"Slither"
Written and Directed by James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead '04 and Scooby Doo I&II) and released on March 31, 2006 by Universal Pictures. In the redneck town of Wheelsy a meteor falls from the night sky and a local man decides to get up close and personal with it. Bad idea! The ooey gooey parasite infects him and sets off an alien outbreak. Can sheriff Bill (Nathan Fillion) and the girl he longs for Starla (Elizabeth Banks) save the town before it's too late?
****
This movie is a fun campy take on old B monster movies. Our main alien seems like a close relative to the Blob, the infected stumble around like the walking dead and the townsfolk are simple and slow witted. The dialogue is cheeky and cheesy in a cleaver way. If you keep in mind this is suppose to be a send up of low budget films you will find it a funny film. It has lots of blood and guts and what-nots flying around along with the laughs. It may not be for everyone but if you enjoy the old monster movies then you should enjoy this modern take on the genre.
****
A little trivia...
1. There is a mention of neighbors named "the Castevets". The Castevets were Rosemary's neighbors in Rosemary's Baby (1968).
2. As an in-reference to past genre movies, the Mayor and his store are named R.J. MacReady, the same name as Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), and the high school is named after Earl Bassett (Fred Ward's character from Tremors (1990).
3. The ammunition store is named for Max Renn from Videodrome (1983).
4. The bar hosting the "Deer Cheer" party is called "Henenlotter's", a homage to Basket Case (1982) director Frank Henenlotter.
5. When Starla is on the phone talking to the doctor about Grant, the voice of the doctor is Rob Zombie.
6. In the script when Bill comes back from the vigil for Brenda, the mayor mentions to him that she is the niece of Randy Flagg. Randall Flagg is the bad guy in several of Stephen King's stories including being the main antagonist in The Stand.
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