Slither REVIEW

Alien slugs, creeping tentacles, and alien-possessed zombies… What more could anyone want from a movie??

Those drawn to such content will be oozing with happiness to know that James Gunn's “Slither” is just about as much fun as one can have in the aliens-in-a-small-town sub-genre. Similar to Gunn's screenplay of the 2004 “Dawn of the Dead” remake, this film boasts a careful blend of audacious horror and macabre laughs. “Slither” touches on a greater theme of Darwinian survival of the fittest just long enough for viewers to grasp the familiar threat, but never turns ponderous or self-serious. In fact, this may be the most refreshingly least self-serious horror film to come along in quite a while that still manages to scare effectively.

Obviously comfortable with its inevitable cult classic pigeonholed status, writer/director Gunn lends the film just enough heart to allow the characters to become relatable. Marital dysfunction is a the heart of “Slither”, even if it plays out in the most strangely twisted body-horror weirdness on this side of David Cronenberg. Yes, this is another horror film claiming to have heart, but like the more-clever “Shuan of the Dead”, any marketing claims of being a “rom-zom-com” push the “rom” element a little further than it honestly should.

It all begins and ends in a sleepy small town, when an unseen meteor crash-lands in the woods. Meanwhile, our heroine Starla's husband storms out of the house after being turned down in the sack, and comes home not exactly himself. It isn't long at all before he begins hording large quantities of raw meat, both at the grocery store, and of the neighborhood pet variety. (My money's on his pronouncement of “meat!” to be the breakthrough cult dialogue of this movie full of choice one-liners.) All this quickly leads to a missing-persons case, and the local police are on the job. Then 27,000 alien slugs are released onto the town, and begin burrowing their way into everyone's brains, making them into alien zombie people. Starla's gruesomely warped husband, the head alien, is at the center of all this, sitting in the garage absorbing the mindless ghouls into his scaly girth, but can she ever hope to sweet-talk his human side to triumph over the deadly inner-creature? The real question in this movie is, should she even bother with that tired routine. Gunn and company fortunately knows that, and all has an irreverent good time.

Nathan Fillion of “Firefly” and “Serenity” fame turns in a splendid performance built on both believable inner-longing and dead-on comedic timing. With such obvious versatility and talent, not to mention dashing leading man looks, it has often been wondered why he hasn't attained Harrison Ford-like superstar status. Whatever cinematic injustice lies in the answer to that question has undoubtedly ironically worked in favor of “Slither”, itself being a smaller, unabashed B-film that superstar actors typically wouldn't dare touch. So maybe Fillion's bad career luck has paid off yet again for genre fans, as he brings a palpable spark to what really amounts to a by-the-numbers action/horror role. Years from now, when he's a major star on Jay Leno's couch and being “embarrassed” with a choice clip from this film, he can take comfort in the fact that he's funnier now than his host has been in fifteen years.

The rest of the cast compliments the material just as they should in a film like this. Elizabeth Banks, still hot off of her role as the hottie of “40 Year-Old Virgin”, gets the job done as Starla, the wife who picked the wrong night to not be in the mood. Gregg Henry steals every scene he's in as he hams it up as the local mayor with a bad attitude. Michael Rooker, playing the tragically possessed jilted husband, under what appears to be a solid ton of rubber effects makeup, even appears to be having a good time. Gunn's wife Jenna Fisher of NBC's “The Office” turns up in a small role, and true to its stock and heritage, the film features cameos by Lloyd Kaufmann and Rob Zombie.

Icky but never overly bloody, “Slither” still manages to happily buck the trend of the PG-13 horror movie. Former St. Louisan Gunn made his way home for this screening, and graciously answered a bunch of questions after the film. He attested that this film was nothing short of a labor of love, paying homage to Cronenberg's “Shivers”, as well as his Troma days of “Tromeo & Juliet”. He discussed his usage of both practical puppet effects and CGI, both of which work well, but both of which were also greatly challenging to him as a director. (“When I'm on the set, I like CGI better, because then you don't have to deal with the stupid puppet looking fake. But when I'm in post, I like the puppets better, because then I don't have to put up with the idiotic CGI guys.”) He assured me that there are big plans for the DVD, but don't let that keep you from supporting the man's work on its theatrical run. (Whatever keeps him from writing another “Scooby-Doo” film is a worthwhile effort, right?)

To keep this in perspective, “Slither” is far from a flawless film. Other cult horror films like “Bubba Ho-Tep” and “Evil Dead 2” respectively say and do more than this one ever tries to, but it is the most fun, and most consistently entertaining film of its pedigree that we're likely to come across this year. It ain't rocket science, but it is a whole lotta disgusting alien fun.

- Jim Tudor