Slither (2006 film)

For the 1973 film, see Slither (1973 film).

Slither
Official Poster for Slither
Directed by	James Gunn
Written by	James Gunn
Produced by	Paul Brooks Eric Newman
Starring	Nathan Fillion Elizabeth Banks Michael Rooker Gregg Henry Tania Saulnier Brenda James Don Thompson Jenna Fischer
Music by	Tyler Bates
Distributed by	Universal Pictures Gold Circle Films TVA Films
Release dates	March 31, 2006
Language	English
Budget	$29.5 million

Slither is a 2006 horror-comedy film by Universal, written and directed by James Gunn, and starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Tania Saulnier and Jenna Fischer, and was produced by Paul Brooks and Eric Newman. Slither was James Gunn's directorial debut, and borrows from classic alien invasion films such as The Blob and particularly Night of the Creeps.

Plot

Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) contracts a strange illness that transforms him into an extraterrestrial creature that threatens to destroy the Earth. Soon unusual things begin to happen within the normally peaceful town of Wheelsy. Pets go missing, followed by livestock, and finally people, with all of it leading back to Grant. Grant has developed a massive appetite for red meat, and has begun to sleep in the basement of his home, away from his wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks). Starla is beginning to notice her husband's behavior, and his physical changes. As Grant slowly transforms into a hideous creature, the town faces a threat against humanity itself. The town's citizens are gradually being overpowered by an intergalactic alien parasite plague, which is transforming them into zombies. The zombies are being controlled through a hive mind relationship with Grant. It is up to a select group of survivors led by the town's sheriff, Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), to prevent this once peaceful town from being overrun by the creatures. When the heroes realize the zombies can be traced back to Grant, it becomes apparent they need to kill him. In a desperate attack, the survivors manage to blow up the Grant monster, killing the zombies as well. An after-credit sequence shows Grant's remains infecting a cat.

Cast

Actor	Role
Elizabeth Banks	Starla Grant
Nathan Fillion	Bill Pardy
Michael Rooker	Grant Grant
Gregg Henry	Jack MacReady
Tania Saulnier	Kylie Strutemyer
Jenna Fischer	Shelby Cunningham
Brenda James	Brenda Gutierrez
Don Thompson	Wally Whale
Haig Sutherland	Trevor Carpenter
Jennifer Copping	Margaret Hooper
Lloyd Kaufman	Sad Drunk

Response

Box office

Slither was a box office bomb, earning only $3,880,270 in its opening weekend, and grossing a domestic box office of $7,802,450 and a foreign box office of $4,279,936, substantially less than its total budget of $29.5 million (when marketing costs are included). "We were crushingly disappointed," said Paul Brooks, president of Slither's production company, Gold Circle Films. Consequently, Slither's poor box office performance may have "killed off the horror-comedy genre for the near future."

Producer Paul Brooks offered this explanation about why Slither failed to catch on with movie-goers:

I think that because it was comedy-horror instead of pure horror is where the problem lay. It's the first comedy-horror in a long time, and maybe the marketplace just isn't ready for comedy-horror yet. It's difficult to think of other explanations.

Critical reception

Film review website Rotten Tomatoes, which calculates the consensus of critics across the USA, found that "Slither" was generally embraced favorably by critics, with a rating of "84% fresh". The movie was also featured in the April 14th, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly as #1 on "The Must List"; "Ten Things We Love This Week". Slither picked up the 2006 Fangoria "Chainsaw Award" for the Highest Body Count, and garnered nominations in the categories of Relationship From Hell, Dude You Don't Wanna Mess With, and Looks That Kill. Additionally, the horror magazine Rue Morgue named Slither the “Best Feature Film of the Year,” a title bestowed on the film by the magazine’s messageboard community as well. Amongst the critics who did not like the film, Ebert & Roeper gave Slither two thumbs down, with Richard Roeper saying he was "all zombied out" after reviewing a wave of zombie-themed movies from the year before.

