Line #7 Film/Slither


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slither_poster_8.jpg]]
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3	''Slither'' is a 2006 horror/comedy film written and directed by Creator/JamesGunn (in his feature-length directorial debut). It is a {{Homage}} to gory BMovie horror films.
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5	The plot is essentially an AlienInvasion film mixed with a {{Zombie Apocalypse}}. An alien parasite lands in rural America, [[PuppeteerParasite infecting and taking control]] of local man [[RepetitiveName Grant Grant]] (Creator/MichaelRooker). The alien impregnates a local woman, who gives birth (by [[BodyHorror having them eat her from the inside out]]) to thousands of "slugs", that share the original alien's mind. The slugs then enter a person's body [[OrificeInvasion through the mouth]], killing them. The aliens then [[ParasiteZombie take control of the corpse]]. It's then up to the local police sheriff (Creator/NathanFillion), Grant's wife (Creator/ElizabethBanks), the foul-mouthed Mayor, and a local teen to stop the alien before it can infect every living thing on the planet.
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7	While the film was a critical hit, it flopped in theaters, with Creator/{{Universal}} reluctantly distributing the film because of their contract with its production company, Gold Circle Films. Thankfully, it has became a CultClassic, launching Gunn's career as both a writer and director.
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9	Not to be confused with the 1973 heist film of the same name starring Creator/JamesCaan and Creator/PeterBoyle.
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11	----
12	!!Provides Examples Of:
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14	* ActionSurvivor: Kylie. Over the course of the film, she manages to: grab one of the alien worms as it enters her mouth and pull it out again; burn said worm to death with a curling iron; escape a massive horde of worms by jumping off the roof of her house; take down a couple of worm-zombies (including [[spoiler:a zombified ''deer'']]) more or less by herself; and, ultimately, [[spoiler:survive ''a flying couch to the face'' [[MadeOfIron with nothing worse than a broken arm]]]]. Not bad for a kid with fake nails and a penchant for [[{{Fanservice}} taking long baths]].
15	* AliensAreBastards: The parasite wants to assimilate all life in the universe into its being.
16	* AntiVillain: Grant. He's immediately established as wealthy and actively worried about other men showing active interest in his beautiful wife, and he has his controlling side that is definitely inching towards the wrong side of turning ugly, but, in the end, decides not to cheat on Starla with Brenda. WordOfGod is that he [[spoiler:died as soon as he was infected, but the resulting entity retained much of his personality]], including his genuine love for Starla.
17	* ArcWords: Several including; "Don't you look at me", "Hey there, killer", "Meat"
18	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Not having packed Mr. Pibb is the straw that breaks the camel's back for the mayor. He lists off all the crazy things that have been happening and caps it off with screaming about being out of the drink.
19	* AnyoneCanDie: And [[spoiler:everyone in the whole town but Kylie, Bill, and Starla]] does.
20	* BadassTeacher: Starla.
21	-->'''[=MacReady=]:''' Bitch is hardcore!
22	* BathtubScene: Kylie gets one, although it quickly goes from {{Fanservice}} to FanDisservice when she's attacked by the slugs.
23	* BaldOfEvil: Grant after he gets infected.
24	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted, quite grotesquely, for Brenda after Grant pumps her full of worm eggs.
25	* BerserkButton: The mayor [[HairTriggerTemper isn't exactly a calm guy to begin with]], but he ''really'' throws a tantrum after he discovers that no one has brought any Mr. Pibb, which is the only soft-drink he likes. This is ''after'' everyone's started turning into alien parasite-infected zombies, mind you.
26	-->'''Pardy:''' ''Jesus Christ'', Jack, let me get right on it!
27	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: After being turned into a breeder for the parasites, [[spoiler:the Mayor]] begs Pardy to kill him and instantly gets a MercyKill.
28	* BigDamnHeroes: Pardy shows up in a big blaze of glory, ready to save Starla, blow up the alien and kick some parasite ass. [[spoiler:Subverted, since the alien knocks aside his grenade, it gets dropped in the pool and explodes there, and Pardy promptly gets his ass kicked.]]
29	* BittersweetEnding: The invasion is stopped by Bill, Kylie, and Starla. However, they are the only ones who have survived the invasion [[spoiler:which will probably start all over again due to TheStinger]].
