Slither (2006) – Movie Review
28th June 2021 Written by Peter Walkden
The film begins with an asteroid flying straight to Earth. After crashing into a small town, the asteroid opens to reveal an unusual amount of slime and pink goo inside. We then get to meet several leading characters, including the town’s newly appointed chief officer, Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), along with a married couple Starla (Elizabeth Banks) and Grant (Michael Rooker).
Grant and Starla are having marriage issues, including in the bedroom department. One night, when Grant is feeling annoyed, he decides to go for a walk only to encounter the recent asteroid and find a strange creature living inside it. This creature attacks Grant and enters inside his body, leaving him a different man. Now he has the urge to eat lots of raw meat, and his body starts to change for the worse. His wife Starla begins to become more and more suspicious of Grant’s strange activity and mannerisms. Grant slowly plagues the town with the alien creature inside, turning his fellow residents into mutants and, worse, zombies. Now it’s up to chief officer Bill and Starla, along with the rest of the police department, to load up their guns, attempt to survive the night and save the entire world.
Make no mistake; Slither is not your typical horror film. The film also includes elements of science fiction along with dark and witty comedy. The horror elements are highly creative but rather gross, and some viewers may not have the stomach to handle it. However, I enjoyed the level of creativity, the horror aspects, and the creature designs, all of which impressed me throughout the duration. Comedy is also another tremendous factor in this movie. I found myself concerned at one moment and then having a belly laugh the next. This is primarily due to the random moments our leads find themselves in an excellent line delivery by Nathan Fillion and Gregg Henry, who plays the town’s mayor.
The pacing of Slither is incredible and highly unpredictable. Slither has no problems killing off a character you enjoyed watching or allowing an alien creature to take over a young child. This film does not hold back in any area, which I also admired. The film’s pacing is best compared to a roller coaster. It is scary thinking about watching this film, but once you start watching, it is a complete brainless blast filled with mindless entertainment. The film also knows how to start small with its plot before riding into utter chaos from every direction in the third act.
While it is evident Slither is a low budget film, what has been achieved on-screen is quite stunning, and the direction results are incredibly pleasing. Thanks to Australian distributor Umbrella Entertainment, the film has recently been re-released under the company’s “Beyond Genres” line-up. This newest release on blu-ray includes a brand new DTS-HD audio track and a new aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The newest release of the film looks and sounds downright amazing, and I certainly felt like I was watching the film for the first time all over again.
Overall, this delightful horror film delivers fun, humour, and shocking moments to the big screen. Sure, it will not be for everyone, but I cannot deny the level of remarkable creativity at bringing several gross and ugly creatures to life. In addition, performances are fun, with actor Nathan Fillion taking the lead role. For horror fans, this is a must-watch, even more so now that the film has been re-released via Umbrella Entertainment’s “Beyond Genres” line-up.
8.5/10
Slither (2006) is Now Available on Blu-ray!
PODCASTS FROM WALKDEN ENTERTAINMENT ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON MANY PLATFORMS INCLUDING APPLE ITUNES & SPOTIFY!
0 Comments