Slither (2006 film)

Slither is a 2006 sci-fi-horror-comedy film produced by Gold Circle Films and Strike Entertainment, released by Universal, written and directed by James Gunn, and starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Tania Saulnier and Jenna Fischer, and is produced by Paul Brooks and Eric Newman. Slither is James Gunn's directorial debut.
Cast.
Elizabeth Banks as Starla Grant
Nathan Fillion as Bill Pardy
Michael Rooker as Grant Grant
Gregg Henry as Jack MacReady
Tania Saulnier as Kylie Strutemyer
Jenna Fischer as Shelby Cunningham
Haig Sutherland as Trevor Carpenter
Brenda James as Brenda Gutierrez
Don Thompson as Wally Whale
Patrick McAreavy as McGregor


Background and production.
Gunn was said to be influenced by the wave of graphically violent horror B movies of the late 1970s and early 1980s, largely created by such directors as John Carpenter, Lloyd Kaufman, David Cronenberg, Stuart Gordon and Fred Dekker; it has close similarities to older staples like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Tremors, Night of the Living Dead, and in particular Night of the Creeps. The film's similarities to other films triggered protests from filmgoers, according to journalist Steve Palopoli:
"When the trailer for Slither came out, Internet boards about the movie suddenly lit up with protests from a legion of fans of the 1986 film Night of the Creeps. 'Alien slugs that turn people into zombies!' they cried. 'What a rip-off!' I bring this up not because I think Slither--which is a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of at least a dozen '80s horror films--could really be considered a rip-off of any one of them.
However, Gunn has stated that David Cronenberg's Shivers and The Brood were the two biggest influences on the story in Slither, along with the manga Uzumaki by Junji Ito. Slither also pays homage to the studio Troma Films, where Gunn began his career. Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman has a cameo as a "Sad Drunk", and one scene includes a clip from the Troma film The Toxic Avenger.
Slither received mostly positive reviews. Film review website Rotten Tomatoes, which calculates the consensus of critics across the United States, found that Slither was generally embraced favorably by critics with a rating of "85% fresh". The movie was also featured in the April 14, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly as #1 on "The Must List"; "Ten Things We Love This Week". Slither picked up the 2006 Fangoria "Chainsaw Award" for the Highest Body Count, and garnered nominations in the categories of Relationship From Hell, Dude You Don't Wanna Mess With, and Looks That Kill. Additionally, the horror magazine Rue Morgue named Slither the “Best Feature Film of the Year”. Among the critics who did not like the film, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave Slither a "two thumbs down" rating on their television show, with Richard Roeper saying he was "all zombied out" after reviewing a wave of zombie-themed movies from the year before. Guest critic Michael Phillips named Slither his DVD pick of the week on the television show Ebert & Roeper. Slither was listed as one of the “Top 25 DVDs of the Year” by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone magazine.