User:Paleface Jack/Spawn of the Slithis

Spawn of the Slithis (also know as Slithis) is a 1978 American independent monster movie written, produced, and directed by Stephen Traxler. The film focuses on a journalism teacher who investigates a string of brutal murders in Coastal California, not knowing that a hungry mutant is responsible.

Cast

 * Alan Blanchard as Wayne Connors
 * Judy Motulsky as Jeff Connors
 * J.C. Claire as Dr. John
 * Dennis Falt as Dr. Erin Burick
 * Mello Alexandria as Chris Alexander
 * Win Condict as Slithis (listed in the credits as "The Monster")
 * Hy Pyke as Jack Dunn

Theatrical release
Spawn of the Slithis premiered on July 21, 1978; before having its official premiere on May 5, 1978, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Home media
The film was first released on VHS by Media Home Entertainment on January 1, 1981. It was later released for the first time on DVD by Code Red on June 1, 2010.

Reception
Spawn of the Slithis was received little attention from mainstream critics, with existing reviews being mostly negative.

Roger Ebert awarded the film a half a star out of a possible four stars, writing, "I enter[ed] the theater, hoping for one of those great bad movies like 'Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster' or the immortal 'Infra-Man.' I was disappointed. Incredibly, the movie talks itself to death. There are long, long conversations, made up mostly of small talk and then “Slithis” strikes." TV Guide gave the film a negative one out of five stars, calling it "Below-average". Kurt Dahlke from DVD Talk called the film 'terrible' and in his final thought on the film Dahlke stated, "Possessing a small few hilarious exploitation elements - not the least of which is potato-head-in-a-turtleneck, an unfortunate mutated radiation scientist - this movie gives bad movies a bad name. If it weren't so clumsily padded and boring, psychotronic fans might have a ball, but in truth only those strictly starved for bad entertainment should check it out, while most should skip it." Tom Becker from DVD Verdict gave the film a negative review calling it "talky" and "silly". Becker also stated that he felt that the director made a mistake by showing the monster in the opening moments of the film. Becker also panned the film's monster costume calling it "A rubber-suit so dreadful it makes the creatures from Toho Studios look like denizens from a nature documentary, this is one of the least scary flesh-eating amphibians to ever grace the screen". Dread Central awarded the film a score of two out of four, commenting that the first two parts of the film were composed of "incredibly long stretches of tedious dialogue delivered woodenly" and that it is not until the last third of the film does it ever spring to life.