Slither
Official Poster for Slither
Directed by	James Gunn
Produced by	Paul Brooks Eric Newman
Written by	James Gunn
Starring	Nathan Fillion Elizabeth Banks Michael Rooker Gregg Henry Tania Saulnier Brenda James Don Thompson Jenna Fischer
Music by	Tyler Bates
Distributed by	Universal Pictures Gold Circle Films TVA Films (Canada)
Release date	March 31, 2006
Language	English
Budget	$15,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Slither aka SLiTHER is a Universal horror/comedy film, written and directed by James Gunn. The film stars Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Tania Saulnier, and Jenna Fischer. It is produced by Paul Brooks and Eric Newman.

Plot

When Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), the wealthiest citizen of small town Wheelsy, South Carolina contracts a strange illness, things start acting out of place. Pets go missing, then livestock and people and all of it somehow leads back to Grant. However, Grant isn't feeling too well, given his unusually massive appetite for meat and he's shacked up in the basement of his home, away from his wife (Elizabeth Banks), who is starting to notice her husband's unusual behavior and body changes. As Grant slowly transforms into a hideous creature capable of much grislier tasks at hand, the town of Wheelsy faces a threat against humanity. As its citizens seem to be overcome by an alien plague from outer space, they'll only transform into bloodthirsty monsters like Grant. It's only the survivors who can prevent this seemingly peaceful town from being completely overrun by something far more capable than just transforming people into hungry monsters, but destroying life as we know it.

Reception

The film received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews, especially for a film of its genre (scoring 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 69% on Metacritic), but only grossed $4 million on its first weekend.

The film earned high praise from several prominant horror film directors (including Eli Roth, Tobe Hooper, Joss Whedon, Rob Zombie, and John Landis), with several saying it was the best horror film that they had seen in years.

As of April 24, 2006, the film has grossed a total of 7.8 million dollars in the United States box office.

Trivia

• Slither was said to be inspired by the body horror films of the 1970's and 1980's, largely created by such directors as John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.
• The most obvious inspiration is David Cronenberg's Shivers (1975). "Killer parasitic worm" stories like Slither and Shivers can be considered part of a particular subgenre of horror, which includes other works such as Robert A. Heinlein's novella The Puppet Masters and the film Night of the Creeps.
• One of the department stores at the beginning of film is named R.J. MacReady. This is a reference to Kurt Russell's character in John Carpenter's The Thing.
• The music that is playing as the group arms themselves with confiscated weapons at the police station is from the movie Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• This is the directorial debut of screenwriter/actor James Gunn who previously wrote the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead and the Scooby Doo films. Gunn was also writer of Tromeo and Juliet, a Troma production directed by famed schlockmeister Lloyd Kaufman. Kaufman makes a cameo appearance in Gunn's directorial debut alongside Gunn's wife Jenna Fischer who co-stars. Fischer also directed Kaufman and her husband in LolliLove.
• The film Brenda is seen watching before discovering Grant's transformation is The Toxic Avenger.
• Actors Nathan Fillion and Gregg Henry were both on the TV show Firefly. Nathan Fillion was the main star Malcolm Reynolds, and Gregg Henry guest starred as Sheriff Bourne in "The Train Job".
• The film in Canada is being released by TVA Films, an independent company who released Good Night, and Good Luck. in Canada.

An infected Grant Grant (Michael Rooker).

• The local high school featured is named after Earl Bassett, the lead character in the movie Tremors played by Fred Ward.
• There is a mention of neighbors named "the Castevets". The Castevets were Rosemary's neighbors in Rosemary's Baby.

Main cast

• Nathan Fillion ... as Bill Pardy
• Elizabeth Banks ... as Starla Grant
• Michael Rooker ... as Grant Grant
• Gregg Henry ... as Jack MacReady
• Tania Saulnier ... as Kylie Strutemyer
• Jenna Fischer ... as Shelby Cunningham
• Brenda James ... as Brenda Gutierrez
• Don Thompson ... as Wally Whale
• Haig Sutherland ... as Trevor
• Jennifer Copping ... as Margaret Hooper
• Lloyd Kaufman ... as Sad Drunk

External links

• Official site
• Slither at the Internet Movie Database
• Movie Trailer at iFilm
• Review for Slither at Dread Central
• MoviesForGuys.com Review
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage

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