Slither (2006)

   

Directed & Written by: James Gunn

Starring:

Nathan Fillon .... Bill Pardy
Elizabeth Banks .... Starla Grant
Tania Saulnier .... Kylie Strutemyer
Gregg Henry .... Jack MacReady
Michael Rooker .... Grant Grant
Brenda James .... Brenda
Don Thompson .... Wally
Haig Sutherland .... Trevor
Jennifer Copping .... Margaret
Jenna Fischer .... Shelby

Release Dates: Theatrical: March 31, 2006; Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival: April 26, 2006

*Images courtesy at: www.outnow.ch

 

 

Rating:

 

A comet seems to crash land in a local small county while not many locals seem to pay attention to this.
The next evening a husband named Grant (Michael Rooker) can't seem to get it on with his wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) so he drinks at a karaoke bar and meets up with his mistress Brenda (Brenda James) where the make out near a dark wooded area where the comet has landed and while they follow a slimy trail something infects Grant making him behave differently along with having a real hunger for meat as well as eating people's house pets too.
He also infects Brenda as she becomes largely inpregnated by giant worm type object that invade people's mouths and turns them into zombie's or human monsters.

It's up to Starla, the crude foult mouthed Mayor Jack McReady (Gregg Henry), the head sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillon) and some of the other locals to save any survivors as well as finding a way to snuff out these creepy crawlers.

 

Looking at the cover this looked like that this would be a fun movie and I heard alot of good stories about it all. Well watching it was enjoyable as at first we spot a comet flying in the air and landing into the Earth as well as some dimwitted Sheriff's nearby which looked quite slapstick but in a good fashion. Then there's the nice opening credits with this comet opening up looking like some sort of an egg which is a nice pleaser to the viewers to watch.
Then there's the typical small county town with a jack ass mayor named Jack MacReady shouting obscenities while trying to drive past someone which leaves an impression that this town is not run very well at all.
Plus there's some scene's at a highschool with one of the students doodling drawing a nude pic of a girl on his binder which seems to be interesting on what horny teens like to fantasize. After all there are those sorts in a horror film.
Yet there's a moment of bad writing with a husband named Grant trying to act flirtatious towards his wife Starla in bed as she isn't in the mood which made me think to myself ho hum but then this was one of the good key stories to the end of the film too.
Then Grant goes to a karaoke bar which shows on how terrible some karaoke singers can really be which looked very hokey but yet in a good way to get an odd chuckle out of the audience. Then his mistress Brenda approaches to the bar which looked pretty goofy but in good taste along with them making out in the woods afterwards in which I could never understand on how Grant can be one of those playboy types since he didn't look the least bit attractive. It seemed very strange. But the forestry looked dark and creepy which seemed to work well along with them spotting a slimy trail. Then it looked good seeing a freaky looking object on the ground with him poking it with a stick and then something happening as there's supposed to be some suspenseful moments. Yet this looked cheesy but fun. This moment very much paid a tribute to The Blob.
Also there's alot of moments when Grant buys a ton of meat or is obseesed having some in which this looked good and mysterious when all of this has happened. You think to yourself as to why he is overly hungry for meant. There's also another moment when he eyes his pet dog which seems a little strange and gives you the chills on what he's planning to do.
There's alot of good shocking moments like when Starla goes down in a cellar and spots a bunch of dead animals which also looked very dark and gruesome with all of this. Alot of dog lovers will be shocked out when they spot this for sure.
There's more weird moments such as when Brenda is pregnant in a barn and looks like an enormous ball since she is an infected one. It totally bogs you out and explodes with baby giant worm like objects trying to go inside other people's mouths as this was quite impressive by making everything seem suspenseful while this happens.
Of course there's the famous bathtub scene in which most fans of this movie will remember which looked nice and soothing with teenage Kylie Strutemyer lying in it and one of this slithering objects tries to attack her as this looked funny and creepy to watch. Another moment is when she calls to her Mom and right away you have a bad feeling that her family might be infected by all of this.
There's many funny moments when Kylie runs to a vehicle and locks herself in with those squirmy objects slithering quickly towards the vehicle in which I got a good chuckle watching this along with her infected family invading the vehicle. I found this almost like a paying tribute to the George A. Romero zombie flicks.
There's other shocking and slimy moments with bodies forming into others to make a slithering creature look large. I found this borrowed alot from flicks like Invasion of the Body Snatchers since the effects looked pretty neat.
One of the best moments is close to the ending when Starla has to try and kill the infected Grant but is scared but tries to sweet talk him into a romance in which you may think that this moment will be touching until she goes on with her plan. Alot of these types of stories are traiditional but with a different twist. Still it works out nicely.
Bottom line is this film was a total tribute to those old school drive in horror films we all loved to watch back in the days and works out well here. It seemed rusty at first but seemed to get right into the swing of things. It's a fun movie to watch and entertaining even if the comedy in it was a little stale. Worth checking out if you enjoy horror tributes.

