A Humorous Horror Film
Main Cast: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry
Director: James Gunn
Plot Summary: A small town is taken over by an alien through small worms, turning the people into zombies, and worse.
A horror movie with a touch of humor, this offering is set in a small town, replete with pickup-trucks, guns, hunting, and country singing. I do believe the writer(s) and director is poking gentle fun at that lifestyle, but not enough for it to be anything other than harmless.
The first half of the movie is similar to a drama. Grant (Rooker) is married to the local beauty Starla (Banks). One night when he is in the mood for love she is not, so he storms off and downs a few drinks in a bar. There he meets Brenda (Brenda James), a younger woman who always had a crush on him. He is half-tempted, but eventually his marriage bond to Starla wins out and he refuses to make love with her. This takes place in the middle of the woods, and while they are walking back to town they run into something very strange. Earlier we saw a meteor crash-land, and apparently some type of worm thing crawled out. While looking it over, some type of thing shoots out and goes into Grant’s body.
Grant is changed. Slowly, but it happens. Starla doesn’t know, of course, but eventually his odd behavior rats him out. His stealing animals to kill and eat, along with his hearty appetite, doesn’t help, but when Brenda disappears the police are called in. Bill (Fillion) is the cop, and while he has a crush on Starla, that doesn’t stop him from investigating.
The second part of the film is when the action begins. While not giving it all away, eventually the “slithers” are released on the unsuspecting townsfolk. All are controlled by the alien Grant-creature. The fourth main character is introduced, Kylie (Tania Saulnier) the teen-aged daughter of a farm family. She joins up with Bill, Starla, etc. and they all attempt to escape the now crazed townsfolk and figure out what to do.
This is a good horror film, skillfully done. It has more humor than suspense, and while everything has been done before, it still manages to entertain. I can recommend it to all horror film buffs. While you won’t see much new, you will find a good story.
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