"Slither""Slither"
Rating: ***
Directed by James Gunn
Writing by James Gunn
A review by Larry Stanley
Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Elizabeth Banks, Brenda James, Tania Saulnier
Praise the Lord!!! Finally a horror movie without hip-hop, Rap or Top-40 music.
As far as I am concerned, that makes it a winner already. But on top of that,
the film is intelligent, well made and frequently frightening.
As I understand it, James Gunn wrote "Slither" as homage to all the
horror movies he loved as a young man. And that love definitely shows through
in the various contributions. You can see everything from "Toxic Avenger"
to "Night of the Creeps" to the different "Living Dead"
films of Romero.
Actually, this
film also deals with a slightly religious theme as well. For years, many planetologists
and biologists have worried about the possibility of a meteor strike on the
earth that would release a biological compound deadly to life on earth.
Each day, the earth is struck by, according to astronomers, "billions"
of small meteors. 99% of these burn up in the Earth atmosphere or land in water.
But that still leaves a couple of dozen to land on solid dirt.
What would happen if, as in many horror films, something came out of that meteor?
And this is also to me evidence of a somewhat higher power, call it what you
want; I go with 'God'.
Here is a nice green planet, wide open to meteor or comet strikes, that is hit
a heck of a lot by these same astronomical bodies. But so far nothing has come
out of one, and in 65 million years we have not had one large enough to wipe
out all life. Think about that the next time you look at the craters of the
moon.
So, in "Slither" we are dealing with a loving but jerk of a husband
who when rebuffed by his younger wife one evening going out drinking. He is
hit on by a sister of a former flame and while playing around in the forest
around their town, is infected by an alien life form.
On returning home, Grant prepares to make a 'nest' in the basement when he hears
music coming from upstairs. He finds Starla dressed in a sheer nightie doing
somewhat amateurish provocative moves in an attempt to seduce him. He begins
to cry, which actually flips Starla's switch, so to speak, and they have a fairly
interesting morning before she goes off to teach school.
Later, Grant attempts to infect her but gains control of his 'inner demons'
and leaves the house, whereupon he winds up with Brenda, infecting her in a
scene that is not only horrifying, but vastly more erotic then the sex scene
in either Underworld: Evolution or Bloodrayne. And the one in Bloodrayne was
actually pretty well done.
This results in sheriff Bill Pardy, who has carried a torch for Starla for years,
coming in to investigate Brenda's disappearance. Which is more or less when
the crap hits the fan.
James Gunn has had
a lot of ups and downs in his career as a filmmaker. His work on Scooby Doo
was not generally hailed as Oscar material, but his work on the remake of Dawn
of the Dead pushed him up in both status and experience, enough to give him
the chops and courage to attempt a film like "Slither".
It is a tribute to the Celluloid Gods that "Slither" does not follow
the current cookie cutter pattern of soft rated, teen flick like Stay Alive
or even Hostel. Here, it uses real scares, appropriate gore, and humor that
other directors and studios have cast aside in an attempt to satisfy bubble-gum
snapping, text messaging teens.
This is a horror film for adults. There ain't no bathroom humor, fart jokes
or plastic boobed or brained boys and girls.
But there are shocks and there is tension. People split open, an overly large
Brenda (as we used to say back home, "There is fat and there is Fat. But
this girl has let herself go.") But there is at least one penis joke, so
that will satisfy any teens that sneak in.
I have not seen many trailers for this one. But the ones I did see show that
there is supposed to be a bit of humor in this movie. Now, this is not totally
unusual in horror films. Many of them do incorporate humor as a way to relieve
the tension that will build up during the more intense moments. 
Here, "Slither" uses humor to reinforce those same moments. It is
a skill that is hard for a director to demonstrate. James Gunn does it masterfully.
From gore scenes that are actually funny, to pop-out bad guys, the film relies
on it's almost unending action to keep the humor and the pacing at a steady
beat throughout the film.
If I had to compare the film to anything I have seen in a long, long time, I
would have to say this is Tremors but with added gore and cussing. And God was
their cussing.
The talent amassed here is truly well thought out. The characters all worked
well together, and their chemistry is easily seen.
"Slither" is not a rip off of dozens of other film; as I said, it
is more like homage to those films. There is right out kudos to Cronenberg's
"They Came from Within" and I am sure that is what Gunn meant to do.
The humor is something that makes this film as well made as it is. It is not
stupid, like so many others over the last few years has been, and it is one
that a true horror fan can enjoy and not be embarrassed to talk about at school
or work to other fans.
But don't mistake the humor for a kid's movie. This film is not really right
for anyone under 15, due to language, violence and gore. But, for an adult or
older teen get your popcorn, sit down and get ready to be glued to your seat
for a while.
