Slither (2006)

Smith’s Verdict: ***

Reviewed by Tanner Smith

The ads for the science fiction-splatter movie “Slither” say that every horror film that came before it were “wusses.” That may not be true, but then again, “Slither” isn’t really a flat-out horror flick. It is a horror B-movie that has a comedic edge to it. The movie carries almost the same gimmick as the 1986 B-movie “Night of the Creeps.” That movie was about alien slugs invading people’s minds on a college campus. This time, the filmmakers say, “Forget the boring teenagers. We’ve seen too many of these teenaged splatter movies. Let’s just have town locals come in and see how they react to these disgusting situations.” Now keep in mind—this movie does get pretty disgusting. Read on and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

As the movie opens, we meet the folks in a Southern small town. We meet Starla Grant (Elizabeth Banks), a gorgeous blonde. We meet Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) as the rural tycoon that Starla married, even though he may be a bit too old for her. But who cares? Then, we meet Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), the town sheriff who has a bit of a crush on Starla. There’s also the town mayor whose opening scene gets a laugh. He cusses out a person who is in his driving zone then he sees a woman and her children look at him blankly and then he greets them, making them say, “Good morning, Mayor.”

Grant is infected by a kind of alien being and he becomes a brainwashed creature with an immense craving for meat. Pets have gone missing, as well as a local woman, and Starla is starting to know that there is something very, very wrong with Grant. And who wouldn’t when we see him later, this time as a blob resembling Jabba the Hutt.

The special effects are pretty impressive, making the ick factor even more ick-ish. There’s a scene later in the movie where that local woman I mentioned earlier that was missing is found as a huge sphere-shaped thing the size of a barn, and suddenly, hundreds of monster slugs explode out of her. And this is when things get even more crazy, as the slugs attack by entering people’s mouths and taking over their minds.

This movie really gets disgusting and the movie barely gets away with being too disgusting. But it’s all just good fun. Writer/director James Gunn was obviously shooting for making this movie the way it is and he succeeds. “Slither” isn’t for everyone, but I thought it was a fun splatter movie that kept my interest.