[3.00/10] Splintered (2010)

Splintered (2010)

In this low-budget UK teen slasher, Sophie, a teenager with a troubled past, puts herself and her friends at the mercy of a wild beast, when her obsession of the unexplained leads them deep into the Welsh countryside. Looking for evidence within an abandoned building, Sophie witnesses a vicious attack on her friend and then finds herself incarcerated in a locked room. She cannot escape and her only hope is that her friends manage to find her before her captor makes them his latest victim. While it tries to use as many well-known horror gimmicks as it can, "Splintered" fails to deliver, as in its second half, the film turns into a big ridiculous mess, where it desperately tries to bland a werewolf story with classic slasher elements, and the result is just plain awful. Worst of all, "Splintered" is not scary at all. The story is built on cliches and poorly-constructed, as it throws some ridiculously unclear and unnecessary explanations at the beginning and in the end. Although the locations look truly creepy at times, especially the abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere, that's not enough to distract viewer's attention from the obvious technical problems this film has, such as atrocious special/gore effects, terrible editing and amateurish direction. The acting is average-to-horrible. Holly Weston as the lead female character, Sophie, manages to express a wide variety of emotions, though her physical beauty works against her in making a believable character. Stephen Martin Walters who plays her brother has very limited screen time, but he's likable enough and succeeds to evoke sympathy. Sacha Dhawan as Sam is so obnoxious, I couldn't wait to see him death. Sadie Pickering as Sophie's best friend is just as annoying. Sadly, "Splintered" is UK horror at its worst - a poorly-executed, badly-shot, messy and uninteresting horror flick, that brings nothing new to the table.