Many years ago, I was introduced to the brilliant works of UK author
Shaun Hutson. Without a doubt, my favorite literary offering from his fine collection is "Slugs", first published in 1982. Here's the teaser for you: "One female slug can lay one and a half million eggs a year - a fact which holds terrifying consequences for the people of Merton. As the town basks in the summer heat, a new breed of slug is growing and multiplying. In the waist-high grass, in the dank, dark cellars they are acquiring new tastes, new cravings. For blood. For flesh. Human flesh...". Anyway, over the years there have been valiant but futile attempts to capture the horror of flesh-eating slugs on film. Spain offered up "Slugs, Muerte Viscosa" in 1988. The American version was "Night of the Creeps", a 1986 gem from director Fred Dekker that gives a nod to the cheesy B-movie horror flicks that provide more laughs than screams. I did love how the main characters were named for famous horror directors (Romero, Corman, Hooper, Cronenberg, Landis, Raimi) - that was extremely clever and no doubt, lost on most moviegoers.
So now, Canada throws its hat into the ring and offers "Slither" this year. It stars the guy from Joss Whedon's Firefly (and before that, Two Guys and a Girl) and a cameo appearance from Rob Zombie. The trailers look interesting (check them out
here) but I fear that they're taking themselves a bit too seriously. I'm still excited about seeing it. After all, who doesn't love alien slugs invading people's bodies and eating their brains? Large popcorn, extra butter please!
