Spawn of the Slithis (1978) User Reviews

A LITTLE EXCITEMENT IN LAID BACK VENICE BEACH.

[mikecanmaybee · 5/10 · 13 June 2019]

High School journalism teacher Bert Convy Oops I mean Wayne Connors (Alan Blanchard) finally convinces his wife Jeff Connors played by the super foxy (Judy Motulsky) that some sort of sea monster is eating the stuffing out of the citizenry of laid back Venice Beach. Unfortunately, there is not a fish left in the sea, and a Slithis Monster has got to eat, so he continues to find food on shore including a quite tasty morsel Jennifer (Wendy Rastatter). Wayne enlists the service of nervous Dr. John (Dennis Falt) and fishing boat captain Chris Alexander (Mello Alexandria) "who's voice at times sounds like it was dubbed in from a Godzilla movie" they along with foxy Jeff set out to capture the very scary Slithis sea monster.

For a low budget movie the cinematography of Slithis is excellent, and really has a hippie dippy cool feel to it. Unfortunately, the script could have used one more scrub with lines like "the boat wasn't built for comfort or speed, reliability is the watchword" dispersed throughout. There are a couple of great Cameo's including a gear changing seen in the Police Chiefs ( played mirthfully by Alejandro Vass) office with droll police scientist Dr. Risling ( played by a real actor (Bill J. Stevens).

Slithis is definitely worth a watch with a solid acting job, at least movie of the week or sitcom guest star level, by Alan Blanchard who, by no fault of his own, may have been inhibited in his acting career by being a dead ringer for the aforementioned Bert Convy.

Hey, it was the 70's

[kartoon-1 · 4/10 · 17 February 2008]

I won't go into any other mentioned details. But typical of the time period, the death scenes were sexist. Meaning to say, in one scene a young couple are attacked in a house boat. The guy is quickly and cleanly killed and that's it for him. The girls death, however was nothing less than a rape scene in slow motion, as the monster rips her clothes off a garment at a time and casually slurps his leech-like mouth on the exposed body part while she screams while kicking her black-leather booted legs helplessly in the air. We even see her breasts exposed in one slashing, yet they are not cut by his claws...but are slurped on rather noisily. Uh, but being a guy myself, I'm not really complaining...hee hee hee!

Where's Doug McClure when you need him?

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 8 May 2019]

Low-budget creature feature Spawn of the Slithis harks back to the monster movies of the '50s, wherein a spill of radioactive waste would result in a man in an unconvincing rubber costume emerging from the depths to terrorise a community. In this case, it is the people of Venice, Los Angeles, who find themselves under attack from Slithis, a bipedal organic mud monster that crawls from the canals to feed upon dogs, winos, and residents. Investigating the deaths is journalism teacher Wayne Connors (Alan Blanchard), who eventually works out what is happening and hunts the creature, Jaws-style, with the help of his wife Jeff (Judy Motulsky), scientist Dr. John (J.C. Claire), Jamaican boat owner/diver Chris Alexander (Mello Alexandria) and two expendable deck-hands.

While the above synopsis has all the makings of a highly entertaining B-movie, writer/director Stephen Traxler somehow manages to make a botch of things, his film a crushing bore between the scant appearances of the slippery Slithis. It opens on the right note, with some mangled dog corpses and the gruesome remains of a mutilated couple, but soon goes downhill: there's far too much chin-wagging, with the dialogue consisting of pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo (perhaps knowingly silly, but boring nonetheless) and generic chit-chat. Moreover, Traxler's direction is uninspired, and the performances range from the merely passable (Alexandria's turn is adequate), to the forgettable (Blanchard is bland as the hero), to the downright absurd (Hy Pyke, as the police chief, who clearly wanted to get noticed).

In the right hands, Spawn of the Slithis could have been a cool '70s precursor to Humanoids from the Deep (1980), albeit with only one monster, but its weak cast, minimal gore (a few splashes of red paint), lack of nudity (only a brief flash of a breast), and all that inane conversation ensures that the result is quite a bore.