30	* BodyHorror: Oh so very much of it. Brenda, Grant...
31	* BuryYourGays: Played straight with Margaret. While nearly everyone in the film dies anyway, most just get killed by the alien slugs taking over their bodies. She, on the other hand, gets sprayed with a slug zombie's AcidAttack and has her face melt off.
32	* CaptainObvious: [[{{Understatement}} "Something's wrong with me."]]
33	** "Um, yeah."
34	* TheCameo: Creator/LloydKaufman briefly appears as a civilian at the police station.
35	* ChekhovsGun:
36	** Subverted with [[spoiler:the grenade. They make a big deal of showing the viewer the ''single'' grenade that the Sheriff's department owns, and the camera lingers on it for a moment. Later, when Bill attempts to use it, Grant casually swats it aside and into a swimming pool, where it uselessly explodes.]]
37	** Played straight with Kylie's nails, which provide her with the grip she needs to yank out the worm trying to crawl down her throat.
38	* ClusterFBomb: The whole film, but especially anything the Mayor says.
39	* CrazyJealousGuy: Grant does ''not'' like the idea of other guys getting close to Starla. It's bad enough ''before'' he gets possessed by an alien death-worm.
40	* CreatorCameo: Director James Gunn shows up in a single scene early in the film, as a fellow teacher talking (and, according to Grant, flirting) with Starla.
41	* CueTheSun: It's nighttime during the final confrontation but shortly after Grant's death the morning comes and Starla, Kylie and Pardy walk their way out of town towards a hospital.
42	* DecoyProtagonist:
43	** Bill's something like this. The audience is set up to expect him to become the ass-kicking ActionHero when the moment calls, but while he's not that incompetent and certainly not cowardly when the action really kicks off, it is pretty clear that he's completely out of his depth. Almost every moment that's set up to make him look like a badass ends with him either running away or getting his ass kicked. He also needs to be rescued more than once by Starla and Kylie.
44	** Creator/NathanFillion certainly [[WordOfGod confirmed]] that one of the things he really enjoyed about playing Bill was his bewildered and terrified "what the ''fuck'' is going on?!" reaction to almost everything that happened, rather than reacting like a standard ActionHero would.
45	* DeepSouth: The film is set in Wheelsy, a small town in South Carolina.
46	* DiagonalCut: When a single guy tries to stop Grant, the latter casually whips a tentacle at him. He looks, confused, for a few seconds, while blood starts pouring out of a perfectly vertical cut from his head to his groin, before he splits apart.
47	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
48	** The scenes where the alien worms possess and impregnate the townsfolk are treated as parallel to rape and sexual assault. The alien even has an "o-face" when it implants someone.
49	** Grant's descent into alien-possessed BodyHorror monstrousness is a pretty clear metaphor for a jealous and controlling husband graduating into a {{Domestic Abuse}}r.
50	* TheEndOrIsIt[=/=]SequelHook[=/=]TheStinger: Keep watching after the end credits.
51	* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler:The entire town is killed except Bill Pardy, Starla, and Kylie.]]
52	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: The alien, despite still planning to assimilate all life into himself, does end up [[spoiler:falling in love with Starla and genuinely caring about her, even managing to resist from infecting her.]] Later on in the film, he outright tells [[spoiler:Starla that he didn't want to lose her and later on tries to live with her in her and Grant's old house, and doesn't hurt her even when she angers him by joining up with Bill later.]] This all culminates in him only giving [[spoiler:Starla]] a sad look [[spoiler:when she prepares to finally kill him.]] This is said by the creators to be a result of the alien [[spoiler:taking on many of Grant's personality traits.]]
53	* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Or belly full, at any rate. The alien uses humans as living incubators for its progeny, implanting them via impaling them with a pair of tendrils which deliver the "[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything seed]]" into the body. The host then is driven by an [[HorrorHunger insatiable hunger for meat, no matter the source]], and eventually [[BodyHorror bloats into an enormous immobile blob]] as the slugs grow inside of them. [[AndIMustScream They are still awake and aware during the several days this process takes]].
