Unburied Trailers: The Slime People (1963)

Poe’s Law (no relation to Edgar Allan) states that it is impossible to create a parody of an extreme view that cannot be mistaken for the sincere position. At the extreme fringes of horror culture, we find Poe’s Law constantly at work. The Present Author defies anyone to watch this trailer for The Slime People and tell without looking it up whether it’s a parody or an actual movie. I could swear I’ve seen a copy floating around a TV sitcom where a character is portrayed as a horror fan. The Slime People is exactly the kind of movie your mother thinks you watch.

Looking at these sorry costumes - don’t you think “slime people” would, I dunno, glisten or something? - you’ll be even more flabbergasted to know that they cost half the budget, of which this movie fell short after just nine pathetic days of shooting, so the crew finished the film for free. Just to cut the suspense, it was never intended as a parody, unlike misbegotten movies like The Incredible Melting Man. There were some more scenes shot with midgets in more monster costumes, but they were cut for being too bad, which brings tears to your eyes when you see what made it. This was the only film directed by Robert Hutton, who would later go on to write the screenplay for Persecution (1974), which had a similar sad fate.

The Slime People at least gave MST3K a great season one episode. Oh, but the trailer’s still adorable on its own, with its dramatic howl of “kill kill KILL!!!” and the guy taking one down with a flying leg chop.

We will probably never get around to reviewing this quivering 1960s Jello salad, so we might as well toss in the Dark Corners review. Take it away!

Just to blow it away, think how much better this movie would be if it invoked this song by the late prophet Frank Zappa, peace be upon his name:

Unburied Trailers: The Slime People (1963) - ALL HORROR Tweet it