Slither

Title: Slither
Rating: 3.5/5
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Sci Fi
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks
Director: James Gunn

“Praise *Jesus*? That's fucking pushing it! This shit's about as far from God as shit can get! Either of you ever seen anything like that? You even heard of anything like that? Huh? Me neither... and I watch Animal Planet all the fucking time!”

Taking its cues from the long-gone classic horror B-Movies from the 80s, filled with enough clichés that only a horror fan would recognise, from zombies, chest-bursting slugs and mind-controlling creatures from outer space with a craving for meat, its all been integrated in this comical rampage. This is one of those rare horror films that preys on the lighter side of the genre, and for the most part delivers on just that, paying homage to the classics without overtly criticising them.

It doesn’t take long for the horror to hit, with the alien meteor emerging in a small time Southern American town. Taking its first victim in the form of ‘Grant,’ when out for a stroll with an old flame, he returns to his wife and begins his struggle to keep his metamorphosis hidden from her (which inevitably fails), as he proceeds in his parasitic nature, slowly wreaking havoc on the town. With plenty of slimy goo, tentacles, and no fear of mock ‘low-budget’ effects, the script demonstrates a constant evolution such that no particular element gets tiring.

But despite this strong – if convoluted – premise as it struggles to cram in as many tributes as it can, it would be not nearly as effective if not for the constant comical delivery where particular credit goes to Nathan Fillion as Detective Bill Pardy, and the foul-mouthed Mayor Jack MacReady played by Gregg Henry, often capable of speaking what you’re thinking but would never expect to be said. With some excellent looks of horror on their faces as certain events unfold, their delivery surpasses what jokes the plot could convey alone. With some delightful use of contradictory music (reminiscent of the ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ track from “Resevoir Dogs,”) further hitting the point home without becoming overtly obvious.

But the story isn’t without its issues; this is at the end of the day a film for the 80s horror fans, and many of the jokes are likely to be lost on others. Furthermore the relationship between Grant’s wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) and Grant felt present but unbelievable. There was little time dedicated to establishing a more realistic element, and perhaps would have worked better if she was unhappy in her marriage – a simple short scene could have readily displayed that. Despite this qualm, it is inevitably more enjoyable to hit the ground running than to have excessively long plots building up the characters in a film such as this.

There seem to be a distinct lack of films emerging quite like this, poking fun at the past without being condescending, not a simply outsider mocking what he doesn’t know well, but rather a fan wonderfully paying homage in a comical fashion. Not all of the jokes work, but if you’re a fan of horror films its well worth seeking out for those that do.