Synopsis

With beautiful young wife Starla, a large house and fat bank account, Grant truly relishes his 'big fish-small pond' role in the town of Wheelsy, South Carolina. On a humdrum evening, Grant hits the local honky-tonk for an all-night bender. There he encounters Brenda Gutierrez, the younger sister of an old girlfriend, who’s more than willing to listen to Grant’s woes. Abandoning their drinks for a moonlight stroll, the pair discovers something slimy in the woods behind the bar. Near the remains of what appears to be a meteor, Grant and Brenda find a trail of glistening, noxious ooze and a pulsating, unidentifiable mass. Suddenly, the glob comes to life and overtakes Grant, penetrating his body with a pustule-covered tentacle. An alien parasite has found and infected its unlucky human host, an unwilling transporter who now must continue to infect others and consume raw meat in order to survive.

What The Critics Say

"A groovy gross-out with snorts, scares and sentiment, SLiTHER is thus far the must-see frightfully funny movie of the year." Staci Layne Wilson HORROR.COM "Writer/director James Gunn knows the genre inside and out, so he wonderfully uses bad dialogue, cheesy special effects and a crazy plot to share the laugh with us." Willie Waffle WAFFLEMOVIES.COM "Suddenly it seems contemporary horror movie makers have discovered the spirit of 70s and 80s fright flicks, and the genre is all the better for it. Slither is an honourable amalgamation of several dozen spookers of days gone by .." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "It may not be sickly brilliant or twistedly clever, but it's just plain fun. Slither is a good old fashioned gooey, slimy monster movie with a sense of humor." Fred Topel ABOUT.COM "SLITHER is a cheerfully retro comic horror film reminiscent of the early work of Peter Jackson. It starts off with a degree of seriousness, but it gets sillier and yuckier as it proceeds – though always with a sure sense of its own silliness." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES

"a spectacularly slimy, boldly bloody monster movie that says 'yes' to every possible excess. ...Weird, wacky and gloriously gross, 'Slither' is a minor classic of its kind." James Sanford KALAMAZOO GAZETTE "In this well-made, well-acted, and funny sci-fi horror hybrid, wet alien flesh glistens and pulsates, penis-like organs strain to plunge into the flesh of unwilling victims..." Pamela Troy CULTUREVULTURE.NET "It's so I mean, it's got this lovely sense of humour and it is totally a gross out. I think it's done with robust good style and it's good B grade enjoyment." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES "With it's retro blend of humour and horror, Slither will have audiences laughing all the way to the toilet bowl – and back. At the heart of all its tumorous outgrowths, however, is a surprisingly romantic core involving Fillion and Banks. The handsome pair succeed in making us root for them even in the face of such gross absurdity. Slither makes a little go a very long way." Vicki Roach THE DAILY TELEGRAPH "When a horror movie is so knowingly absurd and comical as "Slither", it can be hard for a film critic to tear it apart. Should audiences be warned against the derivative plot, cartoon-like characters and excessive lashings of gore? Of course not - this is exactly what filmmaker James Gunn has intended; a tribute to the genre flicks of the 1980s that made you squirm and laugh at the same time." Mark Beirne OUR BRISBANE

