Splinter - Much better than it has a right to be

There are so many of these sorts of horror films, where a nice young couple go off the beaten path, only to fall foul of some random horrific force. However, although 'Splinter' does succumb to a certain amount of clichés, it does raise itself over many of its contemporaries.

A young couple are going for a romantic getaway, but only go and get themselves taken hostage by another couple (this time of criminals on the run).  However, they quartet soon finds that there's worse things out there in the woods than each other when a particularly nasty parasitic monster takes a fancy to their nice, warm human bodies.

You may think a film with only four main cast members, stuck in the pretty uninspired location of an American gas station, doesn't really produce a recipe for great horror. However, 'Splinter' is short and it makes the most of everything it's got. Plus, it's also one of the few films that doesn't reply on CGI to create monstrous effects, preferring to use the old fashioned method of make-up and prosthetics. And soon our hapless heroes are running, panicking away from what turns out to be a reasonably well thought-out kind of monster.

The acting is reasonable for what is effectively a B-movie and, if you look online for negative criticism, you'll mainly see people who feel that the female lead is way too attractive to be dating someone so `nerdy.' Personally, I think it gives us geeks hope yet!

Basically, 'Splinter' is nothing new, but if you like your horror/monster movies short, sweet and violent, then this one is definitely better than most of the rest.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that