Review: Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviews

Slither

B-movie shoots for camp and gross-outs

By TOM MEEK | April 5, 2006

3.0 Stars

This pleasing B-level gore fest (no relation to the 1973 flick staring James Caan) is an unintentional hybrid of Larry the Cable Guy and Stay Alive as it pits rednecks against zombies. The sleepy veil over deer-hunting capital Wheelsy gets blasted off when a meteor strikes and turns bumpkin tycoon Grant Grant (Michael Rooker) into an oozing, Jabba the Hutt–esque land squid. An infestation of red slugs ensues. Director James Gunn (who’s penned such winners as Scooby Doo and the Dawn of the Dead remake) shoots for camp and a high gross-out quotient. He scores the latter, but much of Slither, like Shaun of the Dead’s cannibalization of George Romero’s revenant franchise, feels borrowed — most notably from David Cronenberg’s Shivers (1975). Rooker has a good time brooding under the layers of latex, Elizabeth Banks fills the heroine-in-distress role as Grant’s wife, Nathan Fillion plays her Dudley Do-Right, and Gregg Henry is the potty-mouthed mayor.

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Performing Arts, Stand-up Comedy, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

See this film: Ghostbusters @ the Coolidge
Outside The Frame | October 21, 2012 at 12:00 PM

See this film: The Phantom of the Opera @ the Somerville Theatre
October 20, 2012 at 5:00 PM

[cmj2k12] Tomorrow in Brooklyn: the Phoenix/WFNX CMJ show
On The Download | October 20, 2012 at 12:01 PM

Free Fun Shit: Oct 19-25: Free hot dogs, WFNX presents Gentlemen Hall + Casey Desmond, Dance Party Massacre Zombie fashion show, Heads of the Charles, street theater fest + more
Phlog | October 19, 2012 at 5:01 PM

Q&A #8: Mayoral Finalists
Talking Politics | October 19, 2012 at 4:57 PM

More Information

Watch the trailer for Slither (QuickTime)

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE | October 02, 2012
Matthew Heineman and Susan Frömke's documentary tackles a familiar topic but doesn't weigh in on the Obamacare issue so contentious in the upcoming election.

REVIEW: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS | August 07, 2012
Maybe the Kid is going through a rough adolescent patch — but he was no great shakes to begin with.

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE'S MOST WANTED | June 07, 2012
The franchise that began as a tame kiddie pleaser about four pampered zoo animals lost in the wild has matured and sharpened its teeth, perhaps thanks to Noah Baumbach ( The Squid and the Whale ) collaborating on the script.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.