HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Slither They Came From Somewhere Else
Year: 2006
Director: James Gunn
Stars: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Tania Saulnier, Don Thompson, Brenda James, Jenna Fischer, Lorena Gale, Jennifer Copping, Haig Sutherland, Tom Heaton, Ben Cotton, Dee Jay Jackson, William MacDonald, Iris Quinn, Lloyd Kaufman
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Science FictionBuy from Amazon
Rating:  7 (from 1 vote)
Review: From the deepest reaches of space comes an asteroid, spinning across the void until it is caught in the orbit of a planet and plunges to earth on... Earth, in fact. By the time it hits the ground, in a North American forest, its size has been much diminished, and the two men nearest the impact, Police Chief Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) and his deputy Wally (Don Thompson), don't notice it at all. Yet the rock has split open and something has emerged. However, there's other things to concern Bill as he has been in love with local beauty and schoolteacher Starla (Elizabeth Banks) for years, but never done anything about it. Now it's too late anyway, as she is married to Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), one of the richest men around, but that whatever-it-was that has landed in the forest will soon have a close encounter with him, with outlandish consequences...

James Gunn, writer and director of Slither, not be be confused with another cult movie of the same name (the eccentric nineteen-seventies comedy thriller, that is), patently knew his horror movies, and specifically the American horrors of the eighties, which made a change from filmmakers paying tribute to the influential shockers of the seventies. Yes, there's no Texas Chain Saw Massacre cannibal families, or similar here, this time it's works such as The Thing and Night of the Creeps that bear most resemblance to the plotting, although there are eventually zombies that turn up; I guess you couldn't help but pay homage to George A. Romero in any Hollywood chiller of the 2000s that doesn't involve remaking an Asian original.

Gunn had served his apprenticeship with tacky low budget grime movie exponents Troma (there's a character watching a Troma opus on TV here, and Lloyd Kaufman puts in an appearance) before writing such works as the Dawn of the Dead remake, so he knew of which he wrote. And it shows, not only in the various homages, from names of characters to re-heating of scenes familiar to fans, but in the way he understands the principles of the genre. Not only delivering on the gloopy gore and rubber monsters (how nice to see them used so prevalently after years of computer graphics in such films), yet paying attention to humour and giving us heroes and heroines to cheer in their battle against the alien onslaught.

Grant is on his way home from the bar through the forest, accompanied by Brenda (Brenda James), who he knew from high school and who still lusts after him. After fighting off her attentions (well, almost), Grant notices a blob on the ground that promptly fires a barb at his chest, thereby infecting him, although he doesn't know it yet. He may have an idea later on, however, when he grows tentacles that have a tendency to infect anyone he plunges them into, specifically Brenda. The small town atmosphere is well conveyed, and although the comedy is perhaps more likely to make you chuckle wryly than roar with laughter, it humanises the characters and makes the story into more of a romp. Unashamedly B movie in outlook, Slither boasts a canny cast and inventive effects, and even finds time for an optimistic hint at a sequel - keep watching the credits. Music by Tyler Bates.
Reviewer: Graeme Clark

 

This review has been viewed 4926 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: