No, this is not the story of a bunch of McDonald's fry cooks. Nor is it the biography of my ex-bosses at a certain midtown NY ad agency. What "The Slime People" turns out to be is an extremely shoddily put together film depicting what happens when a race of lumbering, bipedal reptilians attacks L.A. from underground and erects a dome of fog around it. The "director," '40s star Robert Hutton, is also the action lead here, looking for all the world like a dressed-down Dan Hicks. His thesping is passable, but the small band that he falls in with emotes terribly...especially the two women. I don't think I've EVER seen worse acting. This film, although it lasts a mere 65 minutes, is guaranteed to induce a headache, (a) because the sound quality of this Rhino DVD is so lousy, and (b) because most of the film takes place in a dark, misty fog. Nothing seems to make any sense; the characters' actions and what they say all leave the viewer shaking his/her head in bafflement. Other than the admittedly cool-looking monsters (which, to the film's credit, we DO get to see in the opening seconds), the FX are god-awful. The machine that the Slime People are using to erect that impenetrable fog dome looks just like a wiggly Hefty garbage bag, and is as easily disposed of! All in all, "The Slime People" gives "Robot Monster" some competition as one of the worst films of all time. Don't miss it?
54 Reviews
Entertaining low budget science fiction movie is good fun
mlraymond19 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is certainly no classic, or even a good movie. But there's something engaging about the little band of survivors, determined to halt the Slime People in their plot to take over Los Angeles. The lovable professor is played by Robert Burton, who had appeared four years earlier in the Swedish'American film Terror in the Midnight Sun, in a similar role. Future AIP starlet Susan Hart plays one of the professor's daughters, and reliable character actor Les Tremayne has an odd role as a hermit/author, who has a goat for his best friend.
The Slime People themselves look pretty good for B movie monsters, and the fog created by the monsters is a very effective way of adding a sense of mystery to the every day settings.
The movie reminds me of Night of the Living Dead in some ways, without the gruesome scenes and overwhelming terror. In both films, a small group of randomly assorted people take shelter in a building ,to evade a horde of monstrous creatures, and improvise whatever means they can to fight back. A resourceful man becomes the leader, with some opposition from the others, but generally managing to unite against the monsters. The heroes of this movie however, are successful in defeating the creatures, and are brave and unselfish, where the people in Night of the Living Dead can barely tolerate each other, and do not survive, let alone emerge triumphant.
The movie has plenty of unintentionally funny moments, but is able to muster some genuine suspense and excitement anyway. It's really not that bad, considering the obviously low budget and amateur nature of the production.
The Slime People themselves look pretty good for B movie monsters, and the fog created by the monsters is a very effective way of adding a sense of mystery to the every day settings.
The movie reminds me of Night of the Living Dead in some ways, without the gruesome scenes and overwhelming terror. In both films, a small group of randomly assorted people take shelter in a building ,to evade a horde of monstrous creatures, and improvise whatever means they can to fight back. A resourceful man becomes the leader, with some opposition from the others, but generally managing to unite against the monsters. The heroes of this movie however, are successful in defeating the creatures, and are brave and unselfish, where the people in Night of the Living Dead can barely tolerate each other, and do not survive, let alone emerge triumphant.
The movie has plenty of unintentionally funny moments, but is able to muster some genuine suspense and excitement anyway. It's really not that bad, considering the obviously low budget and amateur nature of the production.
Bad....but I've seen worse.
planktonrules3 November 2021
"The Slime People" is not a good film and I won't shy away from that. But for an extremely low budgeted horror film with crappy looking monsters, there are worse...such as "Robot Monster" or "From Hell It Came".
The story begins with a man landing his small airplane at a California airport and noticing that there is no one there...no one. Soon he is met by a professor and his daughters and learns that some weird monsters have come out of the earth and are attacking mankind. That really is the entire plot!
All in all, this is a bad film with bad dialog and REALLY annoying female characters who cry and scream A LOT. But it's not bad as a time-passer...or something to laugh at as you watch.
The story begins with a man landing his small airplane at a California airport and noticing that there is no one there...no one. Soon he is met by a professor and his daughters and learns that some weird monsters have come out of the earth and are attacking mankind. That really is the entire plot!
