Yes! Slither is on Blu-ray finally! I am super psyched about this release. If you’re a sci-fi horror fan at all you should not only have already seen this movie, but you should have already ordered your copy of the Blu-ray and it should be in your hands right now. This article should be totally redundant, but on the off chance you missed the wave I’ll clue you in.
Slither is written and directed by James Gunn, who you might recognize more recently as the writer/director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. It stars Nathan Fillion when he was fresh off his Firefly days and Michael Rooker when he was in between Henry-Portrait of the Serial Killer and Walking Dead (yes, I know that’s like a thirty year range, he did other stuff in there). The plot involves space slugs that come down to a small mountain town and start taking people over in the most hilarious and disgusting ways ever. Every element of this film is unbridled awesomeness with shades of films like The Thing, Shivers, Bodysnatchers, you name it, with a twisted wit and gooey gore all its own.
The reason Slither is only now coming to Blu after a decade is a matter of poor timing. See, when Slither was a new release we were in the middle of a format war between Blu-ray and Hi-Def DVD. Universal was supporting HD-DVD at the time and put Slither out on that format, which collapsed within a year. Even though they eventually came around and supported Blu, they never released this great title (Not even after Gunn became a Guardians superstar). Scream Factory has finally answered our prayers and put out a disc that not only looks great but is loaded with extras like interviews and commentaries with Gunn, Fillion, and all the stars of the film. Check out this list!
Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary with writer/director James Gunn and actors Nathan Fillion and Michael Rooker
- NEW The Genesis of SLITHER – an interview with writer/director James Gunn
- NEW The Other MacReady – an interview with actor Gregg Henry
- Audio Commentary with James Gunn and Nathan Fillion (from 2006)
- Deleted and Extended Scenes with optional commentary by James Gunn
- Visual Effects: Step by Step
- Slithery Set Tour with actor Nathan Fillion
- The Sick Minds and Slimy Days of SLITHER
- Brewing the Blood – How to Make Blood
- Bringing SLITHER’s Creatures to Life
- Lloyd Kaufman’s Video Diary
- Gag Reel
- Who is Bill Pardy? Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
Jackie Chan is Professor Jack, an archaeologist who is given a map to ancient treasure that was buried in an ice cave (there’s a big CGI sequence featuring a computer animated Chan fighting elephants that explains how it got there). He and his team locate the treasure including a huge diamond but they are interrupted by the nefarious Randall, who takes the treasure and leaves them behind to freeze. Once they escape, Jack and his team must chase Randall and the diamond across the globe, from China, to Dubai, to India in an effort to recover the treasure and save Jack’s job.
Kung Fu Yoga brings together the Chinese and Bollywood action worlds in an unexpected and delightful way. It’s rather a chocolate and peanut butter situation where they go surprisingly well together; all the way down to the Jackie Chan Bollywood dance number. The film also reunites Chan with Stanley Tong (director of Rumble in the Bronx which was also the first Jackie Chan movie I ever saw in theaters) for the first time in over a decade. Tong’s movies with Chan are always the most fun and Kung Fu Yoga is one of the best with plenty of fast action and humor (and a vomiting lion).
Also included on the Blu-ray are these special features:
- Best Of Both Worlds
- The Dynamic Duo
- The Making Of
- Jackie Chan Featurette
- Bloopers
- Bollywood Dance Featurette
- Trailer
Scott Howard (Michael J Fox) is your average high school basketball player (an activity that seems only slightly less plausible for Fox than being a werewolf). He goes from zero to hero when it turns out he’s inherited lycanthropy from his parents and can become the titular Teen Wolf; winning basketball games, impressing the girls, and being a hit at parties. However, it’s an 80’s teen movie so there’s a message plot about ‘being yourself’ that’s shoehorned in there.
This seminal teen werewolf film gets a fantastic treatment in Scream Factory’s collector edition. First off, the film looks great from a new transfer of the film. Teen Wolf admittedly is not known for its epic cinematography exactly but it’s nice to have a clean, hi-def image. Also on the disc is an extensive set of new documentary videos that played together run almost an hour longer than the movie itself.
Special Features:
- New 2017 High-Definition Film Transfer taken from the interpositive
- Never. Say. Die. The Story Of Teen Wolf – A comprehensive documentary about the making and legacy of the film, including brand-new interviews with writers Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman; producers Mark Levinson and Scott Rosenfelt; stars Susan Ursitti-Sheinberg, Jerry Levine, Matt Adler, Jim MacKrell and Troy Evans; basketball double Jeff Glosser; casting director Paul Ventura; production designer Chester Kaczenski; special effects make-up artist Jeff Dawn; and editor Lois Freeman-Fox. (2 hours & 23 mins)
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
This time the werewolf is Scott Howard’s cousin Todd (Jason Bateman. Yes, that Jason Bateman). In this not-so-great sequel, the werewolf has been recruited to a college specifically to be good at sports. They swap out basketball for boxing and it ends up being a sort of Rocky-infused inferior retread of the original. At the same time it’s worth watching just to see the proto-Bateman.
As with most Scream Factory releases, the transfer is good and the interviews let you know all about Teen Wolf Too. Above that, I’m not sure why the Teen Wolf sequel has its own Collector’s edition. As near as I can figure, the bulk of people who buy this disc are completionists who also bought the first one. It would have made sense to have made these one of the double features but the special features for the first film maybe took up too much room. Anyway, if you want a complete Scream Factory set you’ll have to buy both and the quality here won’t disappoint. If you’re specifically a Teen Wolf Too fan or maybe just a big early Bateman fan then you are in luck.
Special Features:
- Working with the Wolf – An interview with director Christopher Leitch
- Otherworldly – An interview with co-star Kim Darby
- A Man of Great ‘Stiles’ – An interview with co-star Stuart Fratkin
- Nerdy Girl Saves the Day – An interview with co-star Estee Chandler
- A Wolf in ‘80s Clothing – A look at the wardrobe of Teen Wolf Too with costume designer Heidi Kaczenski
- Still Gallery
Adam Ruhl is a writer and life long Cinephile. He is the Executive
Cinema Editor of Pop Culture Beast’s Austin branch; covering festivals,
conventions, and new releases. When not filing reports, Adam can be
found stalking Alamo Drafthouse Programmers for leads on upcoming
DrafthouseFilms titles. Adam once blocked Harry Knowles entrance to a
theater until he was given extra tickets to a Roman Polanski movie.