Slither

[Anita Blake]

New movie coming out 2006. The main character? Played by Nathan Fillion.

Slither: A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.

[Anita Blake]

Ok, I just went and saw Doom yesterday, and saw the preview for Slither. It looks so cool. Plus any movie that calls the Exorcist a movie for sissies, is ok by me. It looks really awesome and Nathan said a couple of funny things during the preview that totally cracked me up. I can't wait 'til it comes out.

[freakydorky]

Anything with Nathan in it will be awesome...he's hot funny and talented, what more could you ask for?

[StuckinTraffic]

I don't do scary movies.....because I'm a big ol' wimp and I'll have bad dreams....BUT! A good friend of mine went to Big Damned Flanvention.....met Nathan (she says he's totally charming, sweet and nice in person - of course, how else would he be?) and says he mentions a romantic comedy as his next project, he's playing a gynecologist. I forgot what it's called, and haven't been by imdB lately to see if they've added it, but.....DYING to see Nathan in a romantic role! Y'all will have to fill me in on how he did in Slither.

[Anita Blake]

I checked on IMDb and this is what I saw:

Waitress: Jenna is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.

According to the site, he's playing an Unknown character.

[Wesley_Wyndam_P]

This looks like a fairly cool movie. I saw the trailer online somewhere. I don't exactly remeber. but it looks like one of the movies that are funny because they are so stupid.

[nerd4hire]

It premiers this upcoming Thursday at the Vista theatre in LA. It opens on the the 31st of this month.

This is what it's about -

A strange and very slimy alien invasion takes on a small country community in this horror story. Wheelsy is a small rural town where not much happens, but that's about to change, and not for the better. Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), the town's wealthiest and most powerful citizen, is taking a walk through the woods when he comes across a strange and unfamiliar life form. Grant makes the mistake of getting too close to it, and soon an otherworldly creature has taken over his body. It isn't long before Grant isn't the only one who has been attacked by the strange and slimy things, as a local girl and a handful of house pets go missing. Grant's wife, Starla (Elizabeth Banks), notices that something is very wrong with her husband around the same time that Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) becomes aware of the pattern of missing people and animals, and they set out to put a stop to the alien invaders intent upon taking over Wheelsy. Slither was the directorial debut for James Gunn, who wrote the screenplay for the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

http://movies.aol.com/movie/main.adp?tab=synop&mid=22884

Apparently you can ask Nathan a question here -

http://movies.aol.com/unscripted_ask_celebrity_questions

[Chasity]

I can't wait to see this one, it will be defintatly be an "opening night"! It looks like a totally fun cheeseball popcorn flick.

I precict that Fillion is going to become a pretty big celebrity, he actually does have a lot of charm on screen which is very appearling on many levels.

[nerd4hire]

Don't you think he'd make a great Indiana Jones?

[Chasity]

At the risk of commiting heresy, I do think he would make a great Indiana Jones. He has that spunk, that light, witty style that makes Indy so fun.

[Anita Blake]

Ooooh, we should get a petition together so he can play Indiana Jones' son on the new movie...that would be so awesome. *sigh*

[nerd4hire]

This is kind of interesting. It's a whole bunch of little promos by different people for the movie slither -

http://www.slithermovie.net/slugitout/index.php

You need Quick time to view them.

[nerd4hire]

And, a review is out-

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movie_review_detail.php?id=1538

He loved it of course. He's a horror guy. One will expect more negative reviews when the mainstream guys find it.

Here's a little blurb -

It's about damn time. Finally, we got a horror film that's alternately hilarious, creepy, gross, not a remake of a previous horror film designed to lure teens, and above all fun. Oh, and with a much needed R-rating. I speak of Slither.

WIthout a doubt, Slither is the most entertaining movie I've seen this year. My face hurt from smiling at the sheer enjoyment presented on the screen. Writer/Director James Gunn, who wrote the Dawn of the Dead remake along with several Troma films and Scooby Doo, makes an impressive directorial debut while never being too flashy or over stylized, and never losing focus of the story. As an extra added bonus, Gunn seems to be having as much fun making Slither as I did watching it, and it shows

[goldenboy]

Slither doesn't seem like the kind of movie you'd actually see in a theater. Seems like something you'd watch on Showtime at three in the morning...

