10 years ago today, James Gunn (co-writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy) unleashed his horror-comedy masterpiece Slither upon the world, and nobody went to go see it. Sitting at a mighty comfortable 86% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 136 reviews) and a 69 Metacritic score (based on 27 reviews), Slither should have been at least a modest success for Universal Pictures, but audiences were either turned off by the comedic aspects of the film or the grossness of it (and it is plenty gross). The film would only gross $7.8 million domestically on a $15 million budget (the worldwide gross was a measly $5 million), making it a flop for the studio. Since then, it has become a fairly popular cult film that remains as one of the best horror films of the 2000s.
From Slither’s Wikipedia page:
Paul Brooks, president of the film’s production company, Gold Circle Films, said the company was “crushingly disappointed” by the gross. Universal distanced itself from Slither‘s poor box office performance, citing their distribution of the film as merely part of a deal with Gold Circle. The Hollywood Reporter speculated that Slither‘s performance “might have killed off the horror-comedy genre for the near future.” Producer Paul Brooks offered this explanation about why Slither failed to catch on with filmgoers:
I think that because it was comedy-horror instead of pure horror is where the problem lay. It’s the first comedy-horror in a long time, and maybe the marketplace just isn’t ready for comedy-horror yet. It’s difficult to think of other explanations.
That’s pretty harsh. Slither certainly didn’t kill the horror-comedy, but it proved that audiences had no desire to see something like that. It was hardly the first horror-comedy to come around in a long time though, since Shaun of the Dead came out just two years prior and it did alright. It wouldn’t be until Drag Me to Hell was released in 2009 that a horror-comedy would actually see decent box office numbers, and that was probably only because that film’s trailer marketed it as a straight horror film. This would end up hurting that film, since audience members probably didn’t appreciate the Looney Tunes humor, and the film saw steep declines in box office numbers in the coming weeks (though it still made a profit).
The first trailer for the Slither conveying exactly what the film was about and balanced the horror and the comedy fairly well, but it probably didn’t do much to entice audiences to come out in droves. It’s difficult to successfully pull off the comedic elements in a horror film in 90 seconds, and Slither is a prime example of this issue. The second trailer (below) used its humor a bit more effectively, but we’ve talked about how horror-comedy can be a hard sell with mainstream audiences before. Hell, this movie seemed to be a hard sell for horror fans too. Where were all of you when Slither was released? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m legitimately asking. What turned you off of Slither?
It would be appropriate to call Slither ahead of its time. Had it been released today, it may have been more of a sleeper hit, though it is impossible to say. Boasting the talents of (at the time) relatively unknown stars like Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) and Elizabeth Banks (whose most recognizable role at that point was her scene-stealing turn as Beth in The 40-Year-Old-Virgin), they would be able to give Slither the necessary star power it probably needed at the time. Michael Rooker, as the sympathetic villain Grant Grant, may have even pulled in some viewers because of his role as Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead, though that may be a bit of a reach.
Taking direct cues from David Cronenberg’s Shivers, 1986 horror-comedy Night of the Creeps (Gunn also states that Cronenberg’s The Brood was a big influence), and even a little bit of Society, Slither was essentially an homage to Troma Entertainment, which is where Gunn began his career as the writer of Tromeo and Juliet. Interestingly enough, Gunn also wrote the scripts for Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed for Universal Pictures before making his way over to Slither. It should be noted that he also wrote the script for Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead, so that probably had more to do with him get Slither off the ground than the Scooby-Doo movies (though I will admit that I enjoy those films too).
I was working at an AMC Theatres when Slither opened on March 31, 2006, so I dragged my sister and then-boyfriend to go see the film with me (for free, so its partially my fault that the film made no money). I immediately regretted taking them. I adored the film, but neither of my movie buddies were fans. It was “too gross” and I was told that I would “never be forgiven” for bringing them to it. My sister has since come around on the film and even purchased it at some point down the road. I have no idea if the other one has similarly changed his opinion on the film, but I digress. I saw it and loved it, and that’s all that matters!
What are your thoughts on Slither? Were you one of the small few who managed to catch it in theaters during the four weeks it was available to see back in 2006? Or did you regrettably miss it only to catch it later that year (or years later)? If you were late to the game, Tweet an apology to Universal Pictures or even James Gunn, Elizabeth Banks or Nathan Fillion! Track down the production crew and apologize to them! Let them know that you are aware of your mistake and you’ll make it up to them somehow. I say this in jest, of course, but only slightly. Share your fond memories of the film in the comments below, and let us know your thoughts on Slither!