Slither (1973)

“[to Kitty] If you keep eatin’ that candy bar, your face is gonna’ look like a pizza.” – Dick Kanipsia

Number of Times Seen – 1 (1 Sep 2022)

Brief Synopsis – After being paroled from prison, a thief tries to go straight but gets pulled into a new scam trying to retrieve stolen money with the help of a friend.

My Take on it – This is another movie I had never heard of before hearing it discussed on the LAMBCast Podcast this week where they talked about great films form 1973.

The premise sounded intriguing, so I decided to give it a try.

The story plays out really well and they do a wonderful job keeping the characters and the situations interesting the whole way through.

THe cats is expertly led by James Caan and he and Peter Boyle have such great chemistry together.

Sally Kellerman is also great as a mysterious woman who tries to help despite her intentions being a bit cloudy throughout.

The characters play things in a very down to Earth kinda way and that helps make it all seem so much more realistic.

The funniest scene takes place in a BINGO game, but this film has so much more to it than just that scene.

They also do an excellent job trying to get a better understand of the mind of a criminal and how they can try to change their ways despite still feeling a constant pull back to their own habits.

Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – When James Caan walks by a paperback spinner rack, a paperback title “Ruined Virgin” can be seen. It appears that this is not a real book. This book has only been seen in the movie “The Swingers” with Ann Margaret. There is a scene where Ann Margaret dances with the book in hand and you can see the cover. Margaret also reads the cover aloud. It appears that the book was a prop in the movie from 1967 and later reused for Slither in 1973. (From IMDB)

Rating – ??? Worthy (?/10)