Nathan Fillion

’Slither’: A slimey, fiendishly good time

One might think that a film featuring slug-birthing, slime-spewing, semisquid zombie mutants wouldn’t stand much of a chance with the critics. And yet here it is: "Slither" is a funny, freaky, fiendishly good flick that might just find a following beyond the standard cadre of horror fanatics.

SLITHER

DIRECTOR: James Gunn

CAST: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry

RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes

RATING: R for strong horror violence and gore, and language

GRADE: B

Written and directed by James Gunn — the guy who wrote the 2004 "Dawn of the Dead" remake — "Slither" takes us to the hick town of Wheelsy, S.C., where man’s precarious dominance over the planet is challenged when an alien-infested comet crashes in the forest.

As the extraterrestrial infection quickly spreads, the townsfolk turn into the aforementioned slug-birthing, slime-spewing, semisquid zombie mutants, and a likable-if-oddball cast of characters suddenly finds themselves charged with saving themselves, their town and the entire planet.

Nathan Fillion (star of "Firefly" and "Serenity") plays Police Chief Bill Pardy, a hometown boy with otherworldly troubles and an unrequited love. Elizabeth Banks ("Spiderman," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin") plays Starla Grant, a woman who finds her reverence for the sacred bonds of marriage put to the ultimate test. Michael Rooker ("Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer") plays Grant Grant, Starla’s husband and a man metamorphosing into something that looks like the inbred step-cousin to Jabba the Hut.

Here, Fillion is ever the excellent leading man, tossing off wry one-liners with the kind of easygoing charm that made him a hit in the space western "Serenity." If there’s any justice in this world, he’ll find himself a big-screen fave in the future.

Meanwhile, Rooker does an admirable job giving a heart to the hideous man-beast who may find himself compelled to eat the neighbors’ dogs but still deeply loves his beautiful wife. (You’ll never listen to the Air Supply song "Every Woman in the World" the same way again.)

Killer slugs, squidlike mutants, goo-spewing zombies — the monster factor here is so multifaceted it’s hard to keep track of who’s turning into what and why. Still, this is Gunn’s first time directing a feature and he deserves kudos for giving us a fast-paced film that delivers yucks and yelps as it both celebrates and sends up the horror genre he so clearly loves.

And a last note to serious film fans: Wait until all the credits have rolled for a final bit of slithery fun.