Main Cast: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Tania Saulnier
Release Year: 2006
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A mysterious meteor infected with a deadly alien plague brings chaos to a small hunting town in the feature-length directorial debut of screenwriter James Gunn (Scooby-Doo, Dawn of the Dead). Booted out of bed by his young, trophy-wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks), and in desperate need of some female companionship, wealthy Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) picks up bar local floozy Brenda (Brenda James) and heads into the woods for a hedonistic night of extramarital excitement. When a flaming meteor lights up the sky before crashing to the ground nearby, Grant's curiosity gets the best of him and he sets out to find the space rock. Subsequently infected with a rampaging space virus, which he passes along to Brenda, Grant transforms into a horrific, cow-munching monster and begins terrorizing the town. As thousands of squirmy space slugs burrow into the brains of the unsuspecting Wheelsy denizens creating an ever-amassing horde of mindless space zombies, panic grips the small town and it's up to Starla, Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), and gung-ho mayor Jack MacReady (Gregg Henry) to put an end to the infection and save the planet. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
A rowdy crowd pleaser that more than makes up for its lack of genuine scares and real tension by offering an amusing barrage of gooey, gory thrills that are sure to have even squeamish viewers giggling with queasy delight, James Gunn's Slither perfectly captures the wild-eyed, B-movie spirit so sorely lacking in sterile modern megaplexes. Its tentacled roots planted firmly in Tromaville and its tongue stuck firmly in cheek, Slither's sole goal is to entertain. Writer/director Gunn certainly seems well versed in the conventions of sci-fi and horror, and when watching Slither it's plain to see just how much fun he enjoys having with them. As much of a tribute as Slither is to previous horrors, though, the charm of Gunn's creepy-crawly horror comedy is that you don't have to be a die-hard genre fan to be in on the joke. Sure horror fans will relish the opportunity to pick out the many visual references cleverly scattered throughout the film and see Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer star Michael Rooker ham it up while wearing a living-room-sized prosthetic piece that must be seen to be believed, but as entertaining as those aspects of the film may be, it's Slither's squishy manic energy and giddy unpredictibility that are likely to win over those just looking for a fun night at the flicks. Of course, the "Browncoats" (read: Firefly fans) coming out to see former Firefly star Nathan Fillion in his first major post-Whedon role will no doubt take joy in seeing the uptight Serenity captain cut loose a little in the role of the good-humored town sheriff, and Fillion's one-time Firefly co-star Gregg Henry offers a hilarious turn as the alien-besieged town's skeptical, self-absorbed mayor. With contemporary horror films so readily willing to fall back on the tried-and-true formula of dunderheaded teens being chased by slash-happy maniacs brandishing pointy shiny things, it's refreshing to see a filmmaker who's willing to break the mold a bit. Though Slither clearly draws on such lesser-known horror flicks as Shivers and The Deadly Spawn for inspiration, Gunn comes out a winner in the end by choosing to parlay his influences into something original instead of simply emulating them. Sure, Slither may not be 100-percent original, but in a creatively devoid cinematic cycle in which a new horror remake seems to open at the box office each week, it's good to know that there are still a few filmmakers out there looking for a way to get under viewers' skin on their own terms. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Brenda James - Brenda Gutierrez; Don Thompson - Wally
Credit
Michael Norman Wong - Art Director, Jonathan Shore - Associate Producer, Eyde Belasco - Casting, Jeff Levine - Co-producer, Patricia Hargreaves - Costume Designer, Bryan C. Knight - First Assistant Director, James Gunn - Director, John Axelrad - Editor, Marc Abraham - Executive Producer, Thomas A. Bliss - Executive Producer, Norm Waitt - Executive Producer, Scott Niemeyer - Executive Producer, Shawn Williamson - Line Producer, Tyler Bates - Composer (Music Score), Todd Masters - Makeup, Dan Rebert - Makeup, Andrew Neskoromny - Production Designer, Gregory Middleton - Cinematographer, Paul Brooks - Producer, Eric Newman - Producer, William Skinner - Sound/Sound Designer, James Gunn - Screenwriter, John Gajdecki - Visual Effects Supervisor, Todd Masters - Creature Effects, Dan Rebert - Creature Effects
Rural tycoon Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) is infected by a malevolent extraterrestrial creature that threatens to destroy the human race. Soon, unusual things begin to happen within the normally peaceful town of Wheelsy, South Carolina. Pets go missing, followed by livestock, and finally people, with all of it leading back to Grant. As Grant slowly mutates into a hideous creature, his wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) begins to notice her husband's behavior and physical changes. Wheelsy's citizens are infected by the alien parasite plague, which is transforming them into zombies. The zombies are being controlled through a hive mind relationship with Grant. A small group of survivors led by the town's sheriff, Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), try to prevent the parasites from spreading. When the heroes discover the zombies can be traced back to Grant, they realize they need to kill him.
