Directed by James Gunn. Starring Michael Rooker, Elizabeth Banks, Don Thompson, Nathan Fillion, Gregg Henry, Tania Saulnier, Jenna Fischer. Horror/Sci-Fi.Synopsis: A small town is overrun by symbiotic extra terrestrial creatures who have an insatiable taste for all kinds of meat.There is always room for a couple of good snickers not to mention some outright laughs when you're looking a lower budget horror movies. And, when your main protagonist has the same first and last name, "Grant Grant" (Michael Rooker Eight Men Out) you know the flick is not going to take itself too seriously, which is more often than not a good thing when it comes to this genre.
Grant seems like a decent enough guy, married to a beautiful though much younger wife, Starla Elizabeth Banks(40 Year Old Virgin, W) who both might have just a little bit of the old wandering eye, though neither has acted on it...yet. One night, when Grant is very close to doing so, something strange happens...some kind of funny looking thing-a-magig is right near a tree in a spot where Grant might be breaking his vows. When going over to investigate, something shoots out quickly, entering his mouth (the preferred orifice of entry for our creatures, we will soon learn).
Things kind of get going from there, Grant is feeling real hot, but he can't say much because he was kind of being almost naughty when this weird thing happened. The big thing is he is just developing this hunger for meat...raw, cooked, and otherwise. When his appearance starts to deteriorate and his "infects" his intended mistress by letting the slithery thing out of his mouth into hers, well, the cat is out of the bag and soon the whole town is in danger.
The thing about these snake looking creatures is that they enter the mouth and sometimes incubate, as in the case of Grant's unfortunate intended fling, who blows up to four times her normal size before she, ready for this? Bursts with countless slithery things coming out of her. Very good schlocky horror movie stuff.
Grant is, if you will, the "host" or the "main" slither thing and even we morphs into some half human, half slither thing that preys on live meat like cows (the 16 oz. cuts from the grocery store just don't satify anymore) he still has mad love for Starla. And, Starla, being the faithful wife, tries to reciprocate...its just that Grant isn't looking so good anymore. One of my favorite scenes is when Starla, looking like she is trying to keep her food down, approaches the mutant that is now Grant (in an effort to lure him for the kill by the other survivors) and mouths the "we said it was for better or worse, Grant, I'm still with you..." I don't know, just loved that scene.
As I said, the humor is always there in this flick without going into too much slapstick. A special shout out has to go to Gregg Henry (White Lie, uncredited as a corrupt congressman in Scarface) as the fast talking local politician who is long on complaining and sex drive, short on courage and couth. He was hilarious.
The good thing is that, despite the dark humor, the film stays true to the genre, we have creepy and disgusting creatures, empathetic heroes, and the obligatory messy 'kill scenes' and one god bathtub scene. You'll get what you expect and probably even a little more with Slither, I predict one day it will qualify as a cult classic. Some actors have a low budget horror in their past they probably wish they could erase from the CV (e.g. Kevin Bacon Friday The 13th, Laurence Fishburne & Johnny Depp Nightmare On Elm Street)
I don't think any of the actors in this fun little horror flick will feel that way, nor should they.
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