3/10, plus one point for the bizarre-yet-fun turtle-racing scene (the highlight of the film for me), but minus one point for the atrocious POV 'monster vision' effect, which looks as though they strapped a plastic bottle to the camera lens. So that's still 3/10.

One of the greatest, most awful movies ever made

[Piantanida · 23 June 2000]

What a flick! I bought this one just for the front cover - it was in the 25 cent special bucket at a local pawn shop. This video was worth every one of the 25 cents I paid for it, and I'm guessing the producers lavished at LEAST 26 cents on the filming of this masterpiece. Looking for cheesy, overblown, low budget, backyard trash on film? Look no further!

Slithis rocks out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tbyrne4 · 2/10 · 3 December 2005]

"We catch that mean mother!" What a piece of 70s tripe this movie is. Bad on many different levels.

Not totally inept.

It actually could've been a fairly decent little movie, but the biggest problem is just how BORING it is. Why are these movies so BORING! I start to watch them and after a half hour my eyes start drooping. I can't help it.

I think it would have helped if they had shown Slithis in the light more often. We keep seeing him in the dark and apparently they couldn't afford LIGHTS on this movie so he basically just looks like a big shadow.

But then, on the flip side, when we do get a good look at him, the Slithis costume looks pretty lame, so I guess you just can't win.

It also might have helped to actually have a few more scenes of Slithis killing people or doing things. Or just a few more scenes of Slithis in general. The characters are flat out dull, so that doesn't help.

It's a bad sign when you start thinking "wait a minute, isn't this a monster movie?!" because you can't remember the last time the monster was On screen!!!!!

The movie isn't totally without interest. But I wouldn't go out of my way to see it.

And I'm certainly not going to sit through the freakin thing again (I don't think I'd be able to without falling asleep)

POINTS OF INTEREST:

• the hero who has a girlfriend named "Jeff"

• the first five minutes of the movie (why exactly are they in slow-motion?)

• Dr. John's jaw-dropping scientific explanation of what Slithis is (even the actors look bored).

• the turtle race peopled by throngs of shouting fans (definitely my idea of killer Friday night entertainment). Also note the girl who kisses her turtle after it wins. Yuck.

• the guy who takes his date back to his boat where he has a shrine to himself complete with photograph and candles (also, why in the world does this scene go on for fifteen minutes? I thought I was in a different movie)

• The funky "Slithis cam" apparently achieved by taping a balloon over the camera.

• the police chief who looks like Ron Jeremy and acts like Peter Lorre after 100 cups of coffee.

Cool monster, dreadfully boring script

[Coventry · 3/10 · 7 November 2010]

"Spawn of the Slithis" is another ultra-cheap, badly dated and utterly goofy late 70's toxic swamp monster movie. They were quite numerous back in those days, as eco/environmental horror was a popular trend, but the vast majority of these flicks are awful beyond belief. They generally feature cheesy rubber monster costumes, amateur ensemble casts, absurdly grotesque scientific monologues that the writers didn't understand themselves and hilariously inept make-up effects. These films, and "Spawn of the Slithis" is a wondrous example, are insufferable for viewers with a minimum of good taste, but quite amusing for bad B-movie lovers. Nuclear waste leaking into a river slowly develops into an entirely new life form that spontaneously begins to terrorize the dimwit villagers of a small community called Venice Beach. The local school teacher slash amateur journalist investigates the cover-up conspiracy, for some reason against the will of his yummy girlfriend, but never really gets anywhere. "Spawn of the Slithis" is exceptionally slow, cheap and boring. I wouldn't even fully dare to recommend it even to the most trained and tolerant horror movie fanatics. There's for example a sequence with two homeless guys that goes on forever and ever! Basically they are just random victims for the toxic monster, so nobody is interested in their redundant conversations and quests for alcohol. The only murders we properly get served are preceded by an inexcusably long introduction sequence of an old playboy and his young mistress. They meet at a turtle race track (!), have an overlong and pointless conversation in their convertible, head out to a private yacht, meet up for a friendly chat with the neighbor and organize a cute make-out session in front of his obnoxious self portrait. Then, and only then, the monster pops up to do some nasty killing! The monster outfit, obviously inspired by "Creature from the Black Lagoon", is fairly cool and scary, but apparently the screenplay prefers to elaborate on the pitiable lives of his victims. Shame, as this could have been a genuine guilty pleasure like "Prophecy" or "Humanoids from the Deep".

