Slither (Widescreen Edition)
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Rating : 4.0
Reviews : 146
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After a meteor crashes in a small country town parasitic worms infect the residents turning them into monsters and zombies.
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Release Date: 18-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Release Date: 18-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD
With laughs and gross-outs aplenty, Slither is the best horror comedy since Shaun of the Dead. Having written for the jubilant trash-mongers at Troma Films before scripting 2004’s well-received remake of Dawn of the Dead, writer-director James Gunn crafted this hilarious splatter-fest as an homage to the comically violent horror films of the 1970s and ’80s, and he gets it just right with a low-budget look, perfect casting, grisly make-up effects and judicious use of CGI gore. The story’s a deliberate monster-mash, borrowing from a dozen other movies with its plot about an invasion of slithery slug-like parasites from outer space, arriving (via meteorite) in the redneck town of Wheelsy, South Carolina, where they turn most of the local yokels into flesh-eating zombies. The first victim (played by Michael Rooker) turns into a squid-like, multi-tentacled host monster (kill him and you kill ‘em all), and his terrified wife (Elizabeth Banks) teams up with Wheelsy’s sheriff (Nathan Fillion, from Firefly and Serenity) and mayor (comedic scene-stealer Gregg Henry) to eradicate the alien threat before Wheelsy turns into Slugville. Gunn handles comedy and horror with exuberant flair, and Slither’s greatest strength is that it never aspires to be anything more than it is: 96 minutes of good laughs and gruesomeness, served up with the kind of gleeful abandon that only true horror buffs can fully appreciate.–Jeff Shannon
5 Comments
There is just so much to love about this movie! Worms, aliens, bodysnatchers, and zombies! Fun dialogue, a clever script, and the beautiful Elizabeth Banks! It’s just silly enough to have fun with while still being scary enough to give you chills. I can’t believe I missed it back in 2006, but am so glad to watch it now. If you need something fun and scary then this is the best way to go. I was very impressed with the acting and overall big-budget special effects. The movie might have a silly plot, but it’s done very professionally which made the whole thing absolutely enjoyable. Definitely check it out!
Slither: 7 out of 10: Nathan Fillion needs to get more big screen work. He was the captain on Firefly (and its big screen spin-off Serenity) and he brings that same laconic dry humored character to Slither. He is the talented center of an enjoyable romp.
Slither consists of way to many timeworn cliché’s to list here but in general it is an Eighties style creature feature. What sets it apart from is brethren is a top notch cast, (Michael Rooker and Tania Saulnier both put in excellent turns), great special effects, (a minimum of bad CGI and a lot of good make-up effects) and a generally funny script.
The only problem with the movie (outside of a tendency to overplay the campy) is that is eminently forgettable. Unlike recent straight horror films such as Saw or Hostel or even recent horror/comedy hybrids such as Shaun of the Dead, Slither doesn’t have a single original thought or scene in its pretty little head.
It’s like that girl you dated in college that was pretty good looking but boring in and out of the sack. (No, I cannot remember her name either.) I have to concentrate to recall even a couple of scenes from Slither and heck I just watched the thing. I can remember about every scene from American Werewolf in London and I have not seen that in many moons (Please pardon the lame stretch for a pun.) One critic called it empty calories and I could not agree more. No doubt, it is a good time for horror and action fans just do not expect any lasting impression.
This movie is great as far as cheesey horror movies go. It is chacked full of memorable one liners and humorous charactors.
No animals were harmed or killed in the making of this film. One would hope this statement is true. The same may not be true of the humans.
James Gunn delivers one of the best horror/ science fiction films that I have seen in years with the right amounts of action and humor to make this film recipe a county fair winner. The setting is a small Southern town with the poor and the rich sections very visible to the candid observer. However, the film was shot totally in Vancouver based on the film credits.
With the premise presented in high biology class that evolution is more than who can survive based on fitness, etc. this theme is played out as the film progresses. Man has only been around for a short period on the time scale. An alien, older than humans, arrives on earth to conquer the planet, perhaps to add one more notch to its slimy belt.
Of course, in some ways this is a modernized western- the pretty school ma, the brave sheriff (chief of police), the rich dude (there’s always some rich dude involved), and the bad guy and his ruthless gang of blood thirsting sociopaths. The deputies are a hoot.
The mayor is not afraid to use verbal adjectives to describe the situation and his own feelings. This colorful commentary runs throughout the film which adds a touch. His only serious moment comes in the end of the film, and it is a powerful one.
Of course, the young school teacher is married to the old rich guy. The chief of police is still in love with her, and she knows it so well. However, she and her rich husband take their wedding vows seriously which is another theme in this film.
The scene with the young farm girl in the bathtub is one of the most gripping moments of the film as she fights to survive against the increasing alien hordes. Her mother, father, and two younger siblings are not so lucky against the invaders.
Special effects and the music are good. The acting is well executed.
Nathan Fillon and Elizabeth Banks are well cast as the leads. Gregg Henry is the mayor, an avid Animal Planet viewer-go figure. Tania Saulnier is the terrified farm girl who shows why an alien should not mess with an American country girl.
This is not suited for children. There are too many dead things lying about in various states.
In Slither James Gunn has created an homage to the 1980’s monster movies of his youth. The film borrows heavily on antecedents from those films and is quite entertaining if not absolutely original.
Nathan Fillion stars as Sheriff Bill Pardy who must deal with an alien invasion of his sleepy southern town. Michael Rooker plays Grant Grant (yes he has identical names) who is infected by the alien on a night out in the woods with a woman who is not his wife (Brenda James). It is on his return home to his wife Starla ( Elizabeth Banks) that the fun begins.
This is not a film for everyone as it exceeds most releases in the gore level present. It was however a pleasant little suLloyd Kaufman rprise of a film. If you are looking for sophisticated entertainment this may not be for you. It is also an homage to the late seventies and early eighties Troma films that were so bad they were good. In this regard look for a cameo by Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman as a drunk in the police station.
The widescreen disc contains a good audio commentary by Gunn and Fillion, extended and deleted scenes, a gag reel and several making of featurettes.
All in all not a bad little film for a dark night.