Spawn of the Slithis

Spawn of the Slithis (1978)

* (out of 4)

A small town comes under attack by some sort of sea monster, which appears to have been caused by a nuclear leak. Pretty soon pets and humans are going missing with only bloody limbs turning up. A group of friends set out to find the creature and destroy it.

If you've read Stephen Thrower's NIGHTMARE USA book then you know how wonderful it is. You'll also know that there are countless exploitation movies that are given the special treatment and this here is one of them. You'll have to check out the book to get all the details but this film was basically meant to be a throwback to the drive-in era of the 1950s when guys-in-costume monster movies were all the rage. By 1978 these types of films were certainly out of fashion but director Stephen Traxler tried to bring them back but sadly the result is rather bad.

There are all sorts of problems with this film but the biggest is the God-awful screenplay, which makes one major, major mistake. Yes, the biggest mistake is that the film is deadly boring. It really doesn't matter how bad you're horror movie is as long as you keep it entertaining but I'd say the majority of the people would check out of this one rather quickly. There are way too many scenes that feature people simply talking about stuff that isn't interesting and a lot of times it doesn't even have anything to do with the story. The film only runs 86-minutes but by the time it's over you'll feel as if you had just sat through all three GODFATHER movies.

Another problem is the typical stuff that you'd expect from a low-budget movie like this. This includes some rather bad performances, no real style and a rather sloppy looking picture. There are a few things that I liked with the monster being one of them. Again, you can read the book to get more history on the film but it's worth noting that elements of the suit were borrowed from other popular movies. The creature outfit isn't mind-blowing but for a low-budget film I thought it was good. It's really too bad he wasn't used in the film more and that they went for a kid-friendly PG-rated movie.

Cheesy but watchable. Bad acting by some but not all bad. Has a nice microphone hiss in a few scenes which I enjoy. Nice opening shots of Venice, California. The lead girlfriend continues to get worse as a character the more the film goes, with awkward lines and shots. Has the typical Vietnam vets as street bums. Highly stereotypical and normal for films during this age. An odd play on various scenes with comedic music set to more awkward camera shots. The monster itself is pretty cool, also offering a hint of comedic action with its noises and walk. This film is really an interesting study of a America at the time frame filmed, more specifically California.

I had heard of "Spawn of the Slithis" for a number of years ever since I first heard of it from a showing on the CBS Late Night Movie, where I forgot to actually record and watch it. But thanks to its DVD release, I finally got to see it. I have to admit that my expectations were pretty low, hearing it was a really low budget movie by amateur filmmakers.

Actually, I didn't find the movie completely bad. For a rock bottom low budget, the movie looks a lot more expensive than you'd expect. The "monster suit" actually looks somewhat decent, and the movie is directed in a way that suggests the director had some previous experience directing movies.

Unfortunately, much of the movie is a chore to sit through. There are far less monster attack sequences than you'd think, with much of the movie devoted to endless scenes of the journalist character (who looks amazingly like game show host Bert Convy) going around and investigating. There are also endless conversations between characters, none of which is very interesting. It results in only a few minutes of slaughter and monster stuff.

In the end, I can only recommend the movie to aspiring filmmakers wanting to make their own low budget horror movie - the movie shows both what to do, but especially what NOT to do.

Absolutely fantastic! This movie gives new meaning to staying up till 3 am, when is the only time it is ever aired. On my first screening I started knocking back doubles to simulate SLITHIS' point of view, and it worked. I'll never see Venice Beach the same again. A true classic, I recommend it to anyone planning a lost weekend at the beach!

So I was 10 years old when this movie played in the theater in Marshall, Missouri. And unlike any other movie that I had experienced there. During the climatic suspense parts of the movie there was a person who would burst out from the side of the screen in a gorilla costume and accost movie viewers at he front of the theater! That made it a night to remember. I think I saw Slithis 3 times during it's run. Sure it's cheesy...but it was entertaining.