A monster terrorizes a bit while a journalist school teacher talks a lot

[Aaron1375 · 2/10 · 1 April 2020]

I have seen many films featuring an aquatic monster rampaging and have to see this ranks in the bottom behind such films as Demon of Paradise and The Bog which neither of them were very good either. I do not know what the deal is, but the makers of this one seemed more compelled to show us long scenes of nothing happening where what was going on had very little with the monster of the flick making me almost forget at times that this was a monster movie! It did not help that the main character was completely unlikable and the plot unbearable as it tries too hard to explain how the monster came about rather than showing said monster on the loose and killing!

The story has a monster loose in Venice California at first killing dogs and then moving on to people. A teacher who teaches journalism to high school kids, but years to be an actual journalist sees this as his way to making the big time. I can see a high school have a school paper overseen by a teacher, but not an actual class. Well, the police are sure the killings are being done by some sort of cult, but the reporter is able to figure out that this is a monster that is made of radioactive mud or something, but looks pretty much like the creature from the black lagoon. Soon he and his chemistry teacher friend and some fisherman come up with a plan to go after the beast!

The movie's premise is one we have seen before, but the means by which it plays out are ludicrous! Once again the acting is horrible from the lead guy, but even he seems good after the strange chief of police shows up as that guy seems to be an overacting Shakespearean actor! A chemistry teacher has the key to the gate that locks a canal, a station wagon travels over 100 feet through the air after having maybe ten foot of road to traverse and we get to see turtles race!?! The film shows you stuff for long periods that seemingly go nowhere and then we watch an ending that makes you go "What?" but at the same time seems great compared to the rest of what has gone on!

So no, not a very good fish person on the attack movie. I would say that even the MST3K film Zaat: The Bloodwaters of Dr. Z is better than this thing. Sure, it had a couple of nice effects and a booby to show, but way too much padding in lieu of actual monster attacks! Then the monster has no trouble killing most people, but then has the hardest time killing that poor girl from North Dakota who was lured to a guy's boat after he showed her the wild Venice nightlife watching turtle racing. I will say, this film is one of the first to show me turtle racing...

Awful 70s movie is so bad it fails even as cheese.

[jaguiar313 · 2/10 · 21 August 2012]

I love a 'so bad it's good' movie just as much as the next movie geek but, this 1978 "gem" is just all round bad. I had the misfortune of catching this in a theater back in '78 and let's just say it hasn't gotten any better with age and it's still so bad that 70s nostalgia just doesn't help. The movie tells the story of a school teacher who (for whatever reason) is trying to solve the mystery of some animal mutilations and later human murders around a Venice California cove. The police think it's a serial killer or a cult and forensics can't seem to tell animal bites when they see them. He discovers that a leak from a nearby nuclear plant created an organic sludge called "Slithis" (never explained) which takes on characteristics of what it absorbs and it is now a humanoid fish monster craving food. From it's awful dialog to it's even worse delivery of that dialog (an actor playing a police chief seems to think he's playing a bad guy on a Sid and Marty Kroft show.), Slithis is mind numbingly bad. Half the films shots are in slow motion for no reason, including the opening scene of a fat kid playing Frisbee, which means it's scant 80 minute running time would be less then an hour without them. The Slithis creature costume is okay but it looks like a pudgy Creature From The Black Lagoon and the human eyes are just too nice and blue to illicit fears. And as a horror film, fear is something this completely lacks. From the easily telegraphed attack scenes, where most of the carnage is off camera, to the tone , which goes from serious to oddly whimsical at times ( What kind of film where they trying to make?), Slithis can't generate any suspense or tension whatsoever. There is some blood but, with a PG rating, Slithis is rather tame and there are only a few attack sequences as the film is very talky for an 80 minute creature feature. An awful film that somehow has garnered a bit of a reputation but, after revisiting it, I can only guess it was from lack of availability as the film has very little to recommend even to fans of bad movies.

