Slither
Written and Directed by: James Gunn
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Tania Saulnier, Gregg Henry, Jenna Fischer

In case you haven’t noticed, there have been a heck of a lot of horror movies in theatres lately. The trend seems to be brought on by the combination of their relative low production cost and critic-proof nature. (In other words, it’s a pretty safe bet they will be profitable, no matter how bad they are.) As a result, we’ve been seeing all kinds of horror movies, from teen slasher flicks to psychological thrillers to Asian horror remakes… it never dawned on me until now just how many different kinds of horror movies there really are. But the one thing that almost all of these movies have in common is the fact that they all themselves so damn seriously. Back in the 80’s, horror used to be a lot more fun; a good mix of laughs and scares. I suppose, as the movies got progressively cheesier that may have been what ended up killing the trend back then. But the truth is, horror movies never really go away… they just go underground.

Which is exactly where director James Gunn comes in. He may be known to the average movie-goer for penning the Scooby-Doo movies and the Dawn of the Dead remake, but his most noteworthy experience comes from his work on independent movies — specifically with Troma, the undisputed kings of the b-movie world. Gunn wrote and co-directed Tromeo and Juliet with Troma founding father Lloyd Kaufman, and generally soaked up the vibe of these splatterfests while honing his irreverent sense of humour. Now, years later, he has gotten the chance to write and direct his first “studio” picture, and it seems only fitting that he should be the one to bring humour and over the top gross out gore back to the genre.

That said, I’m not sure that Slither qualifies as a comedy at all. Don’t mistake this for a Scary Movie-style spoof, Slither is a genuine horror flick with its own fair share of creepy moments. The difference comes in the way that the movie takes a ridiculous plot and treats it with a degree of plausibility, without being afraid to throw a little bit of campiness into the mix. A lot of people have adverse reactions when you describe something as “campy”, but these are the same people who need every last plot point spelled out for them in a horror movie. If a movie can scare you and have fun doing it, then why shouldn’t it do both? This is the exact opposite of some of these recent horror films like Hostel, which while impressive in their own right, are like an exercise in masochism for the viewer. (Ironically, Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever is the last horror movie in theatres that I can recall having a similar tone to Slither.)

The movie starts off with the simplest of concepts: a meteor from space crashes in a forest near a small town, bringing with it an alien parasite. After infecting a local high school teacher Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), the creature begins to spread itself throughout the townsfolk. When a woman goes missing, local sherriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) and his staff get called in on the case… with the added twist that Pardy has a thing for Grant’s wife, Starla (Elizabeth Banks). The concept is simple, and it does not get bogged down with meaningless back story or an overcomplicated investigation into the origin of the creature. We just accept that it exists, and we worry about how the hell to get rid of it. The way it should be.

Nathan Fillion’s performance in this movie feels like he just stepped off the set of Serenity and straight into Slither. The thing is, that melodramatic western vibe works great for his role as sherriff as well. I just wondered why he had a cowboy drawl when no one else did. Either way, he does a fine job of carrying the majority of the film and keeping a comedic slant to every scene. Michael Rooker was fabulously icky as the alien creature, and I can’t think of anyone who is better suited to make your skin crawl (I kept flashing back to his scene in Mallrats with the chocolate-covered pretzels… which was perhaps even more disgusting.)

The true star of this movie is easily the disgusting creature effects and gore, thanks in part to the make-up and special effects created by MastersFX. While there are some computer generated effects in this movie, the vast majority of scenes “keep it real” using traditional methods. This is a big part of what gives the movie its 80’s throwback quality, and also what makes it so disgustingly fun. They truly go above and beyond, which is why this movie reminded me a lot of Peter Jackson’s early movies like Bad Taste and Dead Alive (aka Braindead).

There are also plenty of in-jokes and references to other b-movies, as you might expect, although nothing too obvious or distracting (well… he had to get a Troma plug in there somehow). My only real complaint about this film (and you won’t often hear me say this): not enough gratuitous sex and nudity! That was the one thing that really would have made this movie feel like an 80’s gore flick. It’s not even like they were trying to keep the movie at a PG-13 rating to widen their audience… it’s rated R. I guess Mr. Gunn just wanted to keep things a little more respectable than a Troma film.

In the grand scheme of things, this kind of gross out horror movie is admittedly a dime a dozen, and I don’t think Gunn’s direction is as strong as his writing. But let’s face it, we haven’t seen anything like this in theatres in years and I found it quite refreshing. While the average person will probably find this movie incredibly hokey and stupid, the b-movie lovers will be flocking to this movie in droves and hoping that James Gunn has a few more where this came from. You know who you are, and if you’re wondering whether Slither delivers the goods… it definitely does. — Sean

SCORE:

Recommended If You Like: Night of the Creeps, Bad Taste, Dead Alive, Cabin Fever

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