If you couldn’t get enough of the insanity from the director of Pieces, then Slugs is going to be the slimy little film you’ll want to pick up. Yes, you heard me right, Director Juan Piquer Simón returns to serve up a film that is so bad, it’s just so gosh darn fun! Arrow Video knows this and they have gone above and beyond in giving us a Blu-ray that is worthy of all your hard earned money.
PRODUCT INFORMATION
DISCS: 1
RUN-TIME: 94 min
ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
RESOLUTION: 1080p
AUDIO: LPCM Stereo
LANGUAGE: English
SUBTITLES: English SDH
REGION: A/1
RATING: R
PRODUCTION DATE: 1988
RELEASE DATE: Sept 27, 2016
PLOT SUMMARY
THEY SLIME. THEY OOZE. THEY KILL. From celebrated Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon, the man behind the truly demented slasher flick Pieces (1982), comes a terrifying tale of mutant slugs on the rampage in small-town America. The townsfolk of a rural community are dying in strange and gruesome circumstances. Following the trail of horrifically mutilated cadavers, resident health inspector Mike Brady is on the case to piece together the mystery. He soon comes to a terrifying conclusion – giant slugs are breeding in the sewers beneath the town, and they’re making a meal of the locals! Based on the novel by acclaimed British horror author Shaun Hutson, Slugs outdoes its creature feature peers by adding an extra dose of gross-out gore into the equation, culminating in one of the most squirm-inducing animal attack movies ever to slither its way across screens.
MOVIE REVIEW
Tiny mutant slugs have invaded a small town that looks an awful lot like the small town in Lady in White (Slugs‘ exterior shots were filmed in the same town of Lyons, New York). People are being eaten alive in gross ways and the local health inspector Mike Brady (who saves lives dammit!) is trying to figure out the cause of the mysterious deaths. He gets the help of local sanitation guru Don Palmer and science teacher John Foley, who is just happy to be hanging out with the guys finally.
When Mike isn’t pissing off everyone he is talking to, he is running around with a slightly concerned tone in his voice. Meanwhile, people are dropping like flies. Heads are exploding (restaurant scene rocks!), naked bodies are being consumed and everyone is oblivious to the fact that giant mutant slugs are coming out of their toilets.
Director Juan Piquer Simón has the amazing knack of starting most scenes off in Slugs like the beginning of a bad porno. We have the terrible dialogue with the awkward sexuality, leading up to the moment just before the grinding happens and then BAM! We cut the scene! What the hell Juan?!? Don’t blue ball me like that! At least we do get some boobies and butts to quench our devious thirsts.
Slugs is first and foremost a terrible film. The acting comes across like a school drama where no one reads their lines and they all snorted coke before heading out to the stage. Nevertheless, I can’t help loving this cheesy, awful film. It’s got amazing special effects, with some truly gory death scenes that tickled my dark, dark soul. The film is impossible to have pacing issues, as it just skips from one crazy scene to the next, with barely a connection between them. It really is just a damn hilarious film that you’ll want to witness over and over again.
BLU-RAY OPINION
Arrow Video understands that horror fans love their terrible cult classics and they have done their due diligence in providing a solid Blu-ray release of Slugs. They have acquired some interesting interviews with some cast and crew, who all praise Director Juan Piquer Simón (one even says he is as good as Spielberg when taking in account budget and time differences). My favourite interview was with production manager Larry Ann Evans, who visits a lot of the exterior locations from Slugs in her town. She also shows us some props from the film. Us fans also get some commentaries with author Shaun Hutson (yes, Slugs is based on a novel!) and for people that like to listen to Chris Alexander talk out loud, you’re in luck with a commentary.
As for the video and audio side of the disc, it’s the best it’s going to be, which is to say damn impressive. No video issues to speak of and the audio was top notch. I’m easy to please and please the Slugs Blu-ray does.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Brand new restoration from original film elements
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Original Uncompressed PCM Stereo audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by writer and filmmaker Chris Alexander
- Here’s Slugs In Your Eye – an interview with actor Emilio Linder
- They Slime, They Ooze, They Kill: The Effects of Slugs – an interview with special effects artist Carlo De Marchis
- Invasion USA – an interview with art director Gonzalo Gonzalo
- The Lyons Den – an interview and locations tour with production manager Larry Ann Evans
- 1988 Goya Awards promo reel
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Wes Benscoter
- Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by writer Michael Gingold
VERDICT
The Slugs Blu-ray will slowly wiggle its way into your head, leaving a slimy trail of campy fun times. The Blu-ray will fit perfectly right next to other bug classics like The Nest and Squirm.