In case you're a loyal fan of horror movies, I'm pretty sure you've already heard (and probably even USED) the cliché saying in this comment's subject line. We sometimes get the impression that the only horror films Hollywood serves us nowadays are uninspired slashers and colorless remakes, all staring untalented bimbos and washed up hip hop stars that urgently need to boost up their careers by playing a film role. For all these reasons (and many more), James Gunn's "Slither" is an immensely joyful movie to observe, as it's a genuine homage to the cheesy, gooey and especially GORY old-school horror days! Gunn's fluently written script catapults us straight back to the 1980's, with its typical little town setting, witty redneck characters and – above all – make up effects that don't rely on advanced computer techniques. The story opens when an evil alien monster crash-lands his "eggshell" in the woods and literally invades the body of local town figure Grant Grant (Michael Rooker). Grant then impregnates a slutty townsgirl and she "gives birth" to thousands of eerie slugs that go on infecting the rest of the villagers. Grant's loving wife Starla teams up with the Sheriff, who's also her biggest admirer, to battle the slugs and prevent total elimination of the hunting town's population. Judging by James Gunn's age and background, he grew up during one of the golden eras of horror and this is clearly noticeable by the amount of tributes and references he put into his own film! Little aspects and gimmicky ideas from "Basket Case" over "The Blob" onto "Tremors" all feature in "Slither" and yet never at one point the film becomes overly hectic or stupid. It doesn't contain much tension or originality, but that largely gets compensated by the imaginative splatter. Grant gradually turns into a large-sized pile of slimy smut (similar to Brian Yuzna's "Society") that sucks innocent villagers into his stomach...or something like that. Other people get their head blown to pieces by a shotgun, or entirely eaten by the slugs and one poor sucker is even cut in half by Grant's tentacles. The dialogues are often hilarious, particularly the mayor is quite a character, and the cast members all seem very happy to be a part of this production.

Wow! What a fun and engaging movie. This film packs more punch and originality in its presentation that any comedy horror since "Dead Alive". If you are a horror fan like me YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. The acting is well-done and the comedy is blended perfectly. If you like body piercing alien tentacles, and slimy slugs crawling down your throat and controlling your brain, this movie's for you. Every scene is a homage to great cult classics and hits its target audience in the head with a 50 pound bag of fun dropped from the Empire State Building. Granted, I'm no film expert but I am an avid moviegoer and I give this one a very anti-ebert 2 thumbs up (16 tentacles and 100,000 slugs). The reason this movie isn't rated higher is simply it's not a great or a classic by any means. It is just a no-holds-barred good time, and sometimes thats the best time you can have in the confines of a movie theater with a fat red haired woman sitting next to you chomping her week-size tub of extra buttered popcorn and screaming every time she sees the firefly guy in danger. ....sigh....7/10