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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 was influenced by classic alien invasion films such as The Thing and Night of the Creeps.

Plot

Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) is infected by an extraterrestrial creature that threatens to destroy the human race. 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. As Grant slowly transforms into a hideous creature, his wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) begins to notice her husband's behavior and physical changes. Wheelsy's citizens are infected by the alien parasite plague, which is transforming them into zombies. The zombies are being controlled through a hive mind relationship with Grant. A small group of survivors led by the town's sheriff, Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), try to prevent the parasites from spreading. When the heroes discover the zombies can be traced back to Grant, they realize 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

Response

Box office performance

Slither debuted in the United States and Canada on March 31 2006 in 1,945 theaters. In its opening weekend, the film grossed only $3,880,270 and ranked #8 at the U.S. and Canadian box office. Slither grossed a low $7,802,450 in its theatrical run in the United States and Canada. Slither also underperformed in France, grossing $236,261 from 150 screens. The film ultimately grossed $4,279,936 in territories outside the United States and Canada for a worldwide gross of $12,082,386. Its box office performance was substantially less than its total budget of $29.5 million, including marketing costs. Paul Brooks, president of Slither's production company, Gold Circle Films, said the company was "crushingly disappointed" by the haul. Universal Pictures distanced itself from the Slither's poor box office performance, citing their distribution of the film as merely part of a deal with Gold Circle Films. The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Slither's performance "might 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. 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, visual effects progressions, a set tour with Nathan Fillion, and audio commentary by James Gunn and Nathan Fillion. Also included are featurettes outlining how to make 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 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, transforming their hosts into zombies. 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.
• 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

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (June 2007)

• 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
• Jenna Fischer says that James Gunn gave her the role of Shelby as a "birthday present" after another actress left the film
• Kylie's younger sisters can be seen reading Goosebumps books #8 ("The Girl Who Cried Monster") and #15 ("You Can't Scare Me!"), the horror fiction series having drawn inspiration from many of the same films as Slither.
• 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.

References

1. ^ Borys Kit (2006-04-05). "'Slither' leaves gloomy trail". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-09-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ http://movies.go.com/slither/r769695/horror
3. ^ http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=24375
4. ^ http://www.metroactive.com/bohemian/04.05.06/slither-0614.html
5. ^ "Slither (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
6. Conor Bresnan (2006-04-24). "Around the World Roundup: 'Ice Age' Spans Four Weeks, Tops $300M". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-09-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. Brandon Gray (2006-04-03). "'Ice Age 2' Hot, 'Basic Instinct 2' Not". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2007-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/rtawards/movie_2006.php?r=21&mid=1159017&type=w
9. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/slither/
10. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1181146_7%7C%7C451056%7C0_0_,00.html
11. http://horror.about.com/od/tvseriesminiseries/a/chain_award06.htm
12. "R.I.P. 2006 The Year in Review". RUE MORGUE. Jan/Feb 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "Issue 64" ignored (help)
13. Reviews from the Weekend of April 1–April 2, 2006. Ebert & Roeper, from movies.com.
14. "Slither oozes to HD DVD This October".
15. http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/rentals?date=2006-10-29&region=us
16. Travers, Peter (November 30, 2006). "Best 25 DVDs". ROLLING STONE. {{cite news}}: Text "Issue 1014" ignored (help)
17. "jamesgunn.com".
18. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439815/trivia
19. http://en.wikipedia.org/Goosebumps#Inspirations

External links

• Slither at IMDb
• Official site
• Trailer

• Articles with trivia sections from June 2007
• 2006 films
• 2000s horror films
• American films
• Comedy horror films
• English-language films
• Monster movies
• Science fiction horror films
• Shapeshifting in fiction