“Slither” (Universal Pictures)
Not Campy Enough To Be Fun
Some movies are stupid enough to be funny, or even dumb enough to be campy. The new horror flick “Slither” aims for those goals but falls far short. It ends up being stupid, dumb and dull. Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks and Michael Rooker co-star in the movie and they make an effort to spoof it all, but they are betrayed by a deadly script and hokey special effects.
Grant Grant (Rooker) and his wife Starla (Banks) live in the small town of Wheely. Grant is one of the richest people in the town and can pretty much do anything he wants to do. One night he goes out to a bar and picks up a girl named Brenda (Brenda Strong). They take a walk in the woods and stumble upon a meteor that contains a gooey center. A slimy creature makes its way out of the crust and harpoons itself into Grant’s chest.
During the next few days Grant undergoes an amazing transformation as his body is taken over by the alien species. He infects some other people and soon the sheriff (Fillion) has a real problem on his hands. The only one who seems to be safe is Starla and that is because Grant loves her so much that he won’t infect her.
Once the alien takes over a body it becomes like a zombie out of “Dawn of the Dead.” These mutants stumble around and make everyone’s lives miserable. Eventually they all hook up in one big blob of slime.
Nathan Fillion made a good impression in the “Firefly” movie that was titled “Serenity.” Elizabeth Banks was Jeff Bridges second wife in “Seabiscuit” and picked up good reviews for her performance. Now they are in this stinker and it destroys any good will they had created.
Gregg Henry plays the town mayor and he is particularly offensive in the role. He spews profanity continuously, and is totally obnoxious. Now that may be good acting but he sure is annoying. You keep hoping the aliens will get him – and be quick about it.
The film is rated R for profanity and violence.
Satire is a difficult art form. Only the most talented can create it and present it. Most often it falls flat and audiences are disgusted by the second level effort. That is the case of “Slither.” It has a real case of the cutes but can’t make it work. It may be a film about alien life forms but “Slither” is no “E T.” It isn’t even equal to “The Blob.”
I scored “Slither” a slimy 3 out of 10.
