SLITHER

DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 96 minutes, feature audio commentary, deleted and extended scenes (with optional commentary, featurettes, video diary

STUDIO: Universal/ Gold Circle Films/ Strike Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: 10-24-2006

Believe me when there is no other movie this year like SLITHER. It is a sci-fi horror comedy romp with Nathan Fillion as small town sheriff Bill Pardy. His town is ground zero for an alien meteor that is home to an alien that infects the town mayor. This parasitic alien will breed and feed on the whole planet until every living animal is gone. Writer/Director James Gunn wrote a fantastic remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD and LSITHER shows he has more up his sleeve. He is kinda like a mad creator with some fantastic ideas. Tania Sauliner is one my favorite actors in this film. She plays off Nathan Fillion so well. I like the scenes when she and Nathan are outside and inside of the police station. Just some of my favorite moments right there. Wait until you see the parasite infected deer. Priceless.

I hope James Gunn directs more of his scripts in the future and SLITHER is a fantastic send-up to 1980s horror films. The cast milk the script for all it's worth and pay attention to the names of the characters (their last names are tributes to other characters in other horror films).

VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)

The trasnfer is good for the most part except some image detail is lost in the darkest of scenes.

AUDIO: English, French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

SPECIAL FEATURES: What I love about the extras is that no one takes themselves seriously whether it is Lloyd Kaufman's Video Diary of being the Sad Drunk in the police station for one scene, Who Is Bill Pardy featurette and the Slithery Set Tour with Nathan Fillion where everyone including Nathan Fillion make fun of Bill Pardy and Nathan, or the eight minute gag reel which gets better as it goes along. The Special Effects progressions featurette is nothing to write home about since it just shows how the effects were put in music video style. I love the eight deleted scenes (the one with the deer should have been left in the film) where the first three of four extended scenes found me going past them quick (I loved the last extended scene). Director James Gunn does optional commentary for the deleted and extended scenes. He and Nathan Fillion do the entertaining feature audio commentary.

THE SICK MINDS AND SLIMY DAYS OF SLITHER is a making of featurette.

BRINGING SLITHER'S CREATURES TO LIFE goes behind the scenes of the prosthetic parasites made for the film and other prosthetic effects. Some puppetry work is involved. The film's effects sometimes are a mix of practical and digital.

THE GOREHOUND GRILL: BREWIN' THE BLOOD is a featurette that shows you how to make your own fake blood for movies or home.

FINAL ANALYSIS: SLITHER has cult classic spelled all over it. It is a good send-up of over-the-top 1980s horror films. The DVD extras are even fun to watch.

this review is (c)10-27-2006 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link to the review). Look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com