Slugs Review | Road Rash Reviews

3 stars for a classically silly eighties creature feature.

Sex and Slugs and Rock and Roll!

First released in 1988, Slugs is based on the novel of the same name by Shaun Hutson and directed by Juan Piquer Simon (The Rift, Extraterrestrial Visitors).

“Killer slugs for chrissakes. What’ll it be next? Demented crickets? Rampaging mosquitos maybe?”

Slugs is set in small town America, downtown Ashton, which was of course built on the site of a toxic waste dump. Well, what could possibly go wrong?

Mike Brady (Michael Garfield – The Warriors) works for the Health Department and his good friend Don Palmer (Philip MacHale – One Life to Live) works for the Sanitation Department.

One day, Mike is called in to accompany the highly obnoxious Sheriff to evict a drunk from his house. Upon arrival they make a horrifying discovery, he has been eaten alive by some sort of creature. “What kind of creature?” I hear you cry. There’s a clue in the title.

Large black slimy slugs are being spotted all over town and they’re angry. They bite and they swarm and they seem to be living in the sewers.

Poor Mike and Don have the unenviable task of trying to convince people that there are killer slugs on the loose, terrorising the town. Unsurprisingly, most people are pretty sceptical and the death toll continues to rise. Only they and the random local English scientist, Foley (Santiago Álvarez) can save the day.

Slugs is a bit of a mixed bag really. The special effects are good and there’s enough blood and guts to keep the goree hounds satisfied, but the acting is a bit hit and miss and the concept is downright ridiculous. I’m no athlete and even I could outrun a slug. The residents of Ashton don’t seem to have that ability.

It also seems that most of their problems could have been far more easily sorted with a large tanker of salt, but who am I to judge? Overall an entertaining watch and with plenty of special features, well worth adding to your eighties collection.

“Amazing, ain’t it. Before yesterday the most exciting thing we had around here was a Saturday night drunk getting naked and running down Main St. Now we’ve got a new dead body showing up every 10 minutes.”