Tuesday 17 May 2011

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT: SPLINTERED (R2 DVD) ***


"Troubled teen Sophie (a feisty, likeable Holly Weston) drags her friends deep into the Welsh Forests in search of a local legend - a dangerous wild beast that uses its cunning and strength to brutally kill for pleasure. So when the beast leads Sophie and her friend, John, to an abandoned orphange, the hunters become the hunted.

Vulnerable, isolated and not knowing if she is being kept for food, pleasure or for an even darker reason by her Gollum-like tormentor, Sophie must confront long forgotten mysteries from her past to discover the truth about her captor in this play-it-by-numbers horror from auteur Simeon Halligan. It's certainly watchable, with a wonderfully creepy location and good performances by Weston and her untamed nemesis Stephen Walters.

The other characters are more frustrating than the predictable plot, with its opening standoff in the woods likely to decide whether you switch off or continue watching in the hope they all get horrifically butchered. Still, it's pleasingly short, there are a few tense stalk and scare scenes, some neat surprises, and despite the pointless flashbacks and dream sequences, Splintered stays intact until its bodycount-busting conclusion."


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