Slither

January 15, 2007

Rated: R Runtime: 96 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Slither is by no means a good movie. But who says a movie has to be good to be fun? Director and writer James Gunn must be a big fan of the old Troma Studios movies (The Toxic Avenger, et al…) since Slither looks and feels just like a big-budget version of a Troma splatter-fest.

Slither The movie opens with a meteor hurtling towards (where else?) Earth. After the impact near the sleepy hick town of Wheelsy, we are treated to several old monster-movie maxims: alien slugs, zombies, mind control, humans as incubators, and more. The locals respond as most as everyone does in these type movies - they die. But a spunky few manage to survive the initial onslaught and work to find a way to combat the aliens. Sound familiar? It should!

With a budget of only $15 million, the special effects aren’t exactly mind-blowing. But they are certainly better than your typical ‘B’ movie. The casting is quite good, but not because they’re great actors. They’re not. Not even close. No, the casting is good because the actors all know that everything they do here is done with an invisible nod and wink at the camera. Nobody working on this project, from the producers all the way down to the extras, makes any pretense of taking themselves seriously. They had an absolute BLAST with this movie and that enthusiasm shows through and helps carry us along from absurd scene to absurd scene. The one liners are plentiful and everyone has their own very well developed sense of style. The only thing that could have made this even more fun was a cameo by Bruce Campbell.

There are several good “gotcha” moments that are guaranteed to make the girl you’re with jump right in your lap. And the laughs come in a steady stream. But…a good movie? Heck, no. But it’s a real hoot!

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 3 Stars, Comedy, DVD, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Horror, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, R, Tania Saulnier