boring monster

[trashgang · 3/10 · 21 October 2009]

In Europe every geek is searching for this movie, still unreleased and OOP over here but in the states it was available on VHS. So it was easy to get me a copy of the so much spoken movie Slithis. Well, to say the least, nothing really happens, but why does it has his following. There is almost no gore in it, can even say there isn't any, and there is just one breast available in his glory but you have to watch closely. The movie started out well with the slomo of two kids finding a cadaver of a dog, eaten as it is. But then a teacher got involved and tries to find out what really happened, the cops say it was a killing by some cult, he doesn't believe it and with some help of his friends he's after Slithis. The next 70 minutes we will have scene's way too long, a lot of blah blah, and a lot of trash. Only the last 15 minutes the creature appears again. His look, the way he attacks, the blood, all in a sleazy way. What I would like to say, if you are into sleaze and likes Humanoids From The Deep than this is something for you. Otherwise leave it.

Haven't seen it since 1978 but it made an impression!

[pafcrazy2003 · 7/10 · 30 July 2019]

So I was 10 years old when this movie played in the theater in Marshall, Missouri. And unlike any other movie that I had experienced there. During the climatic suspense parts of the movie there was a person who would burst out from the side of the screen in a gorilla costume and accost movie viewers at he front of the theater! That made it a night to remember. I think I saw Slithis 3 times during it's run. Sure it's cheesy...but it was entertaining.

Vintage campy

[gulchu · 5/10 · 18 February 2023]

Very very average campy horror movie. I did not have great expectations when I queued this movie up and watched the movie. But it definitely exceeded my expectations. Special effects/costumes were OK, but this movie actually had a very decent dialogue and somewhat entertaining characters. If you are looking for a state of the art, horror, movie with awesome special effects, this is not the movie for you. However, if you're looking for something decent and fairly entertaining, this might be a good way to kill a Friday or Saturday night. You will see a lot of plagiarism ripped off from Steven Spielberg's classic movie jaws.

"They were all just whores, why shouldn't they be?"

[B.H.I.B. · 10/10 · 17 April 1999]

Slithis is perhaps the best of the three best movies of all time, in my opinion. The others being, of course; Death Drug, and Disco Godfather.

See nature release it is (typo on box) revenge!! See some guy in a really bad scaly monster suit! Hear some of the strangest dialogue ever. Look for Hy Pike (the mayor from Dolomite) in the most overblown performance I have ever seen, by anybody! Look for the coke bottle over the camera lens when it goes to Slithis' point of view. There is also a turtle race, thrown in for good measure. This movie has too many quirks and weird plot points to describe. I cried like a little girl when I first saw Slithis, only because I was really ripped when my friend pointed to the box in the video store. We laughed for a good ten minutes. Slithis is one of the best b-movies I've ever seen. A definite classic.

Cheesy Goodness...

[DFHaleIII · 6/10 · 24 September 2001]

This film came out around the same time that "It's Alive," "The Incredible Melting Man," and "Bug," among others, were coming out. There was a whole slew of these cheesy B-Horror Flicks being released, and this one stands out in my memory as a fun time at the movies.

With a monster akin to the Swamp Thing, it had the horror aspect, with plenty of that late 70's, Russ Meyer-esque titillation thrown in for good measure. Not too heavy on plot, it makes up for it with what they believed at the time to be grossness. They did a fairly good job of it.

If you like B-Horror Flicks, you'll like "Spawn of the Slithis."

Not bad good.Just plain bad.

