Shivers,
From Beyond, Evil Dead (1 and 2), Predator, The Thing, The Blob, Night of the
Living Dead, The Shining, Nightmare on Elm Street, Re-Animator, Arachnophobia,
Return of the Living Dead, Tremors, Basket Case, Bad Taste, Cabin Fever, The Fly,
The Toxic Avenger, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Critters, Alien, and Student
Bodies.
What
do all of these movies have in common? They’re but a mere fraction of the
films that are paid homage to in James Gunn’s gleefully gory romp Slither.
I say a mere fraction, because I’m certain there are plenty of titles I missed.
In
Slither, just like in The Blob we see a meteor crash to earth. Before long a man
walking through the woods (played by the terrifically entertaining Michael Rooker)
happens upon the cracked space pod and the space slug that crawls from it and
is infected after it shoots a needle-like projectile into his bosom. Rooker almost
immediately begins showing strange side affects. Included; a desire to eat meat,
and a flesh eating rash that slowly changes his physical appearance. Soon, the
true shape of this alien life form is revealed in the form of thousands of slug
like creatures that infect all those they come into contact with. It’s up
to Sheriff Bill Pardy and a group of locals–including a foul mouthed Mayor–to
save the day.
Above
all, James Gunn is simply having a fun time, and he does so with high spirited
energy. Unlike Scream, Gunn isn’t interested in verbal references to horror
films of the past. Instead, he slyly pays tribute through character names, images
and scenes that are all but lifted from the flicks that he grew up on. Many of
these references are extremely subtle (I doubt that anyone will notice the horse
head bookend–I can only hope it was an intentional reference to the underappreciated
80's slasher parody Student Bodies), while others are a little more obvious (the
Predator bit is an absolute riot).
The
proceedings are elevated by an extremely likable cast who appear to be having
as fun a time as their crazed director. Rooker (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer)
is perfect as a loving husband who becomes the unwitting host of the alien life
form. The scene where he awkwardly drags his 6 foot arm along as he makes good
an escape is vintage. Nathan Fillion (of Serenity fame) is wonderfully deadpan
as the goofy/heroic sheriff Bill Pardy Gregg Henry is a riot as a Turrets-mouthed
mayor. His Mr. Pibb speech is one of the films’ comic high points.
Gunn
not only directed the film. He wrote it as well, although I tend to doubt there’s
much more than an outline and a few choice one-liners. Much of the flick has an
improvised feel about, especially where the effects sequences are concerned. Not
surprising given that this film fanatic got his start working on Troma productions
(Tromeo and Juliet). Gunn has come a long way (I can’t say that I’m
a fan of the Scooby- Doo films) and has even made believers out of many skeptics
out there ( I wasn’t overwhelmed by his Dawn of the Dead remake but I am
willing to concede it wasn’t the piece of shit I thought it would be). With
Slither, Gunn proves himself a major talent in the world of endlessly creative
horror. This is one of those films where I kept telling myself; “he won’t
go there”. And he does go there. Yes, Slither is audacious, but it’s
tongue-in-cheek underpinnings keep it well in check.
Slither
offers up equal amounts of state of the art CGI technology and old school make
up, and I applaud the effects team for their diligence and truly gruesome creations.
As a kid, it’s films like this that made me fall in love with the genre.
Horror
has taken a detour as of late. With pictures like the recent Hostel and The Hills
Have Eyes as well as the upcoming Descent, many genre film makers have opted to
push the envelope. Gunn has attempted something much different here. His Slither,
while often bloody, represents a playful side of horror that’s been missing
for a long time. I loved Hostel for it’s sick, twisted, and perverse sensibility,
but this flick, by comparison, is decidedly light. True, it does tend to be a
tad too broad in it’s comical approach, but I was immensely entertained by
it.