If it's supposed to be like a black comedy, this could be fun. Like, Re-Animator or Dead Alive. Those flicks are fun cos they're just so outrageously gory and ridiculous, it's just a parody of a horror movie. Sort of winking at the audience. That kinda stuff I like. Truly, truly sick horror movies that are actually trying to be scary just depress me, lol.

I do wanna check it out cos of Fillion.

...OMG, the guy did Troma films? OK...

[nerd4hire]

The one it's reminding me of so far just off the plot description is Critters. Ever see that one?

[goldenboy]

Think I've seen a few seconds of Critters on TV. I dig the poster art, lol.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090887/posters

How about Leprechaun? Perhaps Jen Aniston's greatest role, heh. The Chucky movies of course...

[nerd4hire]

Yeah, I'm like you with Critters on Leprechaun. Seen bits.

The reason Slither makes me think of Critters, is because Critters was kind of an affectionate parody of the sub-group of horror films it was representing. It was, perhaps, a loving spoof of films like The Blob, where an other-worldly creature or creatures terrorize a small town.

[goldenboy]

Gotcha. Critters is like Gremlins, right? Which in itself was a parody in some ways. Thinking of Eight Legged Freaks here too...

[nerd4hire]

Yeah it's almost ironic, or something, isn't it. There's a sub-genre that parodies a sub-genre.

[goldenboy]

A more mainstream source here...
"Slither" is a gleefully nasty and ingeniously twisted horror-comedy that pits a populace of heavily armed but mostly clueless rednecks against flesh-eating zombies, slimy extraterrestrial slugs and an acid-spewing, multitentacled mutant. Call it "Night of the Living Dead" meets "Tremors." ScripterScripter James GunnJames Gunn infuses the pic, his debut feature as a director, with the exuberance of a movie geek given carte blanche to play fast and loose with the cliches and conventions of his favorite films. Result is a rock-the-house crowd-pleaser for genre aficionados, though its breakout potential appears iffy."

"...The well-cast actors -- including Tania Saulnier as a feisty teen whose family gets slugged -- go just far enough over the top to maintain the jokey/scary tone without becoming cartoonish. Fillion is particularly amusing while delivering wisecracks and ironic asides with the same sly spin he brought to cheeky dialogue in the cult favefave "Firefly" TV series"

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929975?categoryid=1263&cs=

[nerd4hire]

There's six film clips of Slither here -

http://www.iesb.net/universal2006/032106.php

and a review here -

http://www.screendaily.com/story.asp?storyid=25592&r=true

A loving homage to B-movie horror films, James Gunn’s Slither supplies gross-out scares as well as some self-mocking humour. But while the film will please genre fans, others may find the presentation over-familiar.

*

[nerd4hire]

Here's another positive review -

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12055708/

It has an interesting little comment concerning Nathan Fillion.

“Slither” also lets Fillion cut loose and get really goofy, all the while maintaining his boyish rogue’s charm. This guy deserves to be a major star.

[goldenboy]

Whoa. I'd say this bodes well:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/slither/

Ebert gave it 2 stars. I agree with him about 50% of the time...

[nerd4hire]

You've got until Sunday to guess. Whataya think? Hit, or bomb? I'll say hit.

[goldenboy]

It's interesting how the early reviews were saying this has little to no mainstream, crossover appeal. But the youth/horror movie market is huge right now...it'll make its money back really fast.

[Anita Blake]

All right! I totally just got back from watching Slither. It totally rocked my socks...well...it would've if I had been wearing any. :D The movie was hilarious. It was stupid, but in a funny gross way. I absolutely recommend it.

[nerd4hire]

How was Nathan in it?

[goldenboy]

Opening weekend: $3,676,000
http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

Ouch. I thought it might be closer to 6 mil. Even Basic Instinct 2 had a higher per theater gross. Ah well. lol.

[Anita Blake]

Nathan was definitely the best part. His character on the movie was Captain Reynolds, just in a different setting. He had some great one liners, and he was just as sarcastic and image conscious as on Firefly. I don't want to give anything away, but I do have one scene in my mind, that I keep replaying over and over. So very hilarious. :D

[goldenboy]

This depresses me cos most of the horror films I've liked have been horror/comedies. I guess the genre's dead for now.

