Saturday, October 08, 2011

31 Days of Halloween - Day 8 - Movie


So far, this year's Halloween viewing has been more crap than classics, so I was happily surprised by Splinter (2008). I'd heard good things about this movie, but just got around to watching it today.

A couple on a failed camping trip are taken hostage by a pair of fugitive criminals. The two couples then find themselves trapped in a gas station by a parasitic organism, much like a fungus, which infects its hosts with what appear to be black needle like growths. The parasite then feeds on its host while operating it like a puppet in order to spread and attach itself to new food sources.

This is basically an under siege horror movie, like Night of the Living Dead (1968) with a  group of people holed up in one location while the deadly unknown tries to get inside to destroy them. This is a very smart movie with good actors playing well rounded characters that you can invest in, who make smart decisions in attempts to keep themselves alive. It's inventive and has a cool monster which is a believable threat.

So far, this is this year's new gem. I really recommend Splinter.



  

2 comments:

Steven Altis said...

I caught this when it first came out expecting nothing much more than a SyFy Channel-ish way to pass a free evening and was very pleasantly surprised. This is a smart, fun movie.

Dane said...

Excellent, 'cause it's in my queue. I'll see if it's on instant play.