All in all, this is a bad film with bad dialog and REALLY annoying female characters who cry and scream A LOT. But it's not bad as a time-passer...or something to laugh at as you watch.
Pretty awful, but still kind of fun
Hessian49914 April 2002
Far from being a cinema classic, or even a classic of low-budget films, The Slime People still has a kind of charm that makes you want to stay with it until the end. Cheap sets and costumes, and pretty bad acting, make this one mostly forgettable, though the plot really isn't too bad. With a bigger budget and some better actors this might have been come off as a classic. Worth watching on a rainy Sunday afternoon if nothing else is on.
Only for the hard core.
Pike-622 February 1999
The Slime People would only appeal to the hard core lover of early science fiction movies. The over extensive use of the fog machine makes it difficult to see some of the scenes clearly enough to follow the action. The traditional wholesome characters (50's style, men at table discussing important things, woman putting away the dishes) engaging in supposedly serious discussions/explanations of the Slime folks "wall of fog" is just plain funny. But when all is said and done the movie did entertain me, but certainly not for everyone. Hats off to the actress stuck playing Bonnie, the dumb blonde teenager.
The Subterranean Slimers
bkoganbing14 June 2008
The salt water cousins of the Creature from the Black Lagoon have come up in big numbers out of the sewers of Los Angeles and have set up shop. The human race has retreated out of the city as the Slime People have taken over and probably now have plans to acquire new turf.
To protect they're new neighborhood, The Slime People have lowered the mean temperature of Los Angeles to make it cooler for their needs. And of course they've enveloped the big Orange with a thick fog which only Robert Hutton flying a small private plane manages to penetrate. When he arrives he fines LA almost deserted.
Along the way he picks up scientist Robert Burton and his two lovely curvaceous daughters Susan Hart and Judee Morton, a stranded young Marine William Boyce and crazy eccentric writer Les Tremayne. It's up to these intrepid six to defeat The Slime People.
It's really only five of them because Tremayne's quite drunk, quite iconoclastic and quite useless. Tremayne, possessor of a fabulous voice that was his fortune as a radio actor, knows what an absolute turkey he's in and just overacts outrageously. Good thing his scenes were mostly outdoor because he'd be accused of digesting the entire set.
The slime people when you can see them through the fog look a whole lot like the Silurian monsters from the Doctor Who show who made their debut in the Jon Pertwee years. The fog which is a great gimmick for noir films also covers up a lot of the cheapness of production. In fact other than the monster costumes, I'm not sure what special expenses were entailed in making The Slime People. The film looks like it was shot with a Kodak Brownie camera.
You have to wonder when folks like Robert Hutton, Robert Burton and Les Tremayne do something like this, wasn't their anything else better out there. And if this was the best they were offered, YOIKES.
To protect they're new neighborhood, The Slime People have lowered the mean temperature of Los Angeles to make it cooler for their needs. And of course they've enveloped the big Orange with a thick fog which only Robert Hutton flying a small private plane manages to penetrate. When he arrives he fines LA almost deserted.
Along the way he picks up scientist Robert Burton and his two lovely curvaceous daughters Susan Hart and Judee Morton, a stranded young Marine William Boyce and crazy eccentric writer Les Tremayne. It's up to these intrepid six to defeat The Slime People.
It's really only five of them because Tremayne's quite drunk, quite iconoclastic and quite useless. Tremayne, possessor of a fabulous voice that was his fortune as a radio actor, knows what an absolute turkey he's in and just overacts outrageously. Good thing his scenes were mostly outdoor because he'd be accused of digesting the entire set.
The slime people when you can see them through the fog look a whole lot like the Silurian monsters from the Doctor Who show who made their debut in the Jon Pertwee years. The fog which is a great gimmick for noir films also covers up a lot of the cheapness of production. In fact other than the monster costumes, I'm not sure what special expenses were entailed in making The Slime People. The film looks like it was shot with a Kodak Brownie camera.
You have to wonder when folks like Robert Hutton, Robert Burton and Les Tremayne do something like this, wasn't their anything else better out there. And if this was the best they were offered, YOIKES.
