Review

Serenity’s Nathan Fillion stars as Bill Pardy, the sheriff of a backwoods mid-Western town. For either atmosphere’s or exploitation’s sake Director Gunn takes time to develop the town’s redneck inhabitants who are anything but Hollywood in their appearance. One night a meteor strikes the ground from which a slug-like creature emerges. Michael Rooker is the first victim of the alien-slug, which takes over his body in order to create a vessel that can give birth to more invaders. This process involves a kidnapping and subsequent feeding of raw meat and forest animals. An army of slug-infected zombies is soon unleashed on Sheriff Pardy and his crew who are humorously quite open to the idea of alien bodysnatchers. Gory violence ensues as the slugs’ true agenda is exposed and somewhat thwarted by film’s end.

The script features an assortment of hit or miss one-liners, but the majority of the film’s laughs are gained through its use of 80’s love ballads played at inappropriate moments. The makeup and special effects are top-notch and refreshingly innovative. Fillion and the rest of the slug-killing actors all seem like they’re having a great time, but its Rooker’s squirm-inducing metamorphosis that truly steals the show. Lloyd Kaufman, Gunn’s former boss at Troma Films, makes a cameo as does Rob Zombie in a voiceover.

Slither embraces its roots, but doesn’t attempt to accomplish anything more than grossing out its viewers for 90 minutes. Recent films like Shaun of the Dead and Land of the Dead were able to transcend their immediate genre and audience by adding social commentary and character development to the horror formula. Director Gunn obviously has other goals, which are quite admirable in their own right.

 -- Eric Bresler