Four out of Five stars
Running time: 95 mins

Enjoyably schlocky horror flick that achieves the perfect balance of shocks, scares, laughs and gloopy effects sequences.

What’s it all about?
Nathan Fillion (from Serenity) stars as small-town police chief Bill Pardy, whose easygoing nature is sorely tested when the town of Wheelsy is suddenly overrun by slug-like aliens that turn the inhabitants into an army of zombies.

The Good
If you’re a fan of 1950s’ monster movies and films such as Tremors and Eight Legged Freaks then Slither has your name splattered all over it in brightly coloured goo. It’s written and directed by James Gunn (the screenwriter of the Dawn of the Dead remake, making his directorial debut) who demonstrates a sure grasp of his material, orchestrating a fast-moving romp with lashings of gloopy effects and complex characters that you actually care about.

The Great
The cast are superb. Fillion gets all the best lines and makes an engaging lead, while Rooker manages to elicit a measure of sympathy for what could otherwise have been a very one-dimensional evil role. There’s also strong support from Elizabeth Banks and Tania Saulnier.

Aside from serving up several good lines and gags, the sharply-written script also weaves in a subtle thread about evolution as well as delivering genre staples such as bath scenes and cover-your-eyes-with-horror moments.

Worth seeing?
In short, Slither is a thoroughly enjoyable genre picture that gets everything right. Recommended.