Low budget creature tedium
Leofwine_draca26 January 2024
THE SLIME PEOPLE is an extremely low budget monster flick that has very little to recommend it, even for huge fans of this genre. For the most part this is talky and dull, charting the lives of a group of survivors who are hiding out in the mountains after the titular foes have taken over their city by lowering the temperature and filling the place with fog. There's a lot of back and forth argument and descriptions of places and events we never get to see, before things finally kick into gear with a low budget attack sequence right at the climax. To be fair, the creature costumes aren't all that bad, but it takes far too long to get to that point.
Behold the goofy glory that is "The Slime People".
Hey_Sweden11 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
You know you're in for a pretty good B movie watching time when the title of the damn thing is actually used repeatedly! And so it goes with this hilariously plotted, ridiculous low budget disaster-piece. It's worth noting that the filmmakers themselves seem to have been all too aware of how absurd their monsters look, so they thought, "Why not show them right from the start?" Which is exactly what happens in this tale of subterranean prehistoric bipedal beasts who emerge from the sewers of Los Angeles to wreak havoc on the populace, sealing the city up with a wall of pure fog that later turns solid. A pilot, Tom Gregory (Robert Hutton, who also directs) hooks up with a professor (Robert Burton) and his hottie daughters (Susan Hart and Judee Morton) as well as a lone marine soldier (William Boyce) who turns up.
Hutton does what he can with his limited financial means, using the aspect of the fog to his advantage and getting some decent atmosphere. (However, there's simply too much fog in later scenes, and it's hard to make out the action.) As a director he never seems to take things too seriously, although as an actor, he keeps a straight face throughout, as do his co-stars. The standout in the cast is sci-fi veteran Les Tremayne, who's fun as Norman Tolliver, an outspoken author who dotes on a pet goat. When it looks like Normans' time is up, Tremayne actually looks legitimately terrified. Hutton creates a palpable sense of isolation in the first few minutes, before the professor and the daughters show up.
Bad movie fans should enjoy themselves watching this one.
Five out of 10.
Hutton does what he can with his limited financial means, using the aspect of the fog to his advantage and getting some decent atmosphere. (However, there's simply too much fog in later scenes, and it's hard to make out the action.) As a director he never seems to take things too seriously, although as an actor, he keeps a straight face throughout, as do his co-stars. The standout in the cast is sci-fi veteran Les Tremayne, who's fun as Norman Tolliver, an outspoken author who dotes on a pet goat. When it looks like Normans' time is up, Tremayne actually looks legitimately terrified. Hutton creates a palpable sense of isolation in the first few minutes, before the professor and the daughters show up.
Bad movie fans should enjoy themselves watching this one.
Five out of 10.
Yeah, it's bad, but...
john_vance-208063 February 2017
I really enjoy this genre (sci-fy/horror B-graders) but I will have to say this one is pretty much void of any value even to the most tolerant of bad movies.
On the other hand, I have watched it more than once and I'm not sure why. Maybe the buxom, blonde little flirt stirs some primeval attraction in my loins. Maybe the shambling slimeball monsters work for me in some way. Maybe there's a so-bad-it's-good quality to it. I really don't know.
In any case, I can't really recommend anyone shell out any money for it unless it's included in some collection of equally bad films. But who knows, maybe someone else can develop a little misunderstood affection for it as well.
On the other hand, I have watched it more than once and I'm not sure why. Maybe the buxom, blonde little flirt stirs some primeval attraction in my loins. Maybe the shambling slimeball monsters work for me in some way. Maybe there's a so-bad-it's-good quality to it. I really don't know.
In any case, I can't really recommend anyone shell out any money for it unless it's included in some collection of equally bad films. But who knows, maybe someone else can develop a little misunderstood affection for it as well.
Prime candidate for a remake
fertilecelluloid3 December 2005
When I first saw this film a long, long time ago, I was terrified and the film earned a special place in my heart. It was what I couldn't see that terrified me, of course, what was actually impossible to see for most of the time. The slime people didn't scare me, of course, because I didn't believe in them, I didn't buy their good looks.
When I saw the film again recently, I wasn't terrified, but I found its first half hour effective because the fog surrounding Los Angeles was so damn thick it evoked Stephen King's "The Mist" and James Herbert's "The Fog", two of my favorite stories. I have always loved fog and what it potentially harbors, so "The Slime People" still kept its special place in my heart.
