It's a monster film's homage with lots of man-eaters slugs and loads of blood , including revolting , repulsive scenes. This chiller with middling budget packs thrills, chills , some good action , gore , horror and few funny moments. It's a hybrid of monster movies from the 50s and modern American production in B series style . People are dying mysteriously and terrifyingly , and nobody has a track what the cause is . Only health inspector named Mike Brady (Michael Garfield) finds a possible origin , but his theory of murderous slugs is laughed at by the authorities . When his wife named Kim (Kim Terry) is attacked , he discovers that spilled toxic waste is being helpfully cleaned up by the slug population and causing countless deaths . Only when the slugs are mutating into blood-thirsty man eaters and the body count begins to rise , the police goes into the action . A slug expert from England begins snooping around does it begins to think Mike had the right idea after all.

This humdrum adaptation based on Monster movies from the 50s results to be a special version based on the bestseller titled ¨Slugs¨ by Shaun Hutson with screenplay written by also producer José Antonio Escrivá , Ron Gantman , and the same director Juan Piquer Simón (as J.P. Simon) . The thrilling screenplay is a bit yawn-inspiring but nifty special effects will keep you from dozing off , its author is Emilio Ruiz , he's a nice creature effects designer, a perfect craftsman who made effects , monsters , miniature and matte shots in ¨Pan's labyrinth ,The Devil backbone , Dune , Conan , Cat's eye¨ and many others . There're gruesome killings , rip-roaring action , thrills , chills and results to be briefly entertaining . Plenty of repellent images , it was X classified in England and was banned in the Australian state of Queensland until the early-'90s when the Queensland Censorship Board was disbanded . Average main cast with unknown actors as Michael Garfield and Kim Terry . There appears usual secondary actors seen in co-productions of the 60s and 70s , Spaghetti and Terror genre , as Frank Braña , Manuel De Blas and Patty Shepard . It's a slight fun with acceptable special effects by Emilio Ruiz Del Rio supported by Benito Cortijo and Juan Mirame , passable set decoration , functional art direction and none use of computer generator . The slugs monsters are the real stars of this production , being rightly realized , some of them are authentic Asturias (Spain) slugs and others are made by plastic miniature ; it has numerous "older technique" special effects such as matte paintings, rubber-suited monsters, Piquer uses the standard film technique of reverse-footage to create certain effects .

The fable is silly and laughable ,though the effects and action are professionally made . Among the most spectacular of its visuals there are some deeply shrouded caverns , several monsters roaring menacingly towards the camera , the colorful backgrounds of the sewers and slaughters and massacres committed by the horrible slugs . On the whole this is a suspenseful and tense thriller especially at the amazing ending tableau when Michael Garfield and his helper have to tackle the massive slugs at the lair in the final . Some scenes are clumsily shot but the movie has some good moments here and there . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the slugs , though sometimes are a little bit cheesy . Highlights of the story includes a roller-coaster ending , some terrifying frames in a restaurant and many others . Functional cinematography by Julio Bragado , being filmed the interiors in Madrid and exteriors in Lyon , (New York) , a population about 5.000 inhabitants . The motion picture was middlingly realized by Juan Piquer Simon . Piquer who recently passed away was a good craftsman , he owns his own studio and created and/or designed many of the simple special effects sequences you see in any of his many imaginative undertakings . Juan who was director of the Mostra of Valencia (Spain) , displayed a professional career and specialized on all kind of genres as Terror (Slugs, Piezes , Cthulhu ) and Sci-fi (The rift , The new Extraterrestres, Supersonic man) and made some adaptations about Jules Verne novels ("Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth" , "Mystery on Monster Island") . While his films have been universally panned by the prestigious reviewers, they have a kind of quality that must be endured to be fully appreciated .

Here's an example of that rarity, an enjoyable late '80s horror film. This is B-grade film-making at its finest, with a derivative monster movie script which harks back to the late-night classics of the 1950s but with lots of added gore and general gruesomeness to shock and disgust modern, jaded audiences in equal measure. Of course, the film is easy to watch because it strikes the right balance between being campy and serious, and I guess it's impossible to make a totally serious film when killer slugs are your main ingredient.

I quite liked the depiction of small town suburban America in this movie. Ironic, as it was actually made in Spain with a half-Spanish cast. The characters are developed before being messily dispatched and despite lots of trite dialogue, you end up caring for the people involved. Another thing to enjoy is the old-fashioned over-the-top score which really dramatises the slug attacks, and almost makes them believable. There's an almost palpable sense of impending danger at the film's climax as our two have-a-go heroes attempt to dispel the threat by literally blowing up the town's sewer system with a chemical concoction.

Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon's direction is always interesting and keeps the action moving at a fast speed, making this a fun film to sit through. Right from the beginning as the mystery thickens there is no slowness in the build-up of the tale as with similar monster flicks, it's entertaining and watchable right from the start. The acting is generally good with some memorable characters popping up (the weird British scientist, the crazy mayor) and strong performances from the two leading guys.

Another thing I loved was the excessive, gratuitously slimy slug attacks which really go over the top. In one scene a gardener finds a slug inside his glove and is forced to lop off his hand with a hatchet before his greenhouse explodes! It has to be seen to be believed. The film's most infamous moment sees a loving naked couple get bloodily dispatched by rampaging slugs which invade their bedroom and isn't for the squeamish. Other highlights include lots of shots of writhing, fat, slimy slugs, plenty of mutilated bloody corpses and a disgusting highlight of a man's head bursting apart and loads of parasitic worms flying from the eye sockets.

It may be silly and sometimes juvenile but when it comes to the slug attacks the film delivers what you could hope from the title. Obviously a suspension of disbelief is required, i.e. in scenes of slugs dragging away the corpses to their lair. Imagine the kind of power these creatures would need to be able to drag a body mass hundreds of times larger than their own and the dynamics of such an operation and you'll realise just how untrue it is. However, in all SLUGS: THE MOVIE is just about all a fan could hope and expect from a B-grade horror film about killer slugs and therefore it gets a thumb up from me.

Killer slugs on the rampage in a rural community.

Believe it or not, the story behind the screenplay started as a book. In the original novel, the titular slugs were not caused by radiation or any such thing, but actually on author Shaun Hutson's knowledge that there were three species of carnivorous slugs. (The book's success apparently was enough to get the author the gig to write "The Terminator" novelization.)

If you love the late J. P. Simon's "Pieces" (a true cult classic if ever there was one),you may also love "Slugs". It has some of the same great things going for it: incredible special effects on the gore, a great 1980s mentality and some of the worst dialogue ever to hit a screen near you (which may be due to the fact that the actors are not proficient in English).

The film is best enjoyed by taking it as not seriously as possible. I mean, thousands of slugs that come and go in unison, eat people and apparently have the ability to plan ahead? Not very plausible. A high school teacher who has his own lab for experiments? Not likely.

But I personally love this movie. I think it is so unbelievable that it is just perfect for a good film with friends, some Tootsie Rolls and a soda. And if you have the legendary horror historian Jon Kitley lurking around making slug-shaped chocolates, that just tops it off. This Spanish film made in America featuring Italian actors is a must-see.

The Arrow Video Blu-ray is jam-packed. We have audio commentaries with "Slugs" author Shaun Hutson and filmmaker Chris Alexander. The Hutson commentary is interesting in that he never actually met any of the film's producers, actors or director, so the focus there is much more on horror literature. There are also new interviews with actor Emilio Linder, special effects artist Carlo DeMarchis, art director Gonzalo Gonzalo and production manager Larry Ann Evans. The last one, with Evans, is really very insightful and tells you more stories about the making of the film than you're likely to hear anywhere else.