The blending of the two tones has never been a slam-dunk, though when done right, they do strike a chord with critics and pop culture. John Landis combined the two in 1981's "An American Werewolf in London," grossing $30.6 million -- a solid number at the time, with the movie ranking as that year's 23rd top domestic grosser.

But more recently, hybrid horror movies have faced resistance as theatrical releases. In 1990, "Tremors," about giant worms in the Southwest, bowed to just $3.7 million and grossed $15.5 million. That movie eventually was embraced by fans and critics, however, and became a minifranchise, spawning a series of direct-to-video sequels.

In 2002, "Eight Legged Freaks" tried to capture audiences with its web of chills and laughs, but had an opening weekend of only $6.5 million and a $17.3 million domestic gross.

Those examples suggested that "Slither" faced an uphill fight..."


"..."Slither," which according to sources had a sticker price of $29.5 million, might have killed off the horror-comedy genre for the near future.

"Horror-comedies are a tough sell," said Eli Roth, who directed the hard-core horror entries "Cabin Fever" and "Hostel." "There are core groups of fans that love them, but it seems like that the majority of people, when they want to go see a scary movie, they don't want to laugh, they just want to be straight up scared and horrified." Roth added that the negative responses he has received for his movies have mostly been directed at their humorous elements. One reason he made "Hostel" as hardcore as he did, he said, was that modern audiences seem to want to push themselves to see how much horror they can stand.

The demise of "Slither" already has attracted a noisy debate among horror fans on the Internet.

"The horror Web sites are chiding the fans for bitching and complaining that they never get original horror and then not coming out to support it opening weekend," Roth said. "The horror fans are an interesting bunch: They complain about remakes, then flock to them."

Still, if history is any indication, "Slither" could rise from the dead to find an afterlife in home video and ancillary markets.

"In 15 years, nobody is going to be watching 'Ice Age: The Meltdown.' Everybody is going to be watching DVDs of 'Slither,' " Roth said.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002277545

[nerd4hire]

The guy here makes some good points.

http://www.cinematical.com/2006/04/07/whats-up-with-the-slither-wither/

Basically he says Slither is a DVD style movie, and that's where it will make it's money.

He quotes another critic.

"In 15 years, nobody is going to be watching 'Ice Age: The Meltdown.' Everybody is going to be watching DVDs of 'Slither.'"

[goldenboy]

Yeah, like I was thinkin...Slither seems like the kinda movie you'd watch on cable at 3 in the AM. It has "cult" written all over it.

But why exactly is that? I'm thinking that some genres specifically do better on TV, DVD cos...they're sort of an homage? Sort of movies about movies? Perhaps the target audience is simply too narrow.

Firefly/Serenity seems to be a similar phenomenon to a certain extent. A narrow demo, kind of an homage, a movie about other shows, other movies. Too much of an "inside baseball" kinda deal for a broad spectum of viewers to get into. And both Slither and Serenity are referring to genres that go waaay back to the 1950s, and earlier...space operas, westerns, creature features. Kind of weirdly academic...out of time, context. They don't resonate with the average teen or whatever...and the adults with whom they do will wait for the DVDs...or something...

[arabella]

i saw it tonight...it was actually pretty funny in a lot of parts. I liked it. i dunno if i'd watch it again anytime soon, but eventually i probably will, so yeah Slither! :)

[Black Eye Guy]

I saw it yesterday, and I thought it was the biggest load of crap ever!! It was terrible, I mean absolute crap, There was about 4 funny line's through out the whole thing (And I laugh at anything including that "A man walks into a bar" joke!!)

I was unimpressed with this movie as I herd it was really funny, I hope to never-ever see it again!!

[goldenboy]

I saw it yesterday, and I thought it was the biggest load of crap ever!! It was terrible, I mean absolute crap, There was about 4 funny line's through out the whole thing (And I laugh at anything including that "A man walks into a bar" joke!!)

I was unimpressed with this movie as I herd it was really funny, I hope to never-ever see it again!!

OK, now I'm really curious, lol. I'll rent it for sure. I love it when films get strong positive and negative reactions.

[Anita Blake]

BEG, come on! You didn't think the whole deer seen was atleast a tiny bit funny? And when he refers to it later? Come on! Come on! Come on! :D

[David]

Universal will be releasing,"Slither" on 10/24/06 in both standered DVD and HD DVD.No extras have been revealed yet.

Link To Original Article (http://www.whedonesque.com/?comments=10876)