A meteorite collides in a small town where Grant finds it, becomes infected by a parasite worm, and causes him to transform into a monster. His wife Starla and a policeman, Bill, will try to stop him and the plague of worms generated by the creature. Zombies join the picture.
Grant strikes me as a grody fellow flicking his wife's nipples at a lame attempt to "turn her on" like a light switch. And policeman Bill isn't any better. He is overbearing and rude. When Starla sweetly tells him to be careful and stares longingly at him waiting for his reply, he brusquely says, "Yeah, now there's a thought." Starla had dreams to move to LA and frankly I think she had a better chance dealing with the sharks there. Screw these hillbilly jerks.
Also, the subplot of the Sheriff lusting after Starla was underdeveloped. I didn't feel a connection between them at all and love developing there seems unbelievable. A simple flashback to them at an earlier age could have helped to fix that. Or, you know, he could have pretended to like her in a heterosexual type of way.
Call me crazy, but there were weird sexual undertones that I do not understand. There is talk of Survival of the Fittest during the film and I couldn't help, but think this was referring to the men and women on screen. There is the preacher hammering on about God eating fishes while Grant preyed on a lonely woman. And then there was the zombie dude who accusingly asked Starla, "How could you blame someone for acting their nature?" as though this is explanation enough for her horny husbands cheating ways.
The three main women are playing stereotypes- the gold-digger, frigid wife, the trailer trash single mom desperate for attention, and the 16yo naughty girl with painted nails in the nipple-flashing bathtub scene. Oh and the 2 tentacle, double penetration rape scene was oddly exploitive for such a mainstream movie.
Now, don't get me wrong. Slither is not a terrible film. But I am deeply disappointed after hearing the nonstop hype about the "Best Horror Movie of 2006". I felt overall it lacked in gore considering the lengthy articles Fangoria wrote on how they ran out of SFX supplies because it is just that darn gory. And the story was not original. It was part The Blob, part Shivers. And I really disliked the how the female characters were portrayed. But hey, other than that it was a fun film.
By now you should know who James Gunn is. He wrote "Tromeo & Juliet" "Scooby Doo 1-2," and "Dawn of the Dead." I think he has strong skills as a writer, however, Slither suffered in the writing area probably because Gunn also takes over as director here. Tromeo was well written and had several likable characters and I bet it had less than half the budget Slither did.
Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 with a running time of 96 minutes. The SFX were okay, but I heard that they used mostly real props and make-up to create the effects, but about 80% looked like fake CGI.
Trivia: Lloyd Kaufman, James Gunn, and his real life wife Jenna Fischer all make appearances. Kaufman had lines, but they were cut.
(Read Molly's Interview W/Lloyd Here) Favorite Quote: Kid asks, "What's a 'gina'?" Sheriff replies, "It's a country. You know, where "Ginese" people come from." DVD Extras: Making of, Deleted Scenes, Commentary, Gag Reel, and Slithery set tour.
Bottom Line: An okay horror-comedy, but if you are interested in a classic, stick with The Blob. And if you want exploitation fun, try Cronenberg's Shivers.
Rating: 6.5/10
by Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com
Grant strikes me as a grody fellow flicking his wife's nipples at a lame attempt to "turn her on" like a light switch. And policeman Bill isn't any better. He is overbearing and rude. When Starla sweetly tells him to be careful and stares longingly at him waiting for his reply, he brusquely says, "Yeah, now there's a thought." Starla had dreams to move to LA and frankly I think she had a better chance dealing with the sharks there. Screw these hillbilly jerks.
Also, the subplot of the Sheriff lusting after Starla was underdeveloped. I didn't feel a connection between them at all and love developing there seems unbelievable. A simple flashback to them at an earlier age could have helped to fix that. Or, you know, he could have pretended to like her in a heterosexual type of way.
Call me crazy, but there were weird sexual undertones that I do not understand. There is talk of Survival of the Fittest during the film and I couldn't help, but think this was referring to the men and women on screen. There is the preacher hammering on about God eating fishes while Grant preyed on a lonely woman. And then there was the zombie dude who accusingly asked Starla, "How could you blame someone for acting their nature?" as though this is explanation enough for her horny husbands cheating ways.
The three main women are playing stereotypes- the gold-digger, frigid wife, the trailer trash single mom desperate for attention, and the 16yo naughty girl with painted nails in the nipple-flashing bathtub scene. Oh and the 2 tentacle, double penetration rape scene was oddly exploitive for such a mainstream movie.
Now, don't get me wrong. Slither is not a terrible film. But I am deeply disappointed after hearing the nonstop hype about the "Best Horror Movie of 2006". I felt overall it lacked in gore considering the lengthy articles Fangoria wrote on how they ran out of SFX supplies because it is just that darn gory. And the story was not original. It was part The Blob, part Shivers. And I really disliked the how the female characters were portrayed. But hey, other than that it was a fun film.
By now you should know who James Gunn is. He wrote "Tromeo & Juliet" "Scooby Doo 1-2," and "Dawn of the Dead." I think he has strong skills as a writer, however, Slither suffered in the writing area probably because Gunn also takes over as director here. Tromeo was well written and had several likable characters and I bet it had less than half the budget Slither did.
Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 with a running time of 96 minutes. The SFX were okay, but I heard that they used mostly real props and make-up to create the effects, but about 80% looked like fake CGI.
Trivia: Lloyd Kaufman, James Gunn, and his real life wife Jenna Fischer all make appearances. Kaufman had lines, but they were cut.
(Read Molly's Interview W/Lloyd Here) Favorite Quote: Kid asks, "What's a 'gina'?" Sheriff replies, "It's a country. You know, where "Ginese" people come from." DVD Extras: Making of, Deleted Scenes, Commentary, Gag Reel, and Slithery set tour.
Bottom Line: An okay horror-comedy, but if you are interested in a classic, stick with The Blob. And if you want exploitation fun, try Cronenberg's Shivers.
Rating: 6.5/10
by Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com