   SlitherMPAA Rating:
 for strong horror violence and gore, and languageReviewed by: Joseph Martinez Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
Length:
1 hr. 30 min.
Year of Release:
2006
USA Release:
March 31, 2006 (wide)
          Relevant Issues
Every time you buy a movie ticket or rent a video you are casting a vote telling Hollywood “That’s what I want.” Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem?
“What Ever You Do… Don’t Scream.” This film is set in a small American town that becomes infested with alien organisms which enter humans and take over their bodies. The heroes try to fight the aliens and save the planet from being overtaken. From what I now understand, “Slither” is supposed to be ridiculous. Going in, I had no idea that was the premise. I viewed this film actually thinking it was supposed to be a “quirky” horror film—not a stupid one. Perhaps I should have known better since James Gunn, whose previous writing credits include the “horrific” “Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”, wrote and directed this film. “Slither” is one of those films where you laugh at it—and not with it. The film is supposed to be a tribute to classic B-films, but, in my opinion, it fails miserably. What made B-films work was that audiences back then were less sophisticated. In this digital era we expect more, like realistic effects—as well as a great story. A greater tribute would have been raising the bar and not lowering the standard. Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks are two talented actors who obviously need work. They do their best with a ridiculous story, terrible dialog and bad direction. Overall, this film is not quirky, funny or interesting. It is stupid and gross. The humor and language are inappropriate for the immature teen audience for which this film seems targeted. In all honesty, I think most people will find it to be a waste of time and money. I do enjoy comedies and can go to a theater and have “fun,” but this film was absolutely atrocious. Save your time and money, and skip this low-budget and embarrassing film. If you decide to go see it, please do not take children or teenagers, as there are many adult themes in this R-rated film. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate  Negative - Okay, first I want to say that the story plot is good, and it was simple, but interesting. It could possibly be compared to the old cheesy horror films with a modern day twist. The one thing that made it offensive was that it stereotyped Southerners. When the characters said let’s form a posse, everyone in the theatre laughed, I think that was the reaction expected from the director. There was also foul language, toothless women square dancing, and the suggestion that young women (in that town) are allowed to date older men at the “fair game” age of 10 years old. The film is heavily offensive when stereotyping Southerners, and it is made perfectly clear. The film has funny scenes, but some will take offense at the stereotypes, especially citizens of South Carolina. A good aspect of the film was the emphasis of a husband or wife working out their problems, especially with the character Starla’s determination to “win” her husband back from the clutches of the alien force controlling him, but even then, that aspect of the film seems to be making fun of the meaning of marriage. Positive - Whoa, this movie was gross. Uh. Seriously, if you are easily grossed out, do not see this movie. In fact, if you are slightly grossed out, do not see this movie. If you do not like to see weird things crawling into people, people chewing on other people, people exploding, weird crosses between people and gooey alien things, then do not see this movie. Positive - “Slither” is a cross between a Sci-Fi, Horror and Comedy and each aspect of the movie just seems to work. The story begins when a huge rock looking object that hits the earth, landing in the small hick town of Wheesley. Things start to heat up when a loving husband is out in the woods, he is attacked by this pod-like object, injecting him with an alien. Immediately he is mutated into a part human and part alien with a thirst for meat. He starts out by killing dead animals and eventually turns to humans. Once bitten, the people turn into once of two things. A host for more aliens slugs or walking zombies. The subplot of “Slither” involves the now Alien man, still in love with his wife and him chasing her so that they can fulfill their marital bond of “better or worse.” Negative - I was under the impression that this was a sleeper hit. I wanted to see it at the theater, but I'm glad I waited until the DVD released. My flat fee membership at a video store inspires me to watch movies I may not otherwise, but I thought this would be worth full price. Boy was I wrong! To top off this travesty, I watched it on Christmas. I'm ashamed and was embarrassed to watch it with my wife of nearly 14 years. I hope writing this review will cause some good to come from my foolish submission to such a film. I can handle some gore and profanity, but this movie went to extremes. There was blatant bashing of our Lord and Savior, and there is certainly enough blood and guts to satisfy the appetite of the hardcore horror fan. *SPOILER* Here's an example of the gore factor: One guy is “whipped” one time so hard by the “squid dude” that he literally splits in half vertically. His insides spill out! How much more grotesque can you get? There are also scenes where people are eating other people. It is very graphic. |
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