Spawn of the Slithis (1978)

Movie Info

Oh yeah…definitely looks like the Slithis got ’em.

In Venice Beach, a monster has surfaced and it is hungry.  First killing dogs and then turning to people, the police doubt its existence.  Journalism professor Wayne Connors (Alan Blanchard) thinks that there is a story with the murders, and with the help of a coworker named Dr. John (J.C. Claire), Wayne discovers the creature might be tied to nuclear waste.  With the attacks growing more and more violent and desperate, the creature must be stopped before it is too late.

Directed by Stephen Traxler, Spawn of the Slithis is a low-budget horror monster movie that also goes by the title Slithis.  The B-Movie was released to poor reviews.

Spawn of the Slithis is a movie that is saddled with a horrible title.  Even if it is shortened to Slithis, the name just doesn’t grab you (it also kind of reminds me of the Silurians from Doctor Who).  Add the bad title to a so-so story, and you have a B-Movie…and Spawn of the Slithis definitely qualifies as that.

I don’t know what this guy’s deal was, but I wish he had been the lead in the whole film

The movie is an investigator in danger type of story.  Murders are occurring and Wayne decides to stick his nose into it.  This results in him coming face to face with danger.  The reporter feels really disconnected and not in danger most of the film.  It just feels like murders to keep the plot going and a final showdown with the monster at the end.  The nuclear waste aspect of the story feels like a paranoia aspect, and a bland reason for the monster.

The cast is B-Movie quality.  Alan Blanchard isn’t very inspired as the lead and just kind of walks through the movie with his wife “Jeff” played by Judy Motulsky.  His friend played by J.C. Claire also lacks urgency when dealing with a sea monster.  The monster works its way through a host of blasé characters and the only interesting aspect of the movie is a police inspector who seems like he is in a different movie over-acting in a style that doesn’t match anything else in the movie.

That’s some gooood eatin’!

The creature actually looks pretty good for the quality of the movie.  It is a scaly, lizard-insect hybrid looking thing that the filmmakers aren’t afraid to show.  It is still obviously a rubber suit, and it seems like that most of the budget went into it.  You also get a man who has a face destroyed by radiation and multiple corpses (animal and human).  Shot around Venice Beach, the changes from 1978 are kind of fun to see if you have been to the area.

Spawn of the Slithis is schlock type theater, and if you go into that expecting it, you can enjoy it for what it is (you also cannot expect much for a film shot in twelve days).  It feels like it rips off a bunch of sci-fi horror films and the lack of originality, but it is full of murders and a flesh-eating monster.  The movie’s low budget but moderate success led to plans for a sequel, but a sequel never panned out…which is probably a good thing.