and how they interact with each other and how groups of characters who are opposing forces end up working together to fight whatever it is their fighting in that scenario and being trapped. Having that sort of framework to put this creature in seemed like a no brainer.”
With SPLINTER, there couldn’t be a better choice as a director than Toby Wilkins given his vast visual effects background. He clearly uses his knowledge of effects and creature creation in his camera blocking and more importantly in creating the visual distortions with blood, “frosted breath” on the cooler doors, etc. to amp up the tension and everyone’s inherent fear of the unknown. For example. Is it really Lacey? All you see is a blonde mop through blood. You never get a clear picture of her face or body although there are various mid and long shots that show distortions of the torso in its various incarnations, but you never really know the full extent of the horrific transformation, giving not only the character of Denny some hope that she can be saved, but also the audience, creating a tension filled dichotomous scenario.
I applaud Wilkins for his ingenuity and creative genius in creating the creature, employing 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” rather than resorting to CGI in order to see “how far we can take it.” This not only demonstrates true craftsmanship but works in tandem with hand held camera shots and taunt lensing within the confines of the convenience store. Going beyond the fascination of the creature creation and its conception, key to the level of suspense and shock, Wilkins and DP Nelson Cragg employ the technique of not really showing the creature in full camera clear view its complete incarnations – very much the way the Victor Salva dealt with his creature in 2001 with JEEPERS CREEPERS where the full horrorific visual onslaught of the create was never full face frontal visual until the film’s sequel.
I would be remiss not to mention Production Designer Jennifer Spencer. Working with the writers and Wilkins, she insured that attention was paid to the minutest details with the store and its well stocked merchandise (much of which was donated – including both Coca Cola and Pepsi products). Desperation is the mother of invention and the characters were given the ability to get very inventive with the tools and products at hand.
As I told Wilkins, my one disappointment was the glossing over of the explanation for the events which occur. However, if you pay attention, the signs are all there.
I’m ready for the sequel but with the tension and fear factor amped up tenfold!!!! And as Wilkins has eleven other sketches in hand depicting some splintering creature mitosis, looks like we’re in for some mind boggling splintering-animal-human hybridization as the true terror of this fantastic franchise unfolds.
Dennis – Shea Whigham Polly – Jill Wagner Seth – Paulo Costanzo Lacey – Rachel Kerbs
Directed by Toby Wilkins. Written by Ian Shorr and Kai Berry. Rated R. (82 min)