54	** On the bright side at least; it seems that both tendrils are required for the impregnation process to be successful since (despite some obvious discomfort) Bill Pardy doesn't seem too injured by Grant's tentacle.
55	* FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Two of them plus a Final Guy. Only Starla completely fills this trope, however.]]
56	* GayEuphemism: Mayor Jack [=MacReady=] asks a deputy if his coworker Margaret is available. The deputy tells him not to bother because Margaret "packs a box lunch."
57	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: A redneck attempting to stop a fully mutated Grant gets bisected by a whip-like tentacle.
58	* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Grant Grant decides not to cheat on Starla with Brenda, but mere minutes after changing his mind, is attacked by and functionally killed by the parasite when it takes over his brain.
59	* HideYourLesbians: Margaret being a lesbian is only brought up twice and briefly, so you'd be forgiven for not knowing she's a lesbian.
60	* HiveMind: The parasite has the mind of every living creature it has ever infected.
61	* HiveQueen: Grant.
62	* HollywoodAcid: The acid-spitting attack that the slug zombies use is green and instantly dissolves flesh.
63	* {{Homage}}:
64	** To ''Film/NightOfTheCreeps''. Starla teaches at [[Film/{{Tremors}} Earl Bassett]] Community School, the mayor's name is [[Film/TheThing1982 R.J. MacReady]], there's a store in town called [[Film/{{Videodrome}} Max Renn]]'s and Bill mentions the [[Film/TheBrood Raglan]] and [[Film/RosemarysBaby Castevet]] farms.
65	** The Henenlotter's Saddle Lodge is a homage to director Frank Henenlotter of ''Film/BasketCase'' and ''Film/BrainDamage'' fame.
66	** The scene of Kylie getting attacked by a slug in the bathtub is a reference to a key scene in Creator/DavidCronenberg's 1975 horror ''Film/{{Shivers\|1975}}'', a film about humans being taken over by parasite alien worms. Director James Gunn is on record as saying ''Shivers'' was a major influence on his movie.
67	* HorrorHunger: Brenda really, ''really'' wants some meat.
68	* HopeSpot: [=MacReady=] wakes up after seemingly being mistaken for dead by the horde and despite being scared shitless by the dozens of 'wombs' eating corpses in front of him (and chasing him around) he escapes, [[ShootTheShaggyDog only to get greeted and impregnated by Grant the moment he opens the door]].
69	* ImAHumanitarian: Those turned into breeders want meat. Any meat...
70	* IAmLegion: Those infected and turned into zombies all share a collective hive mind, and speak in unison when talking to Starla.
71	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Non-alcoholic version with the Mayor. After witnessing and barely escaping from all sorts of bizarre and frightening things, he reaches into the case to get a Mr. Pibb soft drink...[[BerserkButton only to have a bit of a meltdown]] when he discovers there isn't any.
72	* IncongruouslyDressedZombie: One of a mob of worm-possessed corpses is a black-robed clergyman with a handbell.
73	* TheInfested: After Grant infects her with [[BigBad The Long One's embryos]], Brenda's body swells like a balloon as they grow inside her. Then, [[NauseaFuel she explodes, showering the protagonists with thousands of slugs.]]
74	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: Zigzagged. Brenda asking Pardy the whereabouts of her baby and him reassuring her that he's fine confirms that Grant didn't feed the infant to his own mother. Averted with Kylie's little sisters, who get infected by the slugs and become {{Undead Child}}ren.
75	* KeystoneArmy: Killing the head parasite (Grant) causes all the slugs and the still living slug breeders to drop dead despite none of them being harmed themselves. [[spoiler:The white slug that started this whole mess is just fine though, assuming it wasn't just a new one that escaped Grant's carcass]].
76	* MayorPain: Subverted. [[{{Jerkass}} MacReady is loud, profane, and abrasive]], but he harasses Pardy to ''solve'' the Grant case, not cover it up. And when Pardy raises a posse to lay an ambush for Grant, [=MacReady=] takes up a rifle and volunteers.
77	* MercyKill: Bill delivers this to [[spoiler:Mayor [=MacReady=]]] after the discovering that the latter has begun to get all "womby."
