Empire's Slither Movie Review

Plot
The slumbering Southern town of Wheelsy becomes the focal point of an alien invasion when an extraterrestrial parasite crashes to Earth and possesses the town bully (Rooker). As the alien’s spawn turns the townsfolk into zombies, chief of police Bill Pardy (Fillion) sets out to turn the tide.

Dawn Of The Dead remake scribe James Gunn returns to the zombie genre for his directorial debut. But where Dawn was the rejuvenation of a seminal ’70s horror, Slither is a loving nod to the shoddy charms of countless bottom-shelf titles that littered ’80s video stores.

From the initial crash sequence, we’re under no illusions as to what’s in store: slime, blood, phlegm and gore, splattered about with giddy glee as the movie wallows in the primordial muck of its DTV origins. But it’s worth pointing out that, self-aware as it may be, this is still a low-rent romp with throwaway plot, stock B-movie characters and an emphasis on splatter — hardly a giant leap for the genre.

However, Gunn does show some needed restraint — it would have been easy to blow his budget on unwarranted post-production. Instead, the director uses CGI only to enhance the horrific mutations he’s created, relying on acres of dripping, fleshy prosthetic to carry the monster’s share of effects and making the horror all the more visceral (and faithful) for it.

Entrails and appendages make up only one part of Slither’s appeal, though. While Michael Rooker’s shambling horde takes over the town and increasingly disgusting mutants go on the offensive (watch out for the killer deer!), Gunn underwrites the carnage with a parched sense of humour that provokes barking belly laughs to off-set the offal. A string of artfully delivered one-liners and deftly handled exchanges crackle through the script, the (quite intentional) comedy not only adding substance but hoisting Slither above its schlocky source material.

It’s no surprise that the majority of laughs are ably captured by Fillion, showing off the knack for deadpan delivery previously tapped by Joss Whedon in Serenity. As Pardy, he fills out the role of an unlikely hero dealing with extraordinary events, bringing bumbling affability to a part that could so easily have been lost to square jaws, steely eyes and other clumsy stereotypes.

Tipping its hat at everything from the original Puppet Masters to bargain-bin trash like Ted Nicolaou’s TerrorVision, Slither is a carefully crafted parody (the Predator nod in particular will bring a smile to your face). But this is the scalpel to the Scary Movie series’ bludgeoning sledgehammer, skirting cheap imitation in favour of affectionate irreverence and managing to produce a genre hybrid that’s far more than the sum of its pilfered parts.


Fantastic movie, a real great homage to the B-Movie genre. Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker all do great jobs and Gunn nails it, it's hard to believe the same man behind this wrote the Scooby Doo movies. ... More


Posted by odddaze at 02:58, 07 April 2010 \| Report This Post



THE WORST COMEDY/HORROR FILM EVER.
THE WORST COMEDY/HORROR FILM EVER ALONG WITH SCARY MOVIE ... More


Posted by nc_jj at 17:32, 23 February 2008 \| Report This Post



Slither
Horror comedy is rarely done as well as this. A great mix of laughs, impressive fx and a genuinely exciting story. Slither inhabits the same world as the likes of Tremors, Eight Legged Freaks and the early spatter flix of Peter Jackson. Smart, gory and fun - Slither's natural home on DVD - well worth reinvestigating. Great end of credits song too! ... More


Posted by chris welch at 13:57, 30 July 2007 \| Report This Post



RE: I'm Bill Pardy!
Really enjoyed it, if u loved tremors, critters, society or gremlins go see this. some really funny moments and one liners and a lot of really gorey stuff too recommended 4/5 ... More

Posted by RastaRed at 13:42, 25 April 2007 \| Report This Post



I'm Bill Pardy!
Just bought the DVD, and oh my! What a cracking debut. The performances are superbly directed, with the gore excellently envisioned. Some marvellous setpieces, especially the discovery of the host for the films' slugs. The real treat is in Nathan Fillion, a man steadily becoming one of my favourite actors and who deserves plenty recognition. An excellent slice of fanboy nostalgia. ... More


Posted by Cheyne Stoking at 21:50, 18 February 2007 \| Report This Post



Gooey - well, duh...Funny - EMPHATICALLY NOT
It had its moments, but precious few of them. The requisite gore was of course liberally splattered all over the place, as you expect from a film of this pedigree. But the humor was noticeably absent. Comparing this to such horror comedy classics as Tremors or Shawn of the Dead is doing both of these fine films a gross disservice... ... More


Posted by smorguss at 22:58, 04 February 2007 \| Report This Post




Great fun and thoroughly entertaining. A knowing genre movie aimed at fans of Tremors or Lake Placid. ... More


Posted by moviemaniac2 at 19:53, 01 February 2007 \| Report This Post




very good film, lots of fun in places ... More


Posted by casino at 15:54, 14 January 2007 \| Report This Post



Classic!
I regret nothing more than not having seen this in the cinema. But sadly, my multiplex did not have the same opinion as I did, so I waited for the dvd. This is the funniest film I saw this year. It had me stitches from beginning to the end, with a couple of good jumps thrown in for free. It takes some chutzpah to not just reference other splatter films, but also a classic such as Streetcar named desire. The sight of those zombies running, sorry lurching after the police car while screaming St... More


Posted by fee_kh at 18:18, 11 November 2006 \| Report This Post



Not the rubbish Sharon Stone film
Great fun. If you liked Lake Placid this is for you. Very silly. My favourite thing about this was the fact that the hero (Fillion) doesn't actually kill anything until the end, he lets the ladies do all the work. Also really liked "the feeder" idea. ... More