When the trailer for Slither came out, Internet boards about the movie suddenly lit up with protests from a legion of fans of the 1986 film Night of the Creeps. "Alien slugs that turn people into zombies!" they cried. "What a rip-off!" I bring this up not because I think Slither--which is a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of at least a dozen '80s horror films--could really be considered a rip-off of any one of them.[5]
However, Gunn has stated that David Cronenberg's Shivers and The Brood were the two biggest influences on the story in Slither along with the mangaUzumaki by Junji Ito.[6][7][8][9][10]Slither also pays homage to the studio Troma Films, where Gunn began his career. Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman has a cameo as a "Sad Drunk", and one scene includes a clip from the Troma film The Toxic Avenger.
Distribution
Slither was released on regular DVD and on HD DVD/DVD hybrid disc on October 24, 2006.[11] The HD version is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen encoded at 1080p and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround. In addition to the film, the DVD contains two making-of documentaries, one being solely dedicated to the visual effects. The DVD also contains deleted and extended scenes, a blooper reel, visual effects progressions, a set tour with Nathan Fillion, and audio commentary by James Gunn and Nathan Fillion. Also included are featurettes outlining how to make edible blood, and Lloyd Kaufman's documentary discussing his day on set, and the shooting of his one line (which was eventually cut from the film). Finally, there is an added bonus entitled "Who Is Bill Pardy?" which is a joke feature made by Gunn with the sole purpose of roasting Nathan Fillion, and was shown at the film's wrap party.[12]
Reception
Box office performance
Slither debuted in the United States and Canada on March 31, 2006 in 1,945 theaters. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $3,880,270 and ranked #8 at the U.S. and Canadian box office.[1]Slither grossed $7,802,450 in its theatrical run in the United States and Canada.[13]Slither also underperformed in France, grossing $236,261 from 150 screens.[14] The film grossed $5,032,486 as of February 6, 2008 in territories outside the United States and Canada for a worldwide gross of $12,834,936.[13] Its box office performance was substantially less than its total budget of $29.5 million, including marketing costs;[1] the production budget taking up about $15 million of the total.[15]Paul Brooks, president of Slither's production company, Gold Circle Films, said the company was "crushingly disappointed" by the gross.[1]Universal Pictures distanced itself from the Slither's poor box office performance, citing their distribution of the film as merely part of a deal with Gold Circle Films.[16]The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Slither's performance "might have killed off the horror-comedy genre for the near future."[1] Producer Paul Brooks offered this explanation about why Slither failed to catch on with movie-goers:
I think that because it was comedy-horror instead of pure horror is where the problem lay. It's the first comedy-horror in a long time, and maybe the marketplace just isn't ready for comedy-horror yet. It's difficult to think of other explanations.[1]
DVD performance
The DVD opened at #8 in sales and #15 in rentals, grossing $3,389,405[17] in sales and $2.08 million[18] in rentals in its opening week. The DVD total rental gross reached $11.1 million[19] and total DVD sales were $4,541,528 as of 2006.[20]
Critical reception
Film review website Rotten Tomatoes, which calculates the consensus of critics across the United States, found that Slither was generally embraced favorably by critics,[21] with a rating of "85% fresh".[22] The movie was also featured in the April 14, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly as #1 on "The Must List"; "Ten Things We Love This Week".[23]Slither picked up the 2006 Fangoria "Chainsaw Award" for the Highest Body Count, and garnered nominations in the categories of Relationship From Hell, Dude You Don't Wanna Mess With, and Looks That Kill.[24] Additionally, the horror magazine Rue Morgue named Slither the “Best Feature Film of the Year,”.[25] Among the critics who did not like the film, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave Slither a "two thumbs down" rating on their television show, with Richard Roeper saying he was "all zombied out" after reviewing a wave of zombie-themed movies from the year before.[26] Guest critic Michael Phillips named Slither his DVD pick of the week on the television show Ebert & Roeper. Slither was listed as one of the “Top 25 DVDs of the Year” by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone magazine.[27]
References to Popular Culture
In a scene where Kylie Strutemyer (Tania Saulnier) is asked by her father abaut her painted nails, she coments "Kiri Goshima done 'em. She's Japanese", which is a reference to the protagonist of the Junji Ito's horror manga Uzumaki, wherein people of a small town start become insane and/or mutate into strange spiral monsters.
