In the small burg of Wheelsy, housecats are turning into hellcats and townsfolk are morphing into zombies, prompting Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) and the concerned wife (Elizabeth Banks) of one of the town's richest citizens to uncover the dark forces at work.
Alien Slugs, Predator References and Nathan Fillion: Slither Has it All
The B-movie got its name from being the second half of a double feature back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, and was generally a low-budget, less commercialized film. When the term is used, it's generally associated with the 1950's application of science fiction and horror genres. While certainly a tongue-in-cheek experience to watch, B-movies have inspired much of our current films and were often the fresh start of many A-List actors today. Slither is like a love letter to the time of B-movie gold, capturing the pure effluence of what makes 50's movies so much fun to watch: they're just good ol' fashioned fun!
For whatever reason, a comet falls to earth and it's housing a spore of alien slugs. The slugs take over people's minds, using them as hosts. They spread like a disease, one by one, until only a select few have to band together to stop them from infecting the rest of the world. Much like the B-movie origins that it's self-aware of being, Slither doesn't exactly make you jump or have nightmares but it does a good job at being silly and fun, and at times, pretty disgusting too (in a good way).
If the survivors weren't the fun bunch that they were, the movie would have fallen flat on its face. Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun with their part, even the smaller roles like the town mayor or Tania Saulnier's part which, sadly, degenerates into more of an exposition than a character. Elizabeth Banks is perfect as the trophy wife everyone wants to get their hands on, but the real star the shines is Nathan Fillion. Not suprisingly, his screen charisma transcends onto the audience and even in the grossest of times, he reminds you to not take things so seriously and just have fun. He's the best effect the movie has.
The creature effects range from kinda bad to mediocre, and the creature designs fit the same bit. Slugs may not be scary, but they're certainly gross, and when you give them a means to hunt and kill, they're certainly creepier than you'd expect.
It's difficult to say much more about the movie, especially without spoiling anything. The bottom line is that if you're wanting to have a fun kind of Halloween night, not so much a scary kind, Slither is one of the best.
Slither is 4 Zombie Deers out of 5.
10 days until Halloween!
- Directed by James Gunn
- Written by James Gunn
- Starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker,
- Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, and language
- Running time: 95 minutes
- Available on Netflix DVD Queue
Theatrical trailer
Trailer provided by Universal Pictures
Caleb Laulusa - I began writing video game reviews for an international website that sadly, went under before any of my work was published. I also found ...
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