Slither

Slither
Written and Directed by James Gunn
Universal Pictures

B-movie lovers may be overwhelmed with the incredible stock of flicks catering to them in 2006. We've already had Running Scared, a beautiful example of "fuck it" filmmaking. There's this horror entry, the aforementioned Snakes on a Plane (August 18), somewhere this year we'll be seeing Feast (release date still undetermined), and then the holy grail--Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's Grind House (December 1).

And here comes an alien/zombie picture from James Gunn, the man who rose from the Troma ranks and wrote the fun Dawn of the Dead remake. Troma, if you are unaware, specializes in films that could almost be rated Z-movies--movies like Toxic Avenger, Teenage Catgirls in Heat, Bloodsucking Freaks, and my favorite, The Killer Condom. If you want, you can read a whole list of their movies here. How would Gunn do in what is his first big picture?

Starla Grant (Elizabeth Banks) is an old-fashioned country gal, schoolteacher, in the small town of Wheelsy. She's married to Grant (Michael Rooker, and yes, that means he's Grant Grant), and they have a union that has been losing spark. One night, Grant huffs off to a bar, maybe to cheat, and during this excursion a small alien slug implants itself into his brain. This turns Grant into a monster, and its only function seems to be killing and mating. It's up to sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) to try to stop the monster, along with Starla, a woman he's always loved from afar. Longtime Brian de Palma actor Gregg Henry plays sleazy mayor Jack MacReady.

The movie is filled with a great amount of humor, ranging from the quirky to fast-paced banter, and mixed in all of this is some over-the-top sick horror (sometimes, the horror and humor are the same). It's actually pretty enjoyable, and there's not much really bad to say about it. Looking at the trailers, I thought this was going to be a little too self-aware and be too cheesy, but it actually stays behind the line of self-parody. Gunn returns to Troma's best suit--mindless fun. It's a nice diversion, a good alternative.