GUNN TALKS SLITHER PLOT
From zombies to Scooby Doo to fleshy little slithery things – writer James Gunn is certainly keeping his career diversified, even if what’s tying it all together dabbles in something macabre, and his next project promises to deliver an equal amount of variety for horror fans to feast on. Slither, which will see Gunn sitting behind the camera in his directorial debut, is currently in pre-production in Vancouver. The film is being produced by Dawn of the Dead’s Eric Newman, Strike Entertainment and Gold Circle Films (White Noise).
When Dread Central spoke to Gunn he expressed some of the inspirations behind Slither which tells of a small town taken over by an alien plague of sorts. ‘What I’m really being influenced by here is a combination of ’80s horror movies because what happens is this alien disease takes forms and works its way into the populace whatever way it can,’ explains Gunn. ‘Some of that change is zombification type stuff and a lot of it is mutation type stuff. It’s very Cronenberg-esque and it’s very influenced by the tone of Manga artist Junji Ito’s Uzamaki.’
Like said small town ’80s invasion flicks (Critters, Gremlins, Night of the Creeps) Slither will focus on a troupe of survivors, however, Gunn says he intends to keep the audiences guessing on who will actually be the hero of the day. ‘It’s very much an ensemble piece but structurally its quite different because we have different protagonists for different parts of the movie. The first protagonist actually ends up being the most infected and worst creature of all,’ Gunn says with a chuckle. ‘The movie will change a lot. The thing is to try and take a high concept and bring a new element of this ridiculous fucked up disease and give the audience something to freak out about and laugh at.’
Handling the wide assortment of mutations and abundance of practical FX will be Todd Masters but, ‘There are a bunch of slithering creatures that will have to be CG.’ Gunn adds he’ll be making some casting announcements soon that will see a few new faces as well as, hopefully, some familiar horror vets.
Courtesy of Dread Central
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