Slither (2006) Review

Nathan Fillion as Bill Pardy 
Elizabeth Banks as Starla Grant
Gregg Henry as Jack MacReady
Michael Rooker as Grant Grant

Slither hit the stage with quite a bit of fanfare as the release date in theaters grew near. Clips of women in bath tubs with Jaws-like creatures approaching through the water, huge (I mean HUGE) women claiming "I think there's something wrong with me" and crazy creatures with slimy faces adorned the advertising circuit to build anticipation for a new high-budget horror/thriller.

Well friends, it's not all that.Don't get me wrong, I enjoyedSlither. First an overview of the story:

One night, in a typical small town, two redneck law enforcement officers are napping in their patrol car. They are, you understand, engaged in important "law enforcement business", shooting passing birds with a radar gun (who knew the whippoorwill flies at 28 mph?). Unbeknownst to Andy and Barney of Mayberry a meteorite has just crashed to the ground behind them, destined to change their lives forever.

Ok, a bit melodramatic, but not far from the truth in the horror movieSlither.

That meteorite carried a very slimy passenger. A passenger focused on shooting a would-be cheating husband (Michael Rooker) with a brain-dart so that it can take over his body, and orchestrate a very disturbing chain of events.

After entering the body and brain of the wannabe cheater, the alien embarks on a mission. This mission involves "impregnating" (interesting how this happens, by the way) innocent humans with zillions of little slug embryos and feeding them enough meat so that this "pregnancy" results in their bodies being expanded to about 20 feet in diameter.

When the slugs hatch (again, cool/gross how this happens) the slug-thing seek out other humans, and attempts to crawl down their throats so that they can turn their new hosts into a kind of alien-zombie thing.

The goal? Well, you'll just have to watch Slither for yourself to find that out...

Slither is, thankfully, as much a comedy as it is a horror flick. Good thing too, because trying to be serious while a foot-long slug is trying to crawl into your baby sisters mouth would be a bit too much.

The story is pretty good, although there is nothing overwhelmingly imaginative or innovative that takes place in Slither. Still, there are enough "ewww gross" moments and edge-of-your-seat moments to make this one worth watching. Just don't have dinner first.

Slither does not, however, live up to the hype. Watch this movie for some good fun and some cool effects, but don't have expectations too high. Maybe it was the underlying love story that cooled the whole thing off for me, I don't know. I want horror, or comedy or romantic (ok, rarely do I sit through a romance movie...), but it's a bit hard to swallow (grin) when they are all in one neat little package. Mildly recommended