The Inside Story If it's fun you want, gorey, gooey, bloodied fun that is then look no further than "Slither" a classic alien invasion, horror movie done in the style of those timeless 'B-Grade' classics from a bygone era in the 70's and 80's, and now revived thanks to the creative talents of James Gunn, the man who brought you "Dawn Of The Dead". "I grew up watching horror movies," Gunn says. "And I loved Stephen King novels. So when I got into filmmaking, I knew that I wanted to explore the genre. I have a great time writing and directing horror movies and feel like it’s a good fit, maybe because I’m such a fan of them myself. When I wrote "Dawn of the Dead", I wanted to do something that brought back the grit of the ’70s horror flicks. But when I began thinking about Slither, I knew that I was looking for more of an ’80s feel. Lots of blood and guts, bigger-than-life special effects, tons of action—with a little bit of the camp factor—something kind of retro." Cleverly, when it came to the story of "Slither", Gunn added an ingredient he knew would involve the audience. The eternal love triangle. "There’s a love triangle at the heart of the film among Grant and Starla and Bill," he reflects. "A lot of problems spring from this." Another aspect Gunn wanted in the film was the gooey, slimey feel he had enjoyed in his younger years. He quickly realized that he'd need someone very special to bring Grant Grant's physical transformation from loving husband to alien life force to the screen. Gunn, Paul Brooks and Eric Newman turned to industry veteran Todd Masters of MASTERSFX and his effects producer Dan Rebert. In fact, Todd Masters would be the first person hired on the film. "I knew from the beginning the kind of film Slither would be in terms of effects and prosthetics, and I knew Todd was the guy for the look we wanted," Gunn explained. The EMMY Award winning Masters ["Six Feet Under"] thought the script he read was hilarious and twisted. He could also see it would be an enjoyable project to work on. "I thought the script was hilarious and it reflected other things that I had done in the past, but it twisted it, and just made it so much more enjoyable. When you’re in the effects business, you kind of get to a point where you skip all the dialogue and just look for the effects. But this was just so much fun to read, "Todd said. He also understood Gunns commitment to use practical effects and prosthetics in the film. "James was really insistent from the beginning about that," he says. "He wanted these creatures to look like they’re actually on set and interacting with the cast, and really wreaking havoc." Next in line for a visit from the director was visual effects supervisor John Gajdecki ["Stargate: Atlantis" and "The Santa Clause 2"]. "We spoke a lot, and we decided to take the best of both worlds," Gajdecki recalls. "There are things that prosthetics do really well, and there’s things that visual effects do really well. Right from the planning stage, we complemented each other so things could happen easily, efficiently and economically." With everything in place all the team needed now was a cast, which would include a bizarre antagonist who could wear a one hundred and fifty pound prosthesis and stay scary after hours in a makeup chair. But there was more to it than that. "When I started writing Slither," Gunn recalls, "I felt it should stand on its own as a movie about a few characters and their lives. If it could do that, then adding the horror elements to it would make it even more interesting. It all begins with characters; who they are, how you feel about them, how they’re interacting with each other." "You have to give characters a life beyond just being fodder for death." One face many will be familiar with is that of Nathan Fillion who recently appeared in the big screen edition of "Serenity". Fillion plays Bill Pardy, Wheelsy's Chief of Police. "When Nathan came in for the reading, he stole the show," says Gunn. "He’s funny, he’s magical, he’s what I imagined for the character." Fillion descibes Chief Pardy as "an average Joe thrust into some really extreme circumstances, and he reacts in the same way that I would. He doesn’t say, 'Well, it’s time to put on my hero shoes now'. He just tries to keep his calm, tries to keep it together, but is losing it constantly." On Gunn's approach to re-inventing the horror genre he notes, "James is clever and funny and takes these hero/horror movie conventions and twists them up. Right when you think you know what’s goingto occur, what the hero character is going to do to rectify a situation, it doesn’t happen." When it came to an actor to play Grant Grant, the Wheelsy resident whose body is taken over by an alien life force, Gunn and the producers knew Michael Rooker was the man. "When I first cast Michael, I was looking for someone who was a real trouper," relates Gunn. "I’ve been a big, big fan of his acting for a long time, and I’ve wanted to cast him in something ever since seeing him in "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and "Mississippi Burning". I thought that he was a fantastic actor who could do a lot more than just play a bad guy. In "Slither", he gets a chance to do a lot of things he’s not used to doing." so how demanding was it for Rooker? "This is an extremely physically challenging role. Michael had to be stuck in this monster outfit for three days straight," says Gunn. "And other days he had to be in full makeup for eighteen, nineteen hours at a time. He was great about it, and always had a big smile on his face at the end of the day." Rooker recalls that "the physical demands of the role were grueling at times. I saw a masseuse every day after work. The Grant costume is a little top-heavy and requires a lot of physical fitnesss. When I signed on for the film, I knew what was going to have to take place, so I worked out a lot to get ready for it." Rooker says turning to his martial arts background helped. "The focus involved in karate and aikido definitely helps you to keep your center and to stay relaxed and calm in situations where you’re in pain." Actress Elizabeth Banks plays Grant Grant's beautiful young wife Starla. When it came to Gunn's script she says, "I thought the script was hilariouss. When I auditioned with James, I told him that I thought it was really funny, and I think he was so happy that I saw the humor in it." And was it true she modelled Starla Grant on a well known heroine from last century? "I saw Slither as Beauty and the Beast and a little bit of Fay Wray and King Kong," she said. "So I kept coming back to that image of Fay Wray, which is why I’m wearing white at the end of the film. And with the tentacles wrapped all around me, it just reminded me of her sitting in Kong’s gigantic hand." There's no doubting the fact that "Slither" has hit the spot with both critics and audiences. When asked to sum up "Slither", Gunn says, "First and foremost, Slither is a horror film. "But it’s not a pressed or over- the-top kind of comedy. It’s human comedy: unique, eccentric characters talking in unique ways and doing weird things. No one’s overacting." The Verdict "We laughed, we screamed, we jumped and cringed in terror. But oh what fun we had. "Slither" has all the ingredients, the right mix to have one hell of a horrifying fun time. The beautiful wife! The loving husband invaded by an alien with two penis's! The love struck Chief of Police still pining over his childhood sweetheart, now the the beautiful wife. Disappearing pets. Body invasions. Mutilation. Gorey bloodied flesh eating mutants. The classic gorgeous young girl in the bath-tub scene. Come-on! "Slither" has everything you need for a fun time and you know it. Highly recommended. FOUR STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "SLITHER" stars .......
Nathan Fillion ["Blast From The Past", "Dracula 2000" and "Serenity"]; Elizabeth Banks ["Seabiscuit", "Spider-Man 1 & 2", "Sexual Life" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"]; Gregg Henry ["Femme Fatale", "Silent Partner" and "United 93"]; Brenda James ["Under the Influence", "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" and "Man About Town"], Dee Jay Jackson ["Scary Movie 3", "Are We There Yet?", "Fantastic Four" and "She's The Man"] and Michael Rooker ["The 6th Day", "Replicant", "The Box" and "The Eliminator"] as Grant Grant.
"SLITHER" was .......
directed by James Gunn ["Tromeo and Juliet" and "Hamster PSA"]; screenplay by James Gunn ["Scooby Doo" "Dawn Of The Dead" and "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed"]; costume design by Patricia Hargreaves ["Here's to Life!", "Dead Heat" and "The Great Upstanding Member"]; cinematography by Gregory Middleton ["Kissed", "Wounded", "Wedding Knives" and "Better Than Chocolate"]; original music by Tyler Bates ["Love and a Bullet", "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass", "Dawn of the Dead" and "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous"] produced by Paul Brooks ["The Man from Elysian Fields", "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" "The Wedding Date" and "White Noise"] and Eric Newman ["Black Sheep", "The Emperor's Club and "Dawn of the Dead"]. Run Time 96 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Universal Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved