If audiences were to think all the way back in 2006 that James Gunn would direct one of the best comic book movie trilogies and one of the most famous heroes of them all, after just seeing a film where a character called Brenda (Brenda James), infected by alien worms, gets so big she explodes, you’d probably think this person has a worm in their brain. Well, before he was sucked into superhero mayhem, he directed Slither, a creature feature with just the right amount of charm to warrant a rewatch.
Revisiting Slither, what stood out is that even here, within this $15 million creature feature debut from Gunn, are those traits that will eventually lead to the surprise hit of the Guardians of the Galaxy and the high of Superman. Like the alien worms in Slither that undergo metamorphosis, the film itself marks the start of Gunn’s journey as well.
Looking back, we see his common story tropes, including a group of losers and found family. The only element missing is a memorable needle drop. What Gunn does so well with Slither is take these three areas and create the nostalgic charm reminiscent of an 80s cult horror.
Even with that Brenda moment, Gunn still has moments of geniality within that sequence with the main lead, Deputy Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), still treating Brenda as an actual person; he takes his hat off and looks her in the eyes when everyone else is looking away in disgust, before she explodes — yes, it’s a fart joke. However, there is a moment when Gunn can be genuine, even though, to its detriment, it is then undercut by juvenile humor.
The film features the familiar group of losers or outcasts who become a family through this very odd circumstance, and we want Bill, Starla Grant (Elizabeth Banks), and even the snobby major, Jack MacReady (Gregg Henry), to survive. Yes, they are all kind of redneck-ish, stuck in this Southern town, which is, without doubt, exaggerated, but Gunn understands these characters, like most people, are just trying to get by and find themselves in a mess.
When looking at Guardians of the Galaxy, it feels the same, as Gunn took these elements of Slither and applied them to the galaxy’s biggest mess-ups. And while Superman showed much more maturity, he still shows signs of kindness and of finding family in the least expected places.
Slither doesn’t have a ‘Punrocker’ or ‘Dog Days Are Over,’ but the cast and special effects make up for it.
Gunn was lucky to have such a great cast. Michael Rooker has so much fun as Grant Grant, the first person infected who becomes the hive mind for these alien worms. Rooker plays the infected Grant fantastically.
Nathan Fillion is believable in every manly performance. This newly appointed Deputy literally just got a foot in the door and, at the very worst, must have expected to deal with farmers arguing over land and fencing.
Elizabeth Banks plays a supporting role that brings gravitas similar to her character, Starla, the one person in town that everyone talks about, the star of the community.
The effects are incredibly well done; that’s down to the great Todd Masters and his team, who created the puppets of these slimy alien worms and the prosthetics. We see their best work in the progression of Grant Grant’s infection, which comes across as if an alien were possessing a person. Of course, an alien would think, “yeah, a human would have tentacles in all the wrong places.” It’s just fantastic, practical work all around.
Underneath all the slime and horror of Slither at 20, it has all the traits and qualities of Gunn that kicked off a career that started with alien worms possessing a town and culminated in the world’s greatest hero.
Review Courtesy of Matthew Allan
Feature Image Credit to Universal Pictures