Splinter

"It will get under your skin."

2008 1h 22m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 851

HorrorThrillerCrimeScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When their plans for a nature trip go awry, Polly and boyfriend Seth decide to check into a motel. On their way, they're carjacked and kidnapped by low-rent crooks Dennis and Lacey, who take the victims and their SUV to a nearby gas station. Along the way, they encounter an increasingly terrifying horde of parasites, and if any of them intend to survive, they'll have to outsmart the deadly organisms.

“It will get under your skin.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Jill Wagner
Polly Watt
Charles Baker
Blake Sherman Jr.
Rachel Kerbs
Lacey Belisle
Paulo Costanzo
Seth Belzer
Shea Whigham
Dennis Farell
Laurel Whitsett
Sheriff Terri Frankel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Toby Wilkins
Writers: Kai Barry, Ian Shorr
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

82 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Toby Wilkins, shot by Nelson Cragg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Elia Cmiral. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Michael Maurer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jill Wagner and Charles Baker and Rachel Kerbs carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "It will get under your skin.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1031280 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Toby Wilkins directs. Nelson Cragg behind the camera. Elia Cmiral scores. David Michael Maurer cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

182 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 18 years ago.
3Directed by Toby Wilkins, shot by Nelson Cragg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Elia Cmiral. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor David Michael Maurer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jill Wagner and Charles Baker and Rachel Kerbs carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "It will get under your skin.".
8IMDB entry: tt1031280 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Nelson Cragg
Original score: Elia Cmiral
Editing: David Michael Maurer
Production design: Jennifer Spence
Makeup / hair: Ozzy Alvarez
VFX supervisor: Toby Wilkins
Sound: Stanley Kastner
Stunt coordinator: Jackson Burns
Runtime: 82 min · 1h 22m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $124,191
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Splinter (2008)

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Toby Wilkins

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-10-19
★ 7.5/10
Ouch! Smart little horror this, what it lacks in story originality it more than makes up for elsewhere. Young lovers Seth (Paulo Costanzo) and Polly (Jill Wagner) find their attempts at a romantic camping trip usurped by their inadequacies in the great outdoors. But this soon becomes the very least of their problems, because they are car-jacked by escaped convict Dennis Farell (Shea Whigham) and his drug addict girlfriend Lacey Belisle (Rachel Kerbs). When they run over what they think is an animal of some sort, it signals the start of a terrifying ordeal that will see the group backed into the interior of a gas station and forced to fight for their lives. What follows is a solid hour of suspense, terror, horrifying scenes and rich character dynamics. It’s a siege situation with the enemy some sort of porcupine – vegetable – human hybrid, and it’s relentless and clever. Director Toby Wilkins doesn’t once let the picture sag or suffer from filler, all scenes and character interactions are integral to the plotting. Mercifully free of characters doing the dumb things that are so inherent in this splinter (hrr hrr hrr) of horror, Wilkins’ film is consistently effective in what it wants to achieve. The effects are kept to a minimum and the only real complaint is that for every attack by the creature we are subjected to shakycam. If this is to hide the effects work we don’t know? And it’s always great to have a horror assailant be used sparingly on a visual level, but the shakycam becomes annoying and feels like a bit of a cheat in the final quarter. The small cast offer up some sterling performances, with Whigham standing out as the hateful villain, while Nelson Cragg’s photography strips the colours down to primal indie level and the film is better for it. A pleasant surprise and recommended to horror fans after a quick and bloody siege horror that never disappoints. 7.5/10
Kamurai2021-06-20
★ 8/10
Really good watch, would watch again, and can recommend. While it may not sound like the most original concept, it definitely feels innovative. Using isolation to add atmosphere to the movie allows the movie to really focus the terror of infection, as opposed to zombie movies where it's usually about flooding the world with zombie infection. The movie has a great layered metaphor of Darwinism sliding from a might-makes-right attitude to having to be smart to survive. The experience really felt full for them being trapped in a convenience store. The cast did an excellent performance through the graduating series of events, and a rather strong story.