Splinter (2008)

A couple onan anniversary camping trip are kidnapped and held hostage by a couple on the run.
Stopping for fuel they are attacked by a strange creature; seemingly make out of splinters, it will slowly infect and take over any living creature that it injures, turning their tissue into more of the strange spines it is made of; they find themselves hauled up in the filling station, working together to survive the night.

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A fine example of a 'base under siege' movie in the tradition of Night of the Living Dead; I do love me a base under siege movie!

The thing with these movies is, with a small cast and single location, they live or die on the performances of the leads, and how good the threat is; Thankfully, it's passes all 'round on this one!

The creature is very well realised; with an old-school approach towards origin stories (ie. it doesn't have one), what could have so easily come across as a slightly different take on the zombie (which, in all honesty, is all it is) manages to feel like a fresh threat, thanks to some nice effect work and filming.

The crunching and unnatural movements of a host once they becomes infected are quite unnerving, and the camera captures the panic of our protagonists well during hectic scenes. On that front, it's strength is it's weakness here; while the frantic shaky-cam did a fine job of capturing the urgency of attack sequences, it would have been nice just once to get a proper look at a splinter-creature.

That minor gripe aside though, a thoroughly enjoyable and very well paced movie.

Note: this one was posted late, but the movie was watched yesterday. My 1-a-day record remains intact.