An alien meteorite falls upon a small town and infects a man who can’t seem to showcase his love for his wife. The man slowly, but very surely, begins to turn into something that cannot be described other than to say a “really horrible monster but totally awesome effects”, and slowly infects other townspeople who all turn on the mayor, sheriff and others, who are attempting to escape and kill the lead infecter. Got all that? Great, now sit back and enjoy the show!
If you’ve seen any previews for Slither, directed by James Gunn, any pictures from some of its gross-out moments, you pretty much have a solid idea of what it’s all about: fun, horror and really gross stuff! If you enjoy those elements, as well as homages to cool horror flicks of the past, the typical 50s “small town” set-up, mixed in with some memorable dialog (with the best clearly being unprintable) and enjoy the acting stylings of Nathan Fillion, the great Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry, this film is sure to twinkle your horror toes, particularly if mutating monsters, slugs, zombies and really disgusting scenarios are your bag o’ chips. I got exactly what I thought I was going to get from this movie, and maybe a little more as I really didn’t think the effects would be as effective as they were (most of them are practical, as opposed to CGI) and the dialog was also a lot funnier than I expected. The film starts off with your typical small town set-up, establishing all of the characters slowly, but surely, and teasing us with some effects as the “alien” being lands in a field outside of town; however, once the extra-terrestrial being infects Rooker’s character, the fun really begins as he mutates and the fit hits the shan.
The rest of the cast compliments the material just as they should in a film like this. Elizabeth Banks, still hot off of her role as the hottie of 40 Year-Old Virgin, gets the job done as Starla, the wife who picked the wrong night to not be in the mood. Gregg Henry steals every scene he’s in as he hams it up as the local mayor with a bad attitude. Michael Rooker, playing the tragically possessed jilted husband, under what appears to be a solid ton of rubber effects makeup, even appears to be having a good time. Gunn’s wife Jenna Fisher of NBC’s “The Office” turns up in a small role, and true to its stock and heritage, the film features cameos by Lloyd Kaufmann and Rob Zombie.
Icky but never overly bloody, Slither still manages to happily buck the trend of the PG-13 horror movie. Former St. Louisan Gunn made his way home for this screening, and graciously answered a bunch of questions after the film. He’s attested that this film was nothing short of a labor of love, paying homage to Cronenberg’s Shivers, as well as his Troma days of Tromeo & Juliet. He’s also discussed his usage of both practical puppet effects and CGI, both of which work well, but both of which were also greatly challenging to him as a director. Slither is just pure fun to watch and though it won’t go down in history as one of the better movies made, that’s its saving grace in that the movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. I really don’t think movies like this will ever go out of style as there seems to always be some sort of yearning for the zombie movie. Yes, its fun to watch and yes it’s predictable. The actors might not always be familiar but really … so what? There are far worse movies out there that are trying to make a point and Slither is one that is best seen taken at face value. Check your mind at the door and sit back and enjoy. I did.