Slither

"Horror has a new face."

2006 1h 36m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

87%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.5

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 1,805🍅87%Rotten Tomatoes●69Metacritic★6.5IMDB · 94,484

HorrorScience FictionComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.

“Horror has a new face.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Nathan Fillion
Bill Pardy
Michael Rooker
Grant Grant
Elizabeth Banks
Starla Grant
Gregg Henry
Jack MacReady
Tania Saulnier
Kylie Strutemyer
Don Thompson
Wally
Brenda James
Brenda Gutierrez
Jennifer Copping
Margaret

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Gunn
Writers: James Gunn, Ling Yang
Languages: English
Countries: Canada, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 86% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

203+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Gunn, shot by Gregory Middleton. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tyler Bates. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Axelrad shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker and Elizabeth Banks carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Gunn directs. Gregory Middleton behind the camera. Tyler Bates scores. John Axelrad cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Canada, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 86% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 20 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.
4203+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by James Gunn, shot by Gregory Middleton. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Tyler Bates. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor John Axelrad shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker and Elizabeth Banks carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Horror has a new face.".
10IMDB entry: tt0439815 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "small town", "mutant", "transformation", "meteor".
12Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gregory Middleton
Original score: Tyler Bates
Editing: John Axelrad
Production design: Andrew Neskoromny
Costume design: Patricia Hargreaves
Makeup / hair: Megan Harkness
VFX supervisor: Jeffrey Kleiser
Sound: Kevin Belen
Stunt coordinator: Scott J. Ateah
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $12,834,936
Return: 86% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Slither (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 69/100
IMDB rating: 6.5/10 · 94,484 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 wins & 5 nominations total

Also by

James Gunn

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Repo Jack2020-10-28
★ 8/10
A comedy-horror riff on an alien-parasite invasion of a small rural town is fun, gross and completely engaging. James Gunn demonstrates his pre-GOG chops, getting the most of the great acting ensemble including Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, and Nathan Fillon.
CinemaSerf2026-05-06
★ 7/10
OK, so some of the visual effects looked like they'd come straight from a 1970s edition of "Dr. Who", but once this gets up and running it's actually quite an entertaining bug-cum-zombie horror. When a meteorite lands outside a small American town, it's slug-like occupant manages to spore the local bigwig "Grant" (Michael Rooker) after he had sought some beer-induced woodland comfort after being spurned by his not-in-the-mood wife "Starla" (Elizabeth Banks) and things turned altogether stickier for him. Meantime, she's always had a bit of a crush on hunky local sheriff "Bill" (Nathan Fillion) which might well prove useful when he is drafted in to establish just why the town's pet population appears to have disappeared. Has her husband - or his troubling, bubbling, eczema - anything to do with these troubling developments? There story is all fairly predicable and there are bound to be a few scenes here that will remind you of earlier John Carpenter or Hammer or even David Cronenberg films, but there is still enough originality and tongue-in-cheek humour to keep this simmering along nicely as a stand alone project. The acting is adequate, as is the writing, and aside from making your next bath an extremely nervous experience, it's an amiable and gory splat-the-rat enterprise that I did quite enjoy.