Review From The Dawn Of Time: Slither

For a variety of reasons I was looking at my notes and discovered the reviews of the things we watched the very night we decided to name ourselves Heckler and Kochk! As might be expected they're almost incomprehensible, firstly because it was dark when I made them, but also because we'd been drinking pink fizzy wine[1]. Nevertheless, let's take a look at our work from the very dawn of H&K.

Our main feature was Slither [2](2006, Dir: James Gunn) starring Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Desperate Housewives, Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog), a comedy/horror/sci-fi monster movie. Here are my notes, as I can best make them out

Asteroid or Meteor?
I've been to karaoke nights like that.
I honestly don't believe V__ was wearing a skirt that short[3]

At this point the picture appears in my notes.

"I'm surprised you're able to lift a mug, you've been carrying that torch for so long."[4]
Nice Bra - She's a bit ropy looking.
She's getting a horrible thing in her belly-button
Huh huh breasts huh
If only D__ would stop running his life like a 30s serial villain.[5]
Heckler and Kochk gun
Subtly knob-shaped mountain[6]
The Curling Tongs! Yes! That's the last thing it's be expecting!
It's like watching a film with a small child or possibly a giant penis on legs[7]
"Well that is some fucked up shit."
She's hidden those scissors in her pants!
He's merely full of alien semen.

Anyway, the plot. An alien arrives in some rural American town and takes over Grant Grant. Grant then impregnates a local woman with his tentacles, and she gives birth to lots of alien slugs who take over the townsfolk turning them into zombies. There's also a love triangle as Bill Pardy (Fillion) is in love with Starla Grant, Grant's wife, and despite being an alien, Grant is still in love with Starla.

But is it really the plot we're looking for in this type of film? And is it comedy-horror or horror-comedy? The trailer can't seem to decide either.

All this is beside the point of how and why we named ourselves Heckler and Kochk, although I've subtly hinted at the exact moment, but I'll answer that question another time.


Anyway the important things: The V__ film classification board has rated this film as "Gruesome". enjoyed it a lot; in general I'm bored by horror films about 45 minutes in, but this one entertained me. However Heckler disagreed, and, as in my notes, here he gets the last word: "I'm not impressed by that film for this reason: it seemed neither a horror nor a comedy film."


[1] It's the manly thing to do!
[2] Not to be confused with Slither (1973 Dir: Howard Zieff) a comedy-crime-thriller starring James Caan, or for that matter Sliver (1993 Dir: Phillip Noyce) a silly thriller about voyeurism and surveillance starring Sharon Stone and William Baldwin.
[3] This was some byplay involving Star Trek figures recreating a scene from a night out.
[4] Corrected to conform with the IMDb quotes page.
[5] I'm not sure if this was byplay or our occasional "joke" in which we identify a character in the film with a friend.
[6] This is a reference to a Tank Girl script in the back of the Tank Girl Novel Armadillo.
[7] Why we chose "We watch bad sci-fi so you don't have to" as our subtitle over "It's like watching a film with a small child or possibly a giant penis on legs" I don't know.

Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: Act I

Joss Whedon's Supervillain Musical is online for a limited period. Here's what happens - Dr Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris best known as Dougie Houser, or possibly that psychic Colonel from Starship Troopers) has a video blog. This introduces the character, who intends to rule the world using his freeze gun (which freezes time) and then offer it at the feet of Penny, a girl he admires at the laundry. He also reads an email from Johnny Snow who claims to be his nemesis, but his nemesis is actually Captain Hammer[1] (Captain Hammer comic here).

He gets a letter from Bad Horse, leader of the Evil League of Evil, who is willing to let Horrible join if he proves himself with an especially spectacular crime. As it happens Horrible is going to steal the Wonderflonium he needs for his freeze gun. He runs into Penny who is collecting signatures for a homeless shelter and finally talks to her. As he attempts to steal the Wonderflonium by remote controlling the van it's on, Captain Hammer arrives and destroys the device controlling the van. The van careers out of control and nearly hits Penny; Hammer throws her out of the way into a pile of garbage just as Horrible manages to stop the van. "You nearly killed her," says Horrible. "I remember it differently," says Hammer. Penny and Hammer's eyes meet and to Horrible's dismay they "connect" and sing. The episode ends with Horrible running away with the Wonderflonium while they are distracted.

Well, it's all set up - comedy, songs that actually drive the story, a superhero[2] who causes at least as much damage as the villain he opposes, a love triangle, and of course Bad Horse lurking in the background. All in under 14 minutes. I for one will be watching this again and again (until Monday, obviously).

[1] I contend that one can have but one nemesis, and it is pleasing to see Dr Horrible agree.
[2] This covers some of the same ground as Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman, in a more comic fashion; Dr Impossible notes that although he's smarter than the heroes and his plans involve robots, high technology and out thinking people, somehow it always comes down to hitting each other.