Horror comedy is a difficult balance to hit just right. Lean too far into the comedy aspect and you lose the scare factor of your horror, as well as running the risk of the gore coming off as goofy. Of course, do the opposite and you wind up with a horror film that has awkward moments of humour jammed in where it can be distracting. Slither strikes that great balance by crafting natural laughs not from situations, although some are quite comical, but from the performance of the cast.

The film brings its slithery aliens to Earth courtesy of our typical foe; a meteor. Nothing good ever comes from space in the movies. Stumbling upon the meteor is frequent James Gunn collaborator Michael Rooker as Grant Grant, slightly excessive husband of Starla (Eliabeth Banks), who happens to be in the woods with another young lady after being rebuffed by Starla. While he does stop before breaking his marital vows, karma still kicks in when he decides to poke the slimy slug who has squirmed out of the meteor and has a slimy dart puncture his stomach and take over his body and mind.

From here, the zombie/Invasion of the Body Snatchers action takes over as alien Grant returns home to begin his attempt to take over the planet. Luckily for Starla, enough of Grant’s mind remains to try and keep her safe from the alien’s attempt to find a person to implant its slug babies into. That won’t protect anybody else though, and after finding the perfect mate, as well as suffering some grotesque changes himself, the alien slugs begin taking over the small town Grant and Starla call home.

Standing in Grant’s way is Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion), an old friend and long time crush holder of Starla. This doesn’t go over well with Grant as Starla and Bill team up to try and save Grant and their town. Gooey madness ensues, leading to the inevitable confrontation between Bill and a now deformed Grant, who looks like he just walked out of the ’80s film Society.

After starting up with some writing and directing for Troma, James Gunn brings that Troma sensibility and style to his own feature work. It’s easy to see the the transfer of talent as Slither comes off as a higher class of Troma film. The humour is a little less crass, the effects are of better quality, and there’s a larger appeal that Slither manages to capture. Gunn doesn’t forget where he came from though, as Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman makes an appearance and we catch a glimpse of The Toxic Avenger playing on a TV screen in one shot.

The film is a great homage to so many 1980s films, something Gunn has pointed out himself, with nods to Nightmare on Elm Street, The Thing, The Evil Dead, Night of the Creeps, and Videodrome to name a few. It’s David Cronenberg’s Shivers that I’m the most reminded of here with even the poster for this film making me think of the old VHS cover for Shivers. As much as so many other films have tried to capture that magic of classic ’80s horror, Slither is one of the few that really does it. It’s goofy in a natural way, most of the effects are prosthetics instead of CGI, and it doesn’t bother with any kind of in depth explanation for the madness that takes place.

Tune In or Tune Out

This is the kind of good time horror film that younger fans can cut their teeth on. While it can get pretty gory at moments, it typically comes off as goofy fun, and nudity is limited to a very brief shot in the classic bathtub scene and a bare butt here and there. This is one of my favourite kind of films. Something that can manage to appeal to people who may not be up for a heart stopping horror film but still want to indulge in some B movie fun. It’s the kind of film that I would go to for a group evening in with a few drinks and a rowdy crowd.