Posted by MyPOV at 09:39, 25 October 2006 \| Report This Post



slither
i must admit after reading cinema reviews for slither i was really looking forward to the dvd release(as i dont get to the cinema much),and i wasnt dissapointed.The mix of comedy,horror and general b movie action and effects was well done.with some good one liners and silly set pieces it makes for an enjoyable 90 mins,a great saturday night in movie.not 100% original but a refreshing change to watch a movie that doesnt take its self to seriously. ... More


Posted by mattywhitt at 13:34, 23 October 2006 \| Report This Post




Now lets get one thing straight, Slither doesnt break any new grounds, it's not original and yes it's all been done before, however, Slither knows this and seems proud to be just like all the others. Where this film really works is its comedy, it's funny but not cheesey, it's over the top and it knows it but its handled well. Michael Rooker looks like he's in his element as the first infected person and gives a show stopping performance. As for the gore, well, theres plenty of it, along with all... More


Posted by dj vivace at 23:23, 29 September 2006 \| Report This Post



truly awful
The only film I have ever walked out of the cinema from. Please explain something that was funny in the first 45 minutes. Not scary or funny, just uncomfortable, particularly the quasi-rape scenes. Utter shite. How can you even compare this to Shaun of the Dead? 4 stars? Out of your minds. Crap Crap Crap. Shite. ... More


Posted by faulknerdrummer at 21:48, 15 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither slipped
Saw it again the other day, and whilst it obviously wasn't as awesome as first time round, it still provided the goods.. Probably didn't laugh as much, but seems as I was on my own it was more a case of giggling in my head, but I still laughed out loud about three times (including the priceless Mr. Pibb gag :)] ... More


Posted by DJ Rob C: Mark II! at 16:37, 13 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither slipped
only two fucking pages of reviews??? well, this was good wasn't it? very good...in fact, it was absolutely as good as i was hoping it would be, which is a rare thing.. ... More


Posted by maffew at 13:15, 13 May 2006 \| Report This Post



Slither slipped
As a sci fi (and I'm not usually a fan) it had scary moments, and sections that were really disgusting. But as comedy? No one in my cinema laughed at all.... and...I don't know....animal deaths just turn me off....poor dogs and all.... Horror - scary Funny - Nope. ... More


Posted by Pipkin3 at 21:13, 12 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: slither
Went to see this last night. First off my enjoyment was ruined by the chav's who insisted on talking or running around while watching the movie. Anyway, as for the film, well while it was certainly fun i think it's been a little overrated, or maybe i just wanted to like it alot more than i did. Having said that it was still alot of fun and wasn't scared to be a dumb old gore movie (pretty excessive for a 15 aswell). I really liked how the zombie idea was used in a slightly... More


Posted by Pritchard_540 at 11:41, 11 May 2006 \| Report This Post



slither
this was meant to be a horror comedy right? unfortunatly there was only one funny moment and that was shown in the trailer, one word to say about this film... strange, you weren't really sure where you were with it. there was no suspense and though fillion was good, but then i'm a joss fan, this could become a cult thing maybe but it doesn't deserv he name horror comedy. ... More


Posted by Midnightorchid at 11:03, 11 May 2006 \| Report This Post



decent but hardly one of the best horrors
I am not a big horror fan.There are only a handful of horror classics and this certainly aint one.It was enjoyable and good fun and pretty gruesome at times,but it really aint that funny.I certainly expected to laugh more.They were just simple one liners like "what the hell is that" and "oh shit", etc. hardly inventive,would give it 2 and a half or 6/10 but saying as these are unavailable i'll put it up to a 3 ... More


Posted by benfear at 20:12, 10 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither
Thought it was boring really. Nothing really original or inventive, I didnt find it particulary funny or have any pulse to it either. Been done before and waaaaaaaaay better. Go and watch Tremors, Lake Placid or Society. /*** ... More


Posted by kenada_woo at 15:10, 08 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither
L: Ruprecht 1 - What happened at the end of the credits? I almost always stay till the end, but on the one occasion when I don't... sp; There is a sequence involving a cat and an alien needle, thats' quite amusing in a 'sequel setting up' way! ... More


Posted by DJ Rob C: Mark II! at 22:00, 06 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither
L: Ruprecht 2 - Despite being a big fan of the original Predator, I didn't spot the reference Empire mentions in their review. Can someone enlighten me? sp; All I spotted was the Predator theme tune in the score, if there is a visual ref I missed it too. ... More

Posted by Shifty Bench at 21:29, 06 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither
I have two questions: 1 - What happened at the end of the credits? I almost always stay till the end, but on the one occasion when I don't... 2 - Despite being a big fan of the original Predator, I didn't spot the reference Empire mentions in their review. Can someone enlighten me? ... More

Posted by Ruprecht at 12:19, 05 May 2006 \| Report This Post



RE: Slither
This movie is good fun - takes heavily from horror / sci-fi B-movies with alien slugs trying to take over a small town in middle America and only the local sherif standing in the way of aliens destroying the human race. Why do the aliens always fail at the first town they land in? Why not the second? Wouldn't that be an interesting change, have the aliens actually succeed in taking over one town before having their asses kicked? Anyway... The cast are all good and there's plenty of f... More


Posted by Electric Babarella at 11:35, 05 May 2006 \| Report This Post



Finger lickin' good
Call it what you will, Slither is a fantastic tribute to all those B movies of the 1950s which had audiences writhing in their seats and cringing behind anything they could lay their sweaty little hands on. With tongue firmly in cheek it successfully crossed the genre boundary between horror and comedy and I find no harm at all with mentioning it in the same breath as Shaun of the Dead. It's certainly the first time in a while I've laughed until I cried while watching a movie, something I don'... More


Posted by shoddyshogun at 14:02, 04 May 2006 \| Report This Post



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SlitherBrain-washing aliens take over a small town. Brilliant.

Slither
Brain-washing aliens take over a small town. Brilliant.