[veggeta · 2/10 · 18 September 2000]

This movie is basically something you want to avoid.Unless you're a die hard cheap horror fan.And event then the movie is still not enjoyable.The film is as one would expect overloaded with bad acting,ridiculous scientific explanations, and annoying stereotypes.Its a good film to bypass.Instead see 'They Bite' or 'Humanoids from the Deep'.

praise

[jamesbryanpitts · 28 August 2001]

Absolutely fantastic! This movie gives new meaning to staying up till 3 am, when is the only time it is ever aired. On my first screening I started knocking back doubles to simulate SLITHIS' point of view, and it worked. I'll never see Venice Beach the same again. A true classic, I recommend it to anyone planning a lost weekend at the beach!

super saver budgets-r-us!!!

[gwaith-i-mirdain · 1/10 · 16 February 2003]

The final word in low cost production values - this 'film' is extraordinarily utilitarian in every aspect, from sets (an industrial park wharf) to the community college outreach theater cast, it has it all!! My only complaint is that they wasted all of that good COLOR film to make it (it sort of defeats the "film I made with my bottle return money" feel of the whole enterprise.

Insignificant

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 12 November 2020]

SPAWN OF THE SLITHIS is a typical man-in-a-suit monster flick, as low budget as they come but with a handful of fun, cheesy monster attack sequences which feel like they're from an updated CREATURE WITH THE BLACK LAGOON. Unfortunately, the film stalls whenever the creature isn't around - which is for the majority of the running time - with a talky minor-conspiracy storyline, and lacking the humour and drive of a studio flick like Dante's PIRANHA from the same era. Even Corman's HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP is a lot more fun and B-movie friendly than this slow-paced and insignificant effort.

Engaging sci fi with dumbest lead characters possible

[drystyx · 5/10 · 17 October 2021]

Radiation appears to beget a sea monster off the California coast.

The monster attacks and kills people.

The group that eventually decides there is a monster and set out for it are the dumbest characters one can find.

Now, I realize we weren't bright in 1978, but we weren't this stupid. After learning there is a sea monster who travels well enough on land to kill and feed on adult humans, these people try to be as vulnerable as possible.

Much like the guy who swam with crocodiles in Lake Placid, only his mania was explained as part of his nutty character. The people in this movie are supposed to be logical and intelligent.

Still, it's fairly engaging.

Do you like turtles more than monsters?

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 4 June 2018]

Lithis is a lot like Godzilla. He comes from radiation, he's green and he wants to make humanity pay. But really, the comparisons stop there.

Shot over twelve fifteen-hour days, Slithis seems like it was hell for the actor who portrayed the monster, Win Condict. He had to be sewn into the rubber Slithis costume at the beginning of every day and stay in it until shooting was done. There were no buttons. No zippers. Only Slithis.

The monster's rage starts with dogs, who frankly had nothing to do with his condition. Please join our dog Angelo in his protest of movies that use threatening and murdering dogs to cheaply draw our attention.

My biggest question is why is Wayne Connors' (the hero of the film) wife named Jeff (Judy Motulsky from the little known Idaho Transfer)?

The entire first hour of this movie concerns the boring research and tracking of the creature. By the time they find him, it's shocking just how well done the costume is. It doesn't need hidden, so why did we have to wait so long to see it?

No, instead the film forces us to watch a turtle race. I kid you not. You know what? That's actually kind of awesome that instead of telling a gripping, horror-filled tale, the directorial choice was to show the entirety of a race between animals that are classically known as the slowest around.

You'll Believe

[wayno-6 · 1/10 · 20 December 2008]

"Hell hath no fury, like a guy in a Rubber Suit!" Not as good as the "Godzilla" movies, but the dialogue and music are absolutely hilarious.

The Box should say made by K-R-A-F-T on it. It's definitely a brain clogging experience.

There is some flirting going on -- especially with pick up lines like:

"Oh and Wayne, let me know if you decide to pursue this...I sense your interest..and I feel the same way..."