The acting was somewhat okay in which this looked very hokey. Lead actor Nathan Fillon (Bill Pardy) seemed a little too average with his work involved in this one. He tried to pull off some energy and can be successful but still he seemed stale with what he did in it. I didn't find him to be much of a character actor although he tried very hard to be one.
Elizabeth Banks (Starla Grant) at first seemed very stale as well by expressing her emotional attitude into this film and was a bit corny while doing this but yet she really picked up the pace later on when the flick was really rolling by acting believeable anxious and fearful for what is happening. A good shocked expression and reaction after spotting a decaying face by someone else. Her best performance was close to the end of the film showing believeable fearful reactions but trying to pull herself together pretending to be charming.
Tania Saulnier (Kylie Strutemyer) did a fine job in her role even if her appearance started in the middle of the story as she shows a ton of energy in her performance and really bringing on the intesnity with what is happening around her. Does a good job lying in a bathtub as well as her screaming which looked highly energetic and her struggling away in the bathroom still picking up her energy with all of this. Shows a nice shocked and scared reaction after spotting something terrifying. She worked very hard on portraying this role as you can tell. She was a true character actress.
Gregg Henry (Jack MacReady) really drew on to the public eye as a redneck mayor in which he brings on some good timing with his dark comedic performance by using such obscene language in what he portrayed. He brings on a nice anxious and hyperactive energy into his role as well as showing a believeable arrogance into what he dies. He brought plenty of spunk into all of this and was probably the best out of the whole cast. A good moment with him using obscene language against a guy standing in the middle of the road and then a nice embarassed reaction on him after being caught by a little girl chuckling which showed nice timing. Does a terrific energetic job while spotting something in a barn and he really gets aggressive about it. Does a good job freaking out and cringing in a cellar as he shows nice tense energy on this. A good moment with him acting guilty as well as being reluctant to try and eat an arm which looked naturally performed.
Michael Rooker (Grant Grant) was quite annoying in his role but yet he shows a good hyperactive attitude. Yet he was supposed to portray someone that women are attached to and he doesn't have the looks for this at all which was a bit of a mistake in my opinion. He knows on how to act goofy though which was the intention of his role especially when he's infected by that disease. So there's some pointers there. I don't know, I just found him overly annoying but that's just me. Does a good job by suddenly almost losing control and panting while going near a shower ready to attack which looked slightly cheesily performed but in a good fashion. Does a good job acting vicious towards his fellow actress and trying to attack her.
Brenda James (Brenda) was a little too over the top with her role in which she seemed a bit mellodramatic with whatever she did especially her frightened attitude or flirtatious behavior. Sometimes she showed some good energy such as her screaming but other times sucshe lacked big time.
Don Thompson (Wally) seemed to have a real effective supporting role in which he seemed to show a nice gruff attitude with everything that he did as well as bringing on some good comedy to his part. He also really polished up a good act when he was infected and was going crazy as I found this impressive. Does a good job approaching his fellow actress by almost talking sleazy towards her as well as really getting forceful with his words in which he does this in a good creepy fashion.

There's lots of slaughtered dogs
People are slaughtered with their guts revealed
A person is sliced in half and cut open
People are spitting out blood
People's faces puff up and have gross results after being spat by venom
Someone eats an arm

There's good low rumbling sounds in certain spots like a couple discovering the comet that has landed in the woods which seems to work very well as well as very strong classical orchestral music carrying on with trombone and violin music plus the deep violin sounds for the horror touches which sounded neatly effective too. Of course we can't forget about the booming noises too to make the viewer even more scared.

There's alot of songtracks performed in the film but one song that grabbed my attention is the soft rock 80's group Air Supply with their hit "Every Woman in the World" when
there's a moment with the wife Starla tries to make up for not being in a lustful mood with her husband Grant as the song was very fitting with the nicely high vocalising as it sounds very touching. Plus this was reused when Grant is infected near the end of the madness that is happening when she tempts him before she tricks him on killing him.
Also during the closing credits there's an annoying track by The Yayhoos with "Baby I Love You" in which the guitar playing sounded awful and the singing sounded even worst in which these two needed serious lessons in which he sounded totally drunk while he was singing. Yet it works for what the conry story was all about. There's some harsh lyrics in it too.

Brenda Gutierrez: [Brenda has become a giant pregnant stomach] Something's wrong with me.

Bill Pardy: Don't let them in your mouth!

Bill Pardy: [after seeing a zombie become a part of Grant] Well, now that is some fucked up shit.