Splinter (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	81:43
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Toby Wilkins
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	Shea Whigham Paulo Costanzo Jill Wagner Rachel Kerbs
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$34.95	Music	Elia Cmiral

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	English dts 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

   There's nothing to Splinter. It has some nifty practical effects that clash with some truly awful (and thankfully minimal) CG; it has vaguely likeable and believable characters making both good and horrible decisions; it has multiple amputations and yucky things that still chase you around after they've been severed from their bodies. But more importantly, it has no scares, and no point. The film lacks craft in building up its monster, but then having it do very little that's actually interesting. At times, it doesn't even seem overly threatening, which makes the cast's reaction seem like a hysterical overreaction. The ending is predictable and closely resembles the final paragraph of any Goosebumps.

   For me, films like this are the most uninteresting; films that are truly great, or even just good, are memorable and leave a mark. They make you talk to your friends, talk to other viewers, they're exciting and meaningful. On the other hand, films that are truly terrible, that go beyond the realms of bad taste and bad filmmaking can be just as exciting, and cause just as much conversation. In the middle of both is something like Splinter, that no one will see, that leaves no impression, that no one will care about.

Video

   This is actually a very pristine, good-looking, maybe even flawless video transfer. There is no interlacing, no grain, no problems with artefacts, it all looks great. I can't find any information on the film's technical details but as an independent production I'd have thought it was shot on HD, but there are no signs of that anywhere across this transfer - none of the usual grainy darkness or murky colours. It's excellent.

   But, on the flipside, although the film is well shot, with appropriate use of camera angles and steadicam to heighten tension, its colours look bad. Not unrealistic or washed out or dull, just unappealing and wrong. It's as if the editor decided to change the pallet of colours across the film needlessly at some point for some kind of effect, and failed miserably. Fans of the film aren't going to care either way, but I'm completely baffled by this.

   There are English subtitles for the hard of hearing - what I sampled was accurate and readable..

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

   Splinter's excellent video transfer is offset by poor audio; both of the surround tracks lack depth, instead piling on loudness especially in pivotal scenes. It lacks finesse and draws you out of the picture, wrecking the atmosphere banging away as loud as possible whenever the thing strikes. Though all the dialogue and sound effects are intact, the overall effect of this is very disappointing. Pounding on the bass and blasting from all angles doesn't even startle in a way that's effective - it's just annoying.

   I am told that the music by Elia Cmiral is suitably atmospheric and works very well - however, I cannot comment on this.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Animated Menus with Sound

   The video transfer is flawless, whereas the main audio tracks are loud and seemingly lacking in detail.

   There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall