Review: Slither

by Supergenius

“Meat! Meat!”

Oh my. Prepare yourself, folks! The real future of horror movies isn’t DOOM or Uwe Boll movies or even SAW. No, it’s the big-budget B-movie, blending camp and shock into an unwieldy, enjoyable mess.

SLITHER is the newest offering from James Gunn, who brought us the tepid 2004 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake and the (hopefully) forgettable SCOOBY-DOO movie. Fanboys and girls, take heart: at its core, SLITHER is a redneck, fun, campy, gross, witty, deadpan horror movie, the likes of which I haven’t seen since TREMORS.

Indeed, comparison to the 1990 Kevin Bacon masterpiece is probably inevitable: a small redneck town, asseiged by supernatural forces that threaten the existence of all, finds its last hopes for survival in a small band of misfits. SLITHER presents not the threat of giant underground drag-racing slugs; no, this time the slugs are small, above-ground beasties that crawl into your brain. Derivate as the movie’s themes would appear to be, SLITHER is fresh and smart, self-aware and witty like you’d expect a John Carpenter film or a Joss Whedon show.

Parallels to Whedon are probably also appropriate: Nathan Fillion, formerly Capt. Reynolds of SERENITY and FIREFLY films, is cast as the male lead. While his prior role was that of a wry, secretly lovelorn space captain, SLITHER takes Fillion to a new level: a wry, secretly lovelorn local police chief (Bill Pardy). The same sardonic wit and dry inflections are welcome in SLITHER, where much of the humor relies on the delivery of Fillion and his entourage. As the town searches for the infected host-creature, Chief Pardy comments, “We’ll find Grant. There ain’t many places he can hide, looks like a damn squid. Sea World, maybe.” A stakeout map in the police station uses squid stickers to track the beast while a squid beanie baby sits on the chief’s desk. As ever, it’s the little touches that mean so much.

You can only be so serious when your plot depends upon battling brain slugs from outer space. SLITHER succeeds by pushing the self-awareness, the gross-out factor and the satire to new levels. Impregnated victims desperately crave meat, eating carrion and carcasses until they explode - vegetarianism, here I come! The redneck mayor, played with panache by the eminently blowhardy Gregg Henry, is larger-than-life and adds great ham to every scene. Upon seeing the first victim explode with larvae: “Either of you ever seen anything like this? Me neither, and I watch Animal Planet all the *@% time!”

To be sure, SLITHER is no Oscar-winner. Effects are clean CGI, but just fake enough to remind us of its B-movie tradition. The film is well-cast, between Fillion, Henry and Elizabeth Banks (40-YR-OLD VIRGIN, SPIDER-MAN). The dialogue is crisp and pithy (one brain-slugged mom attacks her daughter, screaming “it’s Family Fun Day! Meat!”), and the pacing seems about right. If there is any complaint to be made, it’s that SLITHER provides few plot twists or genre-bending action. Perhaps that would be too much to ask of a film that seems content to bask within the glow of horror cliches.

SLITHER opens nationwide on March 31, 2006.

27 Comments

  1. Sounds great. Could it really be good as Tremors, though?

    Comment by Allison — March 30, 2006 @ 6:49 am

  2. “a redneck, fun, campy, gross, witty, deadpan horror movie, the likes of which I haven’t seen since TREMORS.”

    Also, this makes me think you may have somehow missed Bubba Ho-Tep, which if true must be remedied. It would be great to pit that movie against Shaun of the Deadin an upcoming Moviedrome, if it hasn’t been suggested yet.

    Comment by Allison — March 30, 2006 @ 6:58 am

  3. No, Allison, I saw BUBBA HO-TEP, and loved every second of it. Its omission was a glaring one on my part, for which I apologize profusely.

    Does SHAUN OF THE DEAD count as part of the B-movie genre? The pure Britishness of it all would seem to take it out of that category, which is why I didn’t mention it.

    Yes, in my mind it’s as good as TREMORS. But it’s been awhile since the Reba McIntyre classic has graced my screen. Perhaps I need to return to my roots.

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 9:09 am

  4. I should add for you hardcore fans that Gunn is a former colleague of Lloyd Kaufman from Troma Entertainment (the shop that brought us TOXIC AVENGER and NUKE ‘EM HIGH), so there are plenty of Troma nods and queasy scenes.

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 9:19 am

  5. Oh, Shaun of the Dead is definitely a B movie. A very good one, but campy and ridiculous and with lots of gratuitous but hilarious zombie violence.