DVD release

Slither was released on regular DVD and on HD DVD / DVD hybrid disc on October 24th, 2006.. The HD version is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen encoded at 1080p and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround. Critic Michael Phillips made Slither his DVD pick of the week on Ebert and Roeper. The DVD opened at #15, grossing $2.08 million in its opening week. The DVD total gross reached $11.1 million.[1] Slither was listed as one of the “Top 25 DVDs of the Year” by Peter Travers in ‘’Rolling Stone’’ Magazine .

In addition to the film, the DVD contains two making-of documentaries, one being solely dedicated to the visual effects. The DVD also contains deleted and extended scenes, a blooper reel, VFX progressions, a set tour with Nathan Fillion, and audio commentary by James Gunn and Nathan Fillion. Also included are featurettes outlining how to make your own edible blood, and Lloyd Kaufman's documentary discussing his day on set, and the shooting of his one line (which was eventually cut from the film). Finally, there is an added bonus entitled "Who Is Bill Pardy?" which is a joke feature made by Gunn with the sole purpose of roasting Nathan Fillion, and was shown at the film's wrap party.

References to other films

Director James Gunn was said to be influenced by the wave of graphically violent horror B-movies of the 1970s and 1980s, largely created by such directors as John Carpenter, Lloyd Kaufman, David Cronenberg and Stuart Gordon, some of his homages include:

• Slither is strikingly similar to Night of the Creeps. Both films feature plagues of small, foot-long, slimy parasitic worms. In both movies, the creatures originate from outer space and travel to earth in the form of a meteorite, a homage to The Blob (1958). Another similarity between the films is that the alien worms enter people via their mouths, thus transforming their hosts into murderous zombies. In both films, the aliens merge together forming a monstrous blob, ultimately creating a formidable opponent for the final battle against the surviving humans. During the climax of each film, the heroes use flammable gas as a weapon, creating an explosion which finally destroys the alien menace. Both Night of the Creeps and Slither name characters, and settings after classic horror icons. At the end of both films, a small surviving piece of the alien attaches itself to a domestic pet.
• For the bathtub scene, James Gunn said he was inspired by the movie Shivers (1975).
• The owner of the saddle lodge where the start of the deer season was celebrated is named after Frank Henenlotter.
• A department store at the beginning of film is named R.J. MacReady, referring to Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's The Thing.
• A general store at the beginning of the film is called Max Renn's Guns & Ammo, a reference to James Woods' character in the film Videodrome.
• The local school is named Earl Bassett High after a lead character in the movie Tremors played by Fred Ward.
• There is a mention of a family ranch owned by the 'Castevets'. The Castevets were Rosemary's neighbors in Rosemary's Baby.
• The music that is playing as the group of heroes arms themselves with confiscated weapons is from the movie Predator.
• The film Brenda is seen watching before Grant pays her a visit is The Toxic Avenger, James Gunn's start in the film industry. Also, Lloyd Kaufman, the co-founder of Troma Films who made The Toxic Avenger, has a cameo in the film as the 'Sad Drunk'.
• The Mayor's last name is also MacReady, Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's The Thing.

Trivia

• Dr. Karl, the doctor that Starla calls about Grant, was voiced by horror film buff and director Rob Zombie.
• Director Cameo - The conversation Starla had with a fellow teacher was played by James Gunn
• Emily and Jenna Strutemeyer, the twin sisters of Kylie, were named after Jenna Fischer (wife of director James Gunn) and her sister
• The books that Emily and Jenna read are You Can't Scare Me and The Girl Who Cried Monster from the Goosebumps series
• Jenna Fischer says that James Gunn gave her the role of Shelby as a "birthday present" after another actress left the film
• After the credits, a brief scene is shown where a cat gets possessed by the remaining creature. An early draft featured this happening to Bill, at which time Starla sees the wound on his chest and shoots him.

External links

• Slither at IMDb
• Official site
• Trailer