Seen: June 3rd, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 6
At one point during the film, I thought "this feels a little like a Troma film, but for the masses". Then I see an explicit Troma reference. Then I find out Lloyd Kaufman had a scene that never made the movie.
I'm not going to explain Troma here, so if you're not familiar, look it up for yourself. If you decide it's not your cup of tea, then "move along, there's nothing to see here" as they say in pictures. The rest of you go rent Cannibal: The Musical or Tromeo and Juliet and go from there.
From the trailers, this film looked pretty good. I like Elizabeth Banks, and this seemed like another brave, non-typical outing for her. Nathan Fillion is OK in my book. It looked a bit campy and a look creepy. This is all good as far as I'm concerned.
But the delivery was a little bit off.
The best bits were in the trailer. The tone was right, and there was some decent gags, some great campy moments and some over the top grostesquerie that was, in fact, way creepy. There's some decent caricatures, some decent acting, and the zombies, and you know I love zombies, were good with a slight twist.
But there's still something not quite right. And it seems to boil down to this. This film is caught squarely between mass media horror film production and the cheap, down and dirty Troma style. It tries to bring Troma to the masses. It tries to deliver the gore and creep with a side of self deprecating attitude, true high camp and by pushing the bounds of taste.
And unfortunately, this is why it doesn't quite deliver.
Troma films work because they flaunt taste completely. They don't even pretend to know what is tasteful and what isn't. They are tasteless be design, because their subject matter lies outside acceptable, much less good, taste. They work because of this. I'm not saying they're masterpieces, or even that they're good, but they generally do work for that reason.
Slither doesn't quite work because it has boundaries. While it goes places some mainstream horror films won't, it never really strays far from home. It may put a toe over the line, but it never jumps over with both feet and takes off running.
This is what causes it to ultimately come up a bit short.
Kudos though to James Gunn for giving it a shot and to the producers and studios as well. It's an experiment and not a completely failed one. There's a lot to learn from this film and I hope we see more of them trying to bridge the gap between standard horror fare and the truly grotesque. I'll be keeping an eye on Gunn to see what he does next.
It's not a bad film. If you enjoy horror, camp horror or zombie films, by all means see it. It's got great elements and moments. It's got a decent cast and a good script. It's just not quite all baked.
The Good: Troma for the masses
The Bad: So much promise, disappointing delivery
The Ugly: Everywhere you look
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