Blog Monster Movie Monday: Slither
Slither (2006)
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, and Tania Saulnier
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
Production Company: Gold Circle Films, Brightlight Pictures, and Strike Entertainment
It’s good to see movies like Slither still getting made. An old fashioned monster movie which doesn’t take itself too seriously, but doesn’t go the other extreme of straight camp. It harkens back to the great B-movies like Attack of the Giant Leeches and The Giant Gila Monster. And Slither’s particular mix makes for a sci-fi and horror movie buff’s wet dream.
First, we have Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame. He’s just a fun actor to watch. Here he plays Bill Pardy, the sheriff of a small town. The character is a little like his Malcolm Reynolds character from Firefly, quipy and sarcastic, although certainly NOT the same character…more laid back.
Second, as if seeing Fillion isn’t enough, the story is perfect for anyone who likes to watch a fun monster flick. A meteoroid comes crashing to Earth. Naturally, it’s carrying with it an alien lifeform which, first chance it gets, inhabits a human…Grant Grant, played by Michael Rooker. Eventually strange things begin happening around town. Dogs and cats are disappearing, a girl goes missing, and when they find her, it’s moments before she’s eaten from the inside out by…the slugs…Then the fun really begins!
Which gets us to the third element which makes Slither one monster movie that’s just a lot of fun to watch…the slugs and zombies. The slugs enter your mouth and takes control of your body turning you into, basically, a zombie. Alien slugs AND zombies? It doesn’t get any better! And some of the zombie moments are quite creepy, especially the twin sisters of Kylie Strutemeyer, played by Tania Saulnier. The two girls, Matreya Fedor and Amber Lee Bartlett really do a great job with their brief roles playing their parts to their creepiest best.
Speaking of great acting, let me not leave out Michael Rooker. He showed an ability to show who a character is by more than just what the lines say. Rooker’s character, Grant Grant, could easily have just been an obnoxious, arrogant guy that we, the audience, would not care for at all. He was insulting, over-protective of his wife, just a real jerk. But Rooker’s performance created a character than was more than what his lines revealed. His facial expressions as he did what the alien forced him to do revealed his love for his wife that otherwise we may have thought he just saw as a possession. Yes, he’s obnoxious and possessive, but he really loved his wife and tried to protect her.
Writer and director James Gunn was wise to treat the material light-heartedly, but more importantly he was wise not to take it too light. Yes, there are bits of humor, but it wasn’t all jokes.
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, and Tania Saulnier
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
Production Company: Gold Circle Films, Brightlight Pictures, and Strike Entertainment
It’s good to see movies like Slither still getting made. An old fashioned monster movie which doesn’t take itself too seriously, but doesn’t go the other extreme of straight camp. It harkens back to the great B-movies like Attack of the Giant Leeches and The Giant Gila Monster. And Slither’s particular mix makes for a sci-fi and horror movie buff’s wet dream.
First, we have Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame. He’s just a fun actor to watch. Here he plays Bill Pardy, the sheriff of a small town. The character is a little like his Malcolm Reynolds character from Firefly, quipy and sarcastic, although certainly NOT the same character…more laid back.
Second, as if seeing Fillion isn’t enough, the story is perfect for anyone who likes to watch a fun monster flick. A meteoroid comes crashing to Earth. Naturally, it’s carrying with it an alien lifeform which, first chance it gets, inhabits a human…Grant Grant, played by Michael Rooker. Eventually strange things begin happening around town. Dogs and cats are disappearing, a girl goes missing, and when they find her, it’s moments before she’s eaten from the inside out by…the slugs…Then the fun really begins!
Which gets us to the third element which makes Slither one monster movie that’s just a lot of fun to watch…the slugs and zombies. The slugs enter your mouth and takes control of your body turning you into, basically, a zombie. Alien slugs AND zombies? It doesn’t get any better! And some of the zombie moments are quite creepy, especially the twin sisters of Kylie Strutemeyer, played by Tania Saulnier. The two girls, Matreya Fedor and Amber Lee Bartlett really do a great job with their brief roles playing their parts to their creepiest best.
Speaking of great acting, let me not leave out Michael Rooker. He showed an ability to show who a character is by more than just what the lines say. Rooker’s character, Grant Grant, could easily have just been an obnoxious, arrogant guy that we, the audience, would not care for at all. He was insulting, over-protective of his wife, just a real jerk. But Rooker’s performance created a character than was more than what his lines revealed. His facial expressions as he did what the alien forced him to do revealed his love for his wife that otherwise we may have thought he just saw as a possession. Yes, he’s obnoxious and possessive, but he really loved his wife and tried to protect her.
Writer and director James Gunn was wise to treat the material light-heartedly, but more importantly he was wise not to take it too light. Yes, there are bits of humor, but it wasn’t all jokes.
Zombies, alien slugs, humor, gore, creepiness, Michael Rooker, and Nathan Fillion…The tagline for the movie asks, “What’s gotten into you?” One fun and fantastic movie, apparently.
posted by Bodog at 6:33 AM
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