DVD Reviews

Slither

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• Starring: Elizabeth Banks
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Despite all the hype and online bantering that surrounded Snakes on a Plane, it came and went this summer with more of a whimper than a sizzle. Slither is a film along similar lines to SOaP (albeit much smarter ones).It has the tongue-in-cheek humour and 'nasty' factor of SOaP but is an altogether much smarter exercise in B-movie filmmaking - and the horror comedy sub-genre in general. The difference here is simple; Slither is a better film, both funnier and smarter with excessive and sickening gore and a lead with 'star-in-waiting' written all over him. It may seem unfair to compare to SOaP (a decent stab at the genre); but to put it simply, if you enjoyed Snakes, you'll love Slither. The plot centres around a typical Southern American small town that gets hit by a meteorite, with a nasty alien life-form attached. It latches on to members of the townfolk with stomach-wrenching results. It's your basic Sci-Fi premise elevated by a very funny script, smart, purposeful direction and a charismatic lead turn from Nathan Fillion, as the town Sheriff forced to deal with the freakishly unique situation. Fillion wears a priceless look on his face where applicable, that says both 'I wanna get the f**k outta here' and 'I should really do something'. Elsewhere, first-time director James Gunn (who scripted the Dawn of the Dead remake) doses the film with an 80s video-nasty style and enough gore to better a blown up butchers - bringing to mind early Peter Jackson films such as Bad Taste and Brain Dead. It's an unequivocal success, the comedy not taking anything away from the horror and vice-versa. It's also downright disgusting, but isn't that the point? Highly recommended.

Review by Mike Sheridan