78	* MistakenForDisease: Upon hearing of Grant's ongoing transformation into an alien monster, the Mayor attempts to dismiss it by claiming it must be the result of Lyme disease. The police officers - who actually saw the partly-transformed Grant in person - laugh uproariously at this, much to the Mayor's annoyance.
79	* MoralityPet: Starla could probably qualify as this for Grant before he got infected. Definitely qualifies for him (and the HiveMind as a whole) afterward in that she's the only human he/it/they cares enough about to not infect.
80	* MrExposition: Kylie fills this role, thanks to having [[MentalFusion mind melded]] with one of the worms.
81	* NobleBigot: The Mayor implicitly has some homophobic beliefs, but as he tells the lesbian cop Margaret during his rant in the aftermath of Brenda's slug-induced explosion:
82	-->'''Mayor [=MacReady=]:''' You can sue with me. I don't care if you're a lesbo, you don't deserve this shit.
83	* OhCrap: Bill Pardy when he stumbles upon [[spoiler:an infected deer eating some human corpses]] in the police station.
84	-->'''Bill Pardy:''' Fuck me.
85	* OmnicidalManiac:
86	-->''I'll keep growing till I'm everywhere. 'Till I'm all that is."
87	* OrificeInvasion: The slugs enter a host via the mouth.
88	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The slug-infected people fit the ParasiteZombie type, with a [[AcidAttack corrosive spit]] and the ability to speak, albeit only what Grant wants to say due to the HiveMind. They also don't feed on flesh, which is what the HorrorHunger-driven slug incubators do instead in order to generate more alien slugs.
89	* PlanetaryParasite: As one character discovers during a failed attempt at infestation, this is the life cycle of the aliens. [[PuppeteerParasite They take over a being on a planet]], [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong turn other beings into slug-breeders]], [[OrificeInvasion take over more people with the slugs]], [[AssimilationPlot integrate all those hosts into one large super-organism]], [[MonsterIsAMommy then launch seeds at another planet to eventually repeat the cycle]].
90	* ThePowerOfLove: Subverted, but not how you think. After being infected, Grant [[spoiler:tries and succeeds at resisting the urge to eat Starla, and has his drones bring her back home and [[GoGoEnslavement dress her in silk]] and [[BatheHerAndBringHerToMe comb her hair]] lovingly. At the end she even manages to [[FlawExploitation prey on his love for her]] to get in close and stab him. Pity it wasn't in a vital area... which, considering he/it was a mass of alien blubber, tentacles and human bodies, he may not have had one other than his brain.]]
91	* PreMortemOneLiner: Attempted by Bill at the film's climax, after Grant angrily asks Starla if she thinks she can fuck with him. Bill replies "Yep," pulls out the grenade, [[spoiler:only for Grant to swat it away into the swimming pool, where it explodes harmlessly]].
92	* PuppeteerParasite: The parasite controls its hosts like puppets, but absorbs their personality and memories. So while Grant Grant dies at the beginning of the film, the parasite feels Grant's love for his wife.
93	* RageBreakingPoint: [=MacReady=] has been through a pretty awful night, and he's been reasonably stoic about it (i.e., he's been no more of a profane loudmouth than usual), but the lack of Mr. Pibb in the cooler was just the last straw.
94	* RaisingTheSteaks: Pardy gets attacked by a slug-infected deer, proving that humans aren't the only species that can be infected by the alien. [[spoiler:And then the cat in the after credits scene...]]
95	* RuleOfCool: The whole film runs on this.
96	** RuleOfFunny: Or this.
97	** RuleOfScary: Or this.
98	* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Mayor [=MacReady=] runs into a cranky old woman in Grant's basement. She harangues him for as long as he's in earshot.
99	* SeductionProofMarriage: Grant is tempted by Brenda (an ex-girlfriend's little sister) at a bar and they head into the woods, drunk and giggling, but he consciously chooses to remain faithful to Starla, his wife.
100	* SelfServingMemory: "You tried to kill me and leave with Pardy!" Grant isn't ''lying'', but he's leaving out some...important context.
101	* SexlessMarriage: Grant and Starla's marriage has apparently been this for a while. Frankly, after seeing Grant's "seduction technique", it's easy to see how Starla might be a bit turned off.
