Splinter (2008)

Elevator Pitch: A couple are waylaid by an escaped convict and his girfriend on a lonely road and when they stop at an isolated gas station are attacked by what seems like the bloody remnant of the attendant, who spikes the hijacker’s girlfriend and drives the three survivors into the building, together with a hand, which seems to have a life of its own. A police woman arrives and despite calls from the three inside the station to get into her car and go away, persists in pointing her gun at the criminal, that is until she is torn apart by the increasingly grotesque monster made up of the bodies of the parasite’s victims. Fortunately one of the group is a biologist, with his knowledge at least some of them may survive.

Content: No sex or nudity, or drinking or smoking.  The escaped convict has a hand gun with which he threated the others to start with. Almost endless blood and gore as what we come to know as the parasite assimilates anyone it can get its spikes on. The escaped convict  has got a splinter in his finger and in time his arm develops a life of its own, requiring the two other survivors to cut it off close to the shoulder.  Eventually some fires and explosions.

A View: Those of us who watched this movie thought it was pretty good.  It was nominated for some awards, and had wins at minor festivals. I particularly liked the escaped convict’s story arc, from villain to hero. I had in mind to say that it shows what can be done on a small budget, but despite the small cast the supporting crew is vast, so with a world wide gross of  $500,000 it probably lost money. Even so as a genre B feature it would be worth your time if you like that sort of thing.

Additional Info:   80 people receive special thanks. I wonder what they did.