Last Saturday night, on the sci-fi channel's "Most Dangerous Night Of Television", I was surprised to sit down and watch a movie that was actually well-made! The weekly movie timeslot is usually just a "danger" to precious free time over my weekends, so I avoid their weekly offerings of crap with very rare exception. But I saw a commercial for the movie "Splinter" that intrigued me, so I decided to give the movie at least 30 minutes. It hooked me for two hours.
Cast performances were realistic and enjoyable. No B-movie camp quality to be found anywhere. Special effects were great, largely because they were practical, saving digital effects for quick shots, where they belong in movies of this size and budget. At every turn, this little horror flick played up its strengths. The creature design was very creepy, taking some obvious inspiration from John Carpenter's "The Thing".
The plot was somewhat formulaic, but there are only so many ways to write a story in this genre, so I was willing to forgive them that.
I'd recommend checking your listings to see when this airs again, as the sci-fi channel sometimes repeats new movies within a week or so of the original air date. It's worth your time and costs you nothing!
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