Podcasts
Gettin’ Goopy with James Gunn’s ‘Slither’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Marriage is a sacred bond…
After concluding March discussing of the classic folk horror film The Wicker Man (listen) and observing the Easter holiday in Critters 2: The Main Course (listen), we’re gonna shine up our boots at the local Deer Cheer festival in James Gunn‘s 2006 horror comedy (and notorious box office bomb) Slither for its 20th anniversary!
In Slither, the quiet lives of the residents of Wheelsy, South Carolina are disrupted when an asteroid containing an alien parasite crashes in the local forest. Patient zero is Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), who begins an ooey, gooey takeover of the town using parasitic slugs. It’s up to Grant’s wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) and sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) to stop the invasion before it’s too late.
Slither will celebrate its 20th Anniversary with a limited UK and Ireland theatrical release and a 4K Digital release from 1st May, and 4K UHD + Blu-ray Steelbook combo from 18th May which can be pre-ordered through HMV, ZAVVI & Amazon.
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Episode 381: Slither (2006)
Pack your box lunch and hand us a piece of that possum over there because we’re talking James Gunn’s hilariously goopy directorial debut Slither (2006) for its 20th(!!!) anniversary!
Join us as we lament the box office bomb status of this clever little creature feature (you better believe we were both in the theater back in 2006, though!) and laud the impressive practical effects on display.
Plus: marveling at the Brenda blob, gagging (literally) at the Society-esque Grant Grant blob, laughing at squid stickers and learning all about cooters.
Cross out Slither!
Coming Up Next: To celebrate the release of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, we’re going back in time to check out the original appearance of the Universal monster in 1932’s The Mummy!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 479 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hanibal S03 E03-04, Faces of Death (2026), They Will Kill You, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, an audio commentary on the 2017 Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy and the conclusion of our episodic coverage of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House on the Requel Tier.
Podcasts
‘The Boston Strangler’ Adaptations Share One Major Blind Spot [Murder Made Fiction Podcast]
Amanda and I have spent the month of July examining the various cinematic depictions of The Boston Strangler over on Murder Made Fiction, and we’ve come to an odd realization: despite the case claiming thirteen lives, none of its filmed adaptations seem to care at all about the victims.
After walking Amanda through a Primer on the case, which seems like an open and shut indictment of Albert DeSalvo (until it gets muddied by conspiracy and possible corruption by the Boston PD), we tackled three very different films:
- 1964’s The Strangler: Burt Topper directs Whatever Happened to Baby Jane actor Victor Buono in a slice of 60s pop psychology that tries to inject a weird doll fetish into the proceedings. The real life details of the case mostly fall by the wayside, in large part because DeSalvo wasn’t implicated in the murders until after this film’s release. Still, Buono’s performance is pretty astounding!
- 1968’s The Boston Strangler: The best of this month’s three films, though it is less for Tony Curtis‘ take on the killer than its use of split screens by cinematographer Richard H. Kline and editor Marion Rothman. It’s magnificently entertaining, though the back half slows down too much when it comes time to let Curtis do his thing.
- 2023’s Boston Strangler: This is the film that finally prioritizes women…although not the victims. The straight-to-Hulu film (which I reviewed for Bloody back in the day) stars Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon as Record American reporters, but writer/director Matt Ruskin’s thesis, which boils down to “it’s hard for women in the workforce,” feels overly simplistic. In hindsight, this one is mostly just a boring misfire.
The Boston Strangler 1968
Next month: For August, we’re turning our attention to John List, the family annihilator who went on to inspire 1987’s The Stepfather. We’ll partner that up with the 2009 remake, starring YOU‘s Penn Badgley (!), as well as the 2026 Tubi version starring Taye Diggs (!!)
Want even more true crime adaptations and Murder Made Fiction? Support the show on Patreon to listen to our coverage of Elle Fanning in The Girl From Plainville and Ryan Murphy’s The Watcher Netflix series, as well as full-length primers and 160+ hours of bonus content.
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