Other movies in this series:
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The tyranist's thoughts
I started seeing trailers for this about six months before it finally reached the theatres, and I have to admit that I was pretty excited about it from the first time I saw them. I'm a fan of Nathan Fillion, but even more than that, I'm a fan of this particular type of horror flick. When these are well done, I don't think there's any kind of horror that I find more entertaining.
A meteor lands just outside of a small hick town (not so dissimilar from the town I grew up in). It is more than just a rock though, and soon the alien that was transported in the meteor is taking over the town. In steps the local chief of police and whoever he can round up.
I'm tempted to compare this to movies like Eight-Legged Freaks and even Lake Placid for the subject matter and the tone of the movie, but really, I think they've managed to recapture something that's been lost for 20 years and that is the magic that made Night of the Creeps one of my all-time favourite movies. The perfect mix of humor and horror. I found myself totally absorbed by the movie jumping at some of the scares and laughing at the gags. I haven't been sucked into a movie like this in quite a while.
Nathan Fillion is brilliant, dead-panning perfectly while the world falls apart around him. The script is spot on, and the effects very good. I love the casting and how much the town and the actors look like a hick town. It's nice to see that they can round up some pretty normal looking people rather than all the beautiful people that normally inhabit movie land.
I loved this movie. I'd see it again tomorrow if I could get Rish to travel a 1000 miles to see it with me. It won't be for everyone, but if you like your horror with a mix of humour and scares, this one will probably hit the spot. Easily the best horror movie thus far in 2006.
Posted: April 5, 2006

Rish's Reviews
I actually had a pair of tickets to go see this at the Mann Chinese Theatre (they were given to me by comic book artist Marc Silvestri, if that means anything to anyone), but I worked that night and couldn't make it. I sort of wish I had gotten to see it then.
See, I had great expectations for this flick once it came out, since everybody I talked to loved it. There was a little presentation I went to in January, and James Gunn (the director) and stars Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks were there, so I was pretty excited about the flick. It's not that I was disappointed when I saw it, but it did fall short of my (admittedly-astronomical) expectations.
Written and directed by the writer of the recent Dawn of the Dead remake, Slither is, in a way, a throwback to an earlier kind of Sci-Fi/Horror flick, a quippy, gory-but-funny type that's miles away from the repulsiveness of parasite/slug flicks like Squirm and David Cronenberg's sickening Shivers.
It had likable characters, good special effects, amusing dialogue, and attractive people in it. What's not to like?
Night of the Creeps is still much better, but this one was funny, scary, clever, and disgusting. What's not to like?
I'm not sure why this one didn't do well and so many other horror flicks this year did, but it sort of fizzled in its opening weekend. And in the 21st Century, those first three days are all that matter. Still, I urge people to see the movie where and when they can, since it is highly entertaining and deserves our dollars a lot more than the glossy remakes and insipid video game adaptations.
I wish I had enjoyed this one as much as tyranist did. I still recommend it, though.
Posted: May 18, 2006

Total Skulls: 14

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?