Editorials
Happy 10th Anniversary to James Gunn’s ‘Slither!’
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!
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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