For a Seattle dweller like myself, the sight of slugs is a familiar, but still unpleasant, sight. And for my lovelier half, Anne, who works as a gardener, slugs are more than just unpleasant … they're a menace. But I'd rather deal with Seattle's pesky slugs than the slimy beasties crawling all over the horror flick Slither.
Nathan Fillion, star of the beloved sci-fi series Firefly, leads the cast through this campy horror flick about the town of Wheelsy, which is invaded by extraterrestrial monsters that devour whatever they catch. But their process of ingesting a human being looks more like a slow and horrific metamorphosis, turning humans into deformed zombies on the prowl.
David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says, "Directed by James Gunn, tongue firmly planted in cheek, the film's affectionate nods to B-horror movies like Dawn of the Dead, wry flashes of twisted humor and clever social commentary are eclipsed by its pervasive vulgar, nauseating and grisly elements."
Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) groans, "I get it, I get it. Slither is the latest horror flick that's supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the genre and … possibly on society as a whole." And he's not happy with the "celebration of all things grotesque. Sure, director/writer James Gunn … was intentional with the laughs and the wink-winks. But he was just as intentional with making sure we saw brains being splattered across a field—repeatedly. Or heard a town mayor cuss like a drunken sailor. Or witnessed a virtual rape scene played out for eroticism."
Mainstream critics are rating it highly for imagination and humor, relative to other titles in the genre.