Slither is a 2006 American science-fiction black comedy horror film written and directed by James Gunn in his directorial debut. Produced by Paul Brooks and Eric Newman, the film stars Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Tania Saulnier, Gregg Henry, and Michael Rooker. The film is set in a small town in South Carolina that becomes invaded by a malevolent alien parasite invasion.
Slither was a box office failure, but received generally positive reviews from critics and has since become a cult film.
Plot[]
A malevolent, sentient extraterrestrial parasite, inside a meteorite lands on Earth and enters the town of Wheelsy, South Carolina, where it infects wealthy resident Grant Grant who is married to his wife Starla, taking over his body and absorbing his mind. With the alien in control of his body, "Grant" begins to transform into a grotesque, tentacled monstrosity. He also abducts and infects a local woman, Brenda, to serve as a breeder for his alien larvae. However the parasite ends up gaining his host’s love for Starla, and eventually ends up caring about her, to the point he tries to hide the truth from her. Starla becomes suspicious over the changes in his appearance and his behavior, leading to Grant attacking her. When the police arrive to rescue Starla, Grant flees.
During their search for Grant, a posse led by Police Chief Bill Pardy discovers Brenda, whose body has become inhumanly bloated from the larvae impregnated inside her. The slug-like larvae burst from her body, which infest everyone in town except Starla, Bill, Mayor Jack MacReady, and teenager Kylie Strutemyer. Kylie tells the others the truth about what happened to Grant because she bonded briefly with one of the slugs. The parasite’s true form is a needle, which then takes over a life-form to use as a host and then turns those infected, into breeders to bring out Grant's larvae to take over other life-forms. Then, those infected by the larvae become part of a hive mind controlled by the parasite who intends to consume all lifeforms until only his consciousness remains. The survivors deduce that killing Grant, (the parasite’s host) will eliminate the rest of the aliens before they are attacked by the infected townspeople. Bill and Kylie escape, but Starla and Jack are captured.
Armed with a grenade to kill the monster, Bill and Kylie head to Grant's home, where the infected are being absorbed by the increasingly-mutated Grant. Jack and others are turned into breeders for more larvae, while Grant keeps Starla uninfected in the hope of reclaiming her love. After euthanizing Jack at his own request, Bill tries to use the grenade, only for it to fall into a pool when Grant knocks it away. Grant subdues Kylie with a couch and attempts to infect Bill with his tentacles, but Bill manages to attach one of the tentacles to a propane tank. Filled with flammable gas, Grant is shot by Starla and explodes, killing the rest of the aliens in the process. With everyone else in Wheelsy dead, the three survivors head off to seek help.
In a post-credits scene, a cat approaches Grant's remains and becomes infected by the alien parasite.