    Comment by Allison — March 30, 2006 @ 10:01 am

  6. Allison, a zombie comedy is not going to necessarily be a B-movie by nature, though I agree that SoTD has elements of camp. What’s missing in my mind is the 1980s horror sensibility, the pure gleeful gross-out factor.

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 11:25 am

  7. I can’t handle the gross out, so I think I’ll wait for the dvd.

    I love me some Nathan Fillion. Smartasses always get my love.

    Comment by Jennifer — March 30, 2006 @ 12:56 pm

  8. Jennifer, the browncoats should flock to Slither. It’s not _that_ gross….

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 1:04 pm

  9. Tremors doesn’t really have much of a gross out factor. Well, aside from some of the acting…

    Comment by John C. — March 30, 2006 @ 1:15 pm

  10. Speaking of browncoats:

    http://store.yahoo.com/stylinonline/tsserenitybudda.html

    I am considering purchase for my hubby’s b-day present.

    Comment by Jennifer — March 30, 2006 @ 2:33 pm

  11. Oh, c’mon. Total gross-out. Decapitations, zombie accidentally impaled in the backyard, etc. Lots of ketchup-y looking gore. It’s a classic (even if way above-par) B-movie.

    Comment by Allison — March 30, 2006 @ 2:47 pm

  12. That was in re: to Shaun of the Dead, not to Tremors or Slither, BTW.

    Comment by Allison — March 30, 2006 @ 2:48 pm

  13. Allison, my view is that no British movie can really be a true B-movie because I associate a level of Americana and redneck quality with these movies. I understand that I’m probably conflating a sub-genre with the whole of B-movies, but so be it. The Wiki be damned!!

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 2:54 pm

  14. *Gasp!*

    Don’t damn the Wiki! Didn’t you see that Brady Bunch episode?!

    Comment by Allison — March 30, 2006 @ 2:55 pm

  15. LOL!

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 3:21 pm

  16. Steve, how are you getting into these press screenings? (And if you hadn’t gotten into these screenings, would you really be reviewing them?)

    Comment by Eric Russell — March 30, 2006 @ 3:38 pm

  17. Add a ;) to the end of that last line.

    Comment by Eric Russell — March 30, 2006 @ 3:46 pm

  18. Eric, we receive advance press screening passes, just like most film critics.

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 3:47 pm

  19. You mean Kulturblog does? For being a culture blog? Wow. I didn’t realize blogs were getting passes now, that’s cool.

    Comment by Eric Russell — March 30, 2006 @ 4:04 pm

  20. Eric, blogs have been getting press screening passes for years — witness Aint It Cool News.

    Comment by Supergenius — March 30, 2006 @ 4:52 pm

  21. Shaun of the Dead was without a doubt one of the best zombie films ever done. It took its material serious yet was both a great comedy and a very interesting social commentary. Very well done. Far better than Day of the Dead (which I thought was dreck when I finally saw it a few weeks ago on TV). Probably on par with the first half of 28 Days Later (despite the clear different feel). Of course the second half of that film fell apart (IMO).

    Comment by clark — March 30, 2006 @ 9:56 pm

  22. I agree that Shaun of the Dead was great. And I agree that 28 Days Later was also very well done (I don’t recall having the problem with the second half that you do). The original Dawn of the Dead was another superb Zombie film, though I hated the latest incarnation.

    Nothing beats Evil Dead II, however. NOTHING.

    Aaron B

    Comment by Aaron Brown — March 30, 2006 @ 10:32 pm

  23. James Gunn is responsible for the last time I laughed uncontrollably in a movie theater. The fart scene on Scooby Doo killed me. Unforgettable, SuperG.

    The last time before that was the dinner table farting scene in The Nutty Professor.

    I’m so ashamed.

    Comment by Tom — March 31, 2006 @ 12:13 am

  24. Can Evil Dead II really be better than Evil Dead I?

    Comment by Susan M — March 31, 2006 @ 8:43 am

  25. “Can Evil Dead II really be better than Evil Dead I?”

    Yes

    Comment by John C. — March 31, 2006 @ 8:46 am

  26. Amen John C. Although it is an open question as to whether the next EVIL DEAD film, ARMY OF DARKNESS, can be considered better than Evil Dead II. Intelligent people can differ on this point, but for me the cheese and dialogue of ARMY OF DARKNESS wins out: “Hail to the king, baby.”

    Comment by Supergenius — March 31, 2006 @ 9:46 am

  27. We should have an all Sam Raimi Moviedrome. Or maybe an all Bruce Campbell Moviedrome. Hmmmm…

    Comment by Allison — April 1, 2006 @ 8:22 am