102	** Pardy also pretty heavily implies that it's a loveless marriage.
103	* ShoutOut:
104	** ''Film/TheBlob1958'': alien menace arrives through a meteorite and starts its invasion in a small town.
105	*** [=MacReady=] suggesting that the slugs are a secret military bio weapon unleashed by the Government could be a nod to the [[Film/TheBlob1988 1988 remake]].
106	** The camera moving rapidly through the dark woods before stopping at the alien parasite hatching from the meteorite is reminiscent of the demonic entity's POV scenes from the ''Franchise/EvilDead'' films.
107	** The film is a WholePlotReference (kinda sorta) to ''Film/NightOfTheCreeps''.
108	** ''Film/TheToxicAvenger'' is on TV at Brenda's house, in reference to James Gunn's past with Creator/{{Troma}} studios.
109	** Two shout-outs to ''{{Film/Predator}}'': when the slimy alien is about to shoot the parasite at Grant Grant, it emits the same clicking noise the yautja makes; when Pardy's group gears up at the police station, the score of the film becomes suspiciously similar to Alan Silvestri's iconic theme.
110	** ''{{Film/The Thing\|1982}}'': the funeral home on main street is run by RJ [=MacCready=].
111	** ''{{Film/Tremors}}'': the town's high school is named Earl Bassett Community School.
112	** Did anyone else think of ''{{Film/Serenity}}'' upon learning that they had a grenade, and Nathan Fillion decided they leave it behind?
113	** Kylie's little sisters are seen reading ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' books, "You Can't Scare Me!" and "The Girl Who Cried Monster".
114	** The alien slug swimming towards Kylie in the foamy bathtub is also a nod to ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' when Freddy's bladed glove emerges between the legs of a sleeping Nancy while she's taking a bath.
115	** According to an interview, ''Slither'' was inspired by ''{{Manga/Uzumaki}}''.
116	** In the final stages of his mutation, Grant strongly resembles [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} The Master]].
117	* SlidingScaleOfComedyAndHorror: It's a blend of both.
118	* SoundtrackDissonance:
119	** Grant horribly infecting a panicking Brenda is intercut with the rest of the characters dancing to Corb Lund's "(Gonna) Shine Up My Boots" as hunting season opens.
120	** [[spoiler:[=MacReady=]]] giving in to the infection and eating human flesh to "Every Woman In The World".
121	* StealthPun: Pardy taunts the ButchLesbian by bringing up "'gina" in front of her... and this kid.
122	-->'''Kid:''' What's 'gina?\
123	'''Pardy:''' It's a [[CountryMatters country.]] It's where the 'Ginese come from.
124	* SweetieGraffiti: Earlier on in the film Brenda takes Grant to see an old heart with their initials that she carved onto a tree when they were kids, to prove that she had (and presumably still has) a crush on him then.
125	* ThatPoorCat: [[spoiler:At the end of TheStinger. Overlaps with GoryDiscretionShot as it cuts to black.]]
126	* TruthInTelevision: The Long One's complicated, multi-host lifecycle is generally in keeping with how parasites work in the real world.
127	* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Bill Pardy ([[VictoriousChildhoodFriend until the end]]).
128	* VasquezAlwaysDies: [[spoiler:Of the few uninfected, Deputy Margaret is quickly taken out while the much more feminine Starla and Kylie survive the movie.]]
129	* TheVirus: Not exactly a virus, per se, as it's spread by alien slugs, but it works pretty much the same way.
130	* WouldHurtAChild: Nobody's safe here. Played even straighter than usual given that [[spoiler:the alien parasites, after infecting Kylie's sisters, drive them around as foul-mouthed [[UndeadChild undead children]] that are genuinely creepy.]]
131	* {{Yandere}}: Grant and the entire alien HiveMind pretty much become this for Starla.
132	* {{Zeerust}}: A run-down welcome billboard shown in the opening scene presents Wheelsy as the "Wheels of the future" depicting a flying vehicle in a retrofuturistic city backdrop.
133	* ZombieApocalypse: Potentially. They're able to prevent the scenario from spreading beyond the town, luckily.
134	* ZombiePukeAttack: "Wormbrains" are able to spit flesh-dissolving acid at people.
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Context Film / Slither