MMM kay.....I didn't need to know that!

All in all, it's NOT as good as a "Godzilla" movie, but it'll still split your sides!

One more quote? Oh sure:

"What I gotta do is take a leak. You crap your pants again? No I farted. You crapped your pants again."

Man with dialogue like that, you just can't miss!

Wayno

The long walk home

[cartoonlizard · 7/10 · 25 September 2006]

When I first saw this movie I went to a midnight showing of it to a theater that was a walking distance away from my home, I was 14 at the time and back then the streets were a bit safer but I was so freakin' scared that I had to call a friend to come pick me up. Starting with the opening scene where the creature goes inside a home and kills the couple living there, I've seen movies involving home invasions but there was something about this one that had me with my feet off the floor. I don't know if I saw it again today it'll have the same effect on me, the parts I remember now seem to be cheesy as hell but it really managed to leave a lasting impression on me.

Eco-Horror from the canal

[kirbyclements · 5/10 · 3 August 2023]

Cheesy but watchable. Bad acting by some but not all bad. Has a nice microphone hiss in a few scenes which I enjoy. Nice opening shots of Venice, California. The lead girlfriend continues to get worse as a character the more the film goes, with awkward lines and shots. Has the typical Vietnam vets as street bums. Highly stereotypical and normal for films during this age. An odd play on various scenes with comedic music set to more awkward camera shots. The monster itself is pretty cool, also offering a hint of comedic action with its noises and walk. This film is really an interesting study of a America at the time frame filmed, more specifically California.

'Take care, it's gill or be killed in the 1970s silt-suckingly slimy slug-fest 'Slithis!'

[Weirdling_Wolf · 8/10 · 10 July 2022]

No fiendishly fission formed, sinisterly scaled screen monster has ever slayed quite so splendidly as fearfully foamy, deep sea sadist Slithis! Luridly lurching out of the suppurating canal detritus like some slitherously spawned, hungrily skin-shredding savage, the degenerated Venice beach denizens are all grimly destined for a moist despicably Slithic Doom! Since this murderously mutated, bloodthirsty bipedal behemoth has morbid appetites infinities beyond your wildest imaginings! Half man, half fish, and fully fiendish! Slithis is 100% pure terror!!! This monstrously macabre manifestation of grossly mutated meat is one of the more anthropologically antisocial, ecologically evangelising 1970s schlockers! 'Slithis' remains a global warning for all mankind, since our rabidly toxic, incautiously consumerist culture has fatefully self-initiated its very own sewer-spawned apocalypse!!!!! And Creature feature impresario Stephen Traxler's perversely prescient, atomically astringent anti-hero 'Slithis' is far more than we callow celluloid sinners deserve! In this fright-lite, miserably mediocre, garbage-garlended epoch, the vengefully cruel cryptid 'Slithis' is still righteously 'taking out' the trash! 'Take care, it's gill or be killed in the 1970s silt-suckingly slimy slug-fest 'Slithis!'

Attack of the toxic monster.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 9 May 2010]

Stephen Traxler's "Slithis" somewhat reminded me "Humanoids from the Deep".A gill-man body is made from radioactive mud.This strange monster is butchering dogs and people in Venice,Los Angeles.The police is not helpful in solving the case claiming that the murders are the work of Mansonesque cult."Slithis" is an enjoyable monster movie,but it can be extremely dull is spots.There is not enough Slithis attacks in the movie.There is very little going on in the first hour of "Spawn of the Slithis" and I was bored.However the monster suit is excellent and it should be shown more often.The acting is terrible with vapid performances of an entire cast,but "Spawn of the Slithis" doesn't deserve its current low rating.That's why I am gonna give it 7 out of 10.

You cannot "Spoil" a movie that has no plot

[hotrodcycle · 1/10 · 4 June 2002]

This has got to be one of the worst movies made in the History of movie making.Ishtar was a bad movie, this movie makes Ishtar and Academy

Award nominee. It just cannot get worse than this, can it?