Yes, 5 out of 10. It's gross-out body horror with jokes, built around slug-like parasites.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Medium
The slugs can stay with a squeamish viewer for a night.
DOG
Dog: not fine
not fine, and we're sorry.
Ruling: Skip it if you hate slugs or animal deaths, and bring a strong stomach if you don't.
Slither runs 96 minutes and takes place in Wheelsy, South Carolina, a town that is about to find out what a meteorite can do to a rich man's marriage. It is a horror comedy, and the comedy mostly consists of things that used to be people.
The premise, briefly
A meteorite brings an alien parasite to a small South Carolina town, where it takes over a wealthy resident and starts turning the neighbors into a hive.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
Starla shoots the monstrous Grant after Bill ties his tentacle to a propane tank, and the explosion kills every alien in town. Bill, Starla and Kylie are the only survivors. A cat is infected in the post-credits scene.
The scene you're dreading
In the middle of the movie, a search party finds Brenda with a hugely swollen body, full of growing larvae. The slugs burst out of her, and the infection spreads to the town from there.
The dog
A dog dies in Slither. A dead cat is also shown.
It is a gory, slimy comedy that works because the horror is so silly, and knowing the plot takes the surprise out of the slugs.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A meteorite and a very bad marriage
A meteorite drops a sentient alien parasite on Wheelsy, South Carolina. It takes over a wealthy resident named Grant, absorbs his mind and starts turning his body into something tentacled and grotesque. Grant also abducts a local woman named Brenda to serve as a breeder for the alien larvae. His wife Starla notices that he has not seen a doctor in over a year and that his appearance and behavior have changed. She becomes suspicious and Grant attacks her. When the police arrive to help Starla, Grant runs off.
The scene people dread comes in the middle. Police chief Bill Pardy leads a search party after Grant and finds Brenda, whose body has been stretched to an inhuman size by the larvae inside. The slug-like larvae burst out of her, and the slugs infect everyone in town except Starla, Bill, Mayor Jack MacReady and a teenager named Kylie Strutemyer. Starla, Bill and Jack figure out that covering their mouths keeps the slugs out, and Kylie pulls one out of her mouth before it gets in. The infected join a hive mind controlled by Grant, who wants to consume every living thing until only his consciousness is left. He still loves his wife and wants her back. Kylie caught a glimpse of the hive mind, so the survivors work out that killing Grant will kill the aliens. Bill and Kylie escape the infected townspeople, but Starla and Jack are captured.
A grenade and a swimming pool
Bill and Kylie head to Grant's house with a grenade, where the infected townspeople are being absorbed by Grant, who is changing further. Jack and others are turned into breeders, and Grant keeps Starla uninfected because he wants her love back. Starla picks up a sharp brush, goes downstairs and pretends she still loves him, then stabs him with it. Grant tosses her across the room. Meanwhile Bill and Kylie shoot their way in, and Bill ends the life of an infected Jack at Jack's own request. Grant knocks the grenade into the pool and pins Kylie under a couch. He tries to infect Bill with his tentacles, and one stabs Bill in the stomach. Bill loops the second tentacle around a propane tank. Starla shoots Grant, who is by now full of flammable gas, and he explodes.
The ending, explained
The explosion kills Grant and every alien he controlled, and it saves Bill. Everyone else in Wheelsy is dead, so Bill, Starla and Kylie leave town to look for help. In the post-credits scene a cat walks up to what is left of Grant and the alien parasite infects it.
The post-credits ruling
There is one. A cat wanders up to what is left of Grant, and the alien parasite infects it.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: not fine, and we're sorry.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Slither scary?
Yes. Slither is a 5 out of 10 with medium dread, and most of the fear is slimy body horror, jump scares and a lot of gore played for laughs. A dog dies in it.
How does Slither end?
Starla shoots Grant after Bill attaches his tentacle to a propane tank, and the explosion kills Grant and every alien in town. Bill, Starla and Kylie are the only survivors, and they head off to find help.
Does the dog die in Slither?
Yes, a dog dies in Slither. A dead cat is also shown, and another cat is implied to die later. A cow is cut in half and raccoons die too.
Is there a post-credits scene in Slither?
Yes. A cat wanders up to what is left of Grant, and the alien parasite infects it.
What is the creature in Slither?
It is a sentient alien parasite that arrives on a meteorite and takes over Grant. It spreads through slug-like larvae that enter people's mouths and join them to a hive mind that Grant controls.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Slither is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't have to watch the slugs in Slither to know how it ends. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror before you see it.
