Directed By: Greg Lamberson
Starring: Robert C. Sabin, Mary Huner, T.J. Merrick
Tag line: "A horror film with guts!"
Trivia: When released on video in the UK, this film's title was simple The Slime
You’d think a movie titled Slime City would, at the very least, be a gooey mess of a film, a total gross-out that tries its best to turn your stomach with each new, sickening scene. If you watch the trailer for Slime City, that’s the exact impression it leaves you with, but alas, the movie is only fitfully repulsive. The rest of the time, it’s just confusing as hell.
College Student Alex (Robert C. Sabin) has found what he believes to be the perfect apartment, which, unlike his dorm room he shares with good pal Jerry (T.J. Merrick),is only a few minutes’ walk from both his girlfriend, Lori’s (Mary Huner) place, and his job at the video store. What’s more, there’s a smoking hot brunette (also played by May Huner) living just across the hall from him. It isn’t long after Alex moves in, however, that he notices something very strange is going on. It all begins when he allows his neighbor, Roman (Dennis Embry), to cook a meal for him, which consists of nothing more than a green, mucous-like pudding and a glass of wine. Not ordinary wine, mind you, but one bottled by a former resident, a cult leader who, years earlier, convinced his followers to commit suicide in the building’s basement. That night, following a bizarre dream, Alex realizes he’s oozing a slimy clear substance from every part of his body, a condition that gets worse with each passing minute. In fact, the only thing that will prevent Alex from melting into a puddle of goo is murder. After killing a bum (T. Clay Dickinson), Alex returns to normal, at least for the time being. But what’s causing his terrifying transformation, and more to the point, what is Alex changing into?
Normally, when writing about an obscure movie like Slime City, I’d go to great lengths not to reveal any of its surprises. But for this film, I don’t have to worry about spoilers because its trailer already features clips from every gory, slime-soaked scene it has to offer. In fact, I’d say between 80 – 90% of the movie’s best moments are in the trailer, and taking into account said trailer is under two minutes in length, you can pretty much guess how unspectacular the majority of the film is. For a good portion of Slime City, we’re watching Alex poke around in basements and breaking into other people’s apartments, where he does little more than stare at wine bottles. What’s more, Slime City is pieced together so haphazardly that entire sequences don’t make any sense. One minute, Alex is having dinner with Lori and her parents (Gary Stein and Susan McCallum) when he begins to ooze slime. He excuses himself, and the scene ends. Moments later, he’s completely wrapped in bandages and leading a prostitute (Eva Lee) into his apartment. How much time passed between these two events? How did Alex get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’? I haven’t a clue.
To the filmmakers' credit, Slime City does contain a handful of nauseating images, most of which are so revolting that not even shoddy special effects can ruin them (a scene where Alex tucks his intestines back in after Lori slashes his stomach doesn’t look the least bit realistic, but is disgusting all the same). Save yourself some time, however, and watch the trailer for Slime City instead. It’ll show you everything you want to see, and skip the parts that go nowhere, which, unfortunately, is most of the film.