MovieChat Forums > Slither (2006) Discussion > Great movie, but...

Great movie, but...

posted 17 years ago by squeezebox
12 replies | jump to latest

I loved SLITHER. I thought it was one of the most entertaining horror-comedies in a long time. It was a real old-school horror flick without ever resorting to any of that self-conscious BS that so many genre movies can't seem to avoid lately.

However, it does puzzle me that so many fans of this movie repeatedly boast about how original and inventive it was. I simply can't agree with that. SLITHER is as derivative a horror flick as any I've ever seen.

Aside from lifting its basic plot from NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, writer-director James Gunn borrows plot elements from THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, POSSESSION, THE DEADLY SPAWN, Cronenberg's THE FLY and Carpenter's THE THING, just to name a few.

This is not to deny Gunn credit for making a terrific horror flick when they are few and far between these days, but saying that his movie is "unique" and "original" is simply untrue.

[–] Gurtinator 17 years ago

It's original in the sense that Grindhouse is original: it's a big-budget low-budget horror film.

"So it goes" -Slaughterhouse Five

[–] SuperMarioBros3 17 years ago

Well then it's not original if its like something else, is it?

[–] ferrisbuellersdayoff 17 years ago

I've gotten to meet James Gunn a couple of times (because he graduated from my high school) and he credits many classic horror movies influencing Slither, not just Night of the Creeps. At a Q&A during the St. Louis Film Festival in November, he specifically mentioned several films from which he drew inspiration (I can't list the ones he mentioned because I wasn't there, but my film teacher was).

Gunn did not mention Cronenberg's The Fly, but my teacher called him out on it (because the scene in the end where Grant's and Starla's eyes meet right before she shoots him is taken pretty much directly from The Fly, with Geena Davis pausing before she shoots the Brundle-fly), and Gunn admitted yes that was a reference to The Fly

[–] zarrodude 17 years ago

Slither also ripped off "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

No one here gets out alive.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] realvibezrecs 17 years ago

so its an original recycle? :D

[–] randycoates 17 years ago

It wasn't a masterpiece or anything but who cares, I thought Slither was really fun!

[–] cydolon 17 years ago

I really wish there were more films like this these days. Good old fashioned grab a fist full of friends pizza and beer and enjoy. The basic plot will be familiar to any sci-fi/horror buff and it always make me think of the 50s Blob ^^ Still this film does what so many better reviewed films fail to do. Entertain ^^

[–] murdock50136 17 years ago

So by the time this movie was made there were something like hmmmm infinity horror movies or novels. It's pretty simple to take any movie in any genre nowadays and relate it to some other form of entertainment that had allready been done. That said I think we can all agree that we have seen a movie and thought the entire time "wow, this is a direct ripoff of 'fill in the blank' We can also agree that Slither isnt that type of movie. Yes, it can be compared to the movies mentioned above, but what Slither does that many movies dont even try doing is it makes its own mark as a horror film.

[–] deeterville 17 years ago

Gunn MEANT it to be a homage to the films you mention above. He says so in the DVD extras. He LOVES those films and uses names from them and scenes from them to pay tribute to how they were great to him.

I think that even though I did not know that at the time (watching the extras after the film), and knowing that it was "ripping off" movies I have seen already while I watched it I was still greatly entertained and loved it so much I watched it again right afterward. I just could not get enough of it.

I truly think Gunn did a fabulous job with this movie and I now plan to add it to my personal library, not just my queue.

As Murdock said above it makes it's own mark as a horror film. An indelible mark that hopefully others will enjoy enough to copy someday.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] thedunce0413 17 years ago

Than I guess there is near impossible to find an original film since Fight Club is an adaptation of the book. I just wish we would stop worrying about everything being original and who ripped off who. The three-act structure and hero's journey was created in the time of the greeks and just about every movie uses those story-telling devices. If you want something close to originality watch German silent films, Italian films right after the war, French New Wave, early Film Noir, and American movies coming out of the sixties starting with Bonnie and Clyde(sure it is based on their lives and is no longer original [since it has been copied to death] now but it was then).