From The horror channel, "Even though I wasn't involved in the creation of the film, I have to say when I found out that Slither had come in at #8 at the box office this weekend, making back only aboout a 10th of it's budget, I admit it was really depressing. One of the coolest, most fun horror films in recent memory, and no one bothered to head out to see it despite the best efforts of everyone here and on other movie sites around the ‘net, not to mention the regular marketing for it. A new article in The Hollywood Reporter this morning delves into what may have gone wrong with Slither, and what it comes down to is the fact that a comedy/horror hybrid was a risky prospect; one that ultimately didn’t pay off for Universal. "The whole issue was, who is the audience for this movie?" a Universal insider is quoted as saying. "When it's a straight genre movie, you know the audience. Nobody knew if there was an audience for a horror-comedy. What this essentially proved is that there is no audience for horror-comedies."
My gut reaction to that last line is a cry of "bullshit", but unfortunately the numbers don’t lie. It’s a very, very sad state of affairs when something like the When A Stranger Calls remake does better box office than Slither which, while not wholly original, is more unique than 95% of the horror titles hitting theaters these days.
Slither is a "long run" movie, I think. The article sites another Universal film, Tremors, as a very good example of a movie that came out to great reviews and no box office, but went on to be highly respected, complete with a TV series and numerous sequels. Though I don't see many Slither sequels down the road, the movie's got some very solid legs to stand on.
Of course, you can’t talk about modern horror without talking to Eli Roth (apparently), whom the article credits with having directed the "hardcore" horror entry Cabin Fever (?) "In 15 years, nobody is going to be watching Ice Age: The Meltdown.'Everybody is going to be watching DVDs of Slither." Couldn't have said it better myself. Odd, though, that both of Roth's films have had very strong comedic slants to them. Perhaps both managed to succeed because the marketing for them didn't actually showcase that aspect of them? Something to ponder.
Do yourself a favor and go see Slither if you haven’t already. If you have, and enjoyed it, go see it again. Don’t wait for the DVD for this one, wait for the DVD of Stay Alive (which I'm sure will work better anyway). Slither deserves our support, so get out there and show it!"
3 comments:
Movies online writes, "It seems difficult to understand how one of the best reviewed horror movies in years is batting such a low average as far as ticket sales are concerned. In it's opening weekend, horror/comedy film "Slither" only managed to come in at 8th place, grossing a meager $3.7 million at the box-office. To add insult to injury; Buena Vista's lame "Stay Alive" took 7th place with $4.4 million in its second week. We don't seem to be going through a "non-horror" phase either, as other recent horror films have done very well in their opening weeks.
I think that the overall style of the movie is affecting movie-goers initial judgements. Just recently I had brought up the movie to my friends and their response was "Is that any good? It doesn't look that great". My answer to them is the same I'll give to you. The movie is by far one of the best horror movies in a long time. The gore, the suspense, the comedy, and everything you would expect from a good-ol monster flick."
I blame Octopunk, who said he was going to see it over the weekend and didn't.
Yes I did! I just haven't reviewed it yet. I'm giving it four stars.
I'll try to get that done today or tonight.
oooh, you're a sneaky one...
Post a Comment