The fog is UNBELIEVABLY thick in this Z-grade gem. No, it's more like hovering pea soup than fog. Clearly, it is papering over the non-existent sets and MIA production design, but it works. It convinces us that something terrible is lurking within it. When that "something" is revealed", the seams start to split.
The endless dialog scenes are something to behold. They don't go anywhere and the actors only convince us that they showed up to the studio to put food on the table. The monsters are rubbery, which is fine, but they lack personality, too, which is a great shame.
I like the fact that the monsters are still referred to as "people" in the title because monsters do deserve respect. It's just a pity they weren't given more do and it's equally pitiful that we don't get a look-in on their grand plan for LA and the world.
Since remakes should be improvements on bad films with potentially rich concepts, this is a prime candidate for one.
When I saw the film again recently, I wasn't terrified, but I found its first half hour effective because the fog surrounding Los Angeles was so damn thick it evoked Stephen King's "The Mist" and James Herbert's "The Fog", two of my favorite stories. I have always loved fog and what it potentially harbors, so "The Slime People" still kept its special place in my heart.
The fog is UNBELIEVABLY thick in this Z-grade gem. No, it's more like hovering pea soup than fog. Clearly, it is papering over the non-existent sets and MIA production design, but it works. It convinces us that something terrible is lurking within it. When that "something" is revealed", the seams start to split.
The endless dialog scenes are something to behold. They don't go anywhere and the actors only convince us that they showed up to the studio to put food on the table. The monsters are rubbery, which is fine, but they lack personality, too, which is a great shame.
I like the fact that the monsters are still referred to as "people" in the title because monsters do deserve respect. It's just a pity they weren't given more do and it's equally pitiful that we don't get a look-in on their grand plan for LA and the world.
Since remakes should be improvements on bad films with potentially rich concepts, this is a prime candidate for one.
"Knowing those things are out there gives me the creeps"
hwg1957-102-26570430 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Subterranean creatures, the titular Slime People, emerge from the sewers to take over Los Angeles, affecting the environment so they can stay permanently above ground by building a dome of solidified mist. Five people try to survive and fight back; a TV sports reporter, a soldier and a professor with two comely daughters.
Sounds promising but it's mainly silly with people acting like no real people ever would and the mist obscuring a lot that goes on. The mundane cast are defeated by the ridiculous script. There is however Les Tremayne as Norman Tolliver, a man fond of his pet goat, but he is only in it a short time but he livens the film up briefly with splendid over acting.
I thought the Slime People themselves look quite decent in their monster make up and they made a creepy slimy kind of sound. With better direction and screenplay and a bigger budget it might have been a more entertaining film. As it is it is a bit dull.
Sounds promising but it's mainly silly with people acting like no real people ever would and the mist obscuring a lot that goes on. The mundane cast are defeated by the ridiculous script. There is however Les Tremayne as Norman Tolliver, a man fond of his pet goat, but he is only in it a short time but he livens the film up briefly with splendid over acting.
I thought the Slime People themselves look quite decent in their monster make up and they made a creepy slimy kind of sound. With better direction and screenplay and a bigger budget it might have been a more entertaining film. As it is it is a bit dull.
Hugely enjoyable Grade Z creature feature dreck
Woodyanders28 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
A handful of people find themselves being terrorized by slimy subterranean humanoid monsters in a misty and empty Los Angeles. This picture starts out promisingly enough with a solid feeling of eerie desolation, but soon falls apart in the most entertainingly inept way possible thanks to star Robert Hutton's slack direction (however, to be fair, Hutton acquits himself well enough as stalwart reporter hero Tom Gregory), leaden pacing, plenty of laughably terrible acting, silly moments of cornball romance, clumsily staged attack scenes, gut-busting tin-eared dialogue ("Gee whiz, after sitting here talking to you, I don't even think about the slime people!"), and wild overuse of a fog machine. Veteran character actor Les Tremayne easily steals the show with his hilarious portrayal of a crazy writer with a pet goat (!). The titular creatures look pretty gnarly. Plus there's some mighty tasty eye candy courtesy of the extremely fetching Susan Hart and the super cute Judeee Morton. Moreover, this movie has a certain sweet clunky charm to it that's impossible to dislike or resist. A real schlocky hoot.
In A Class All Its Own
ehman113 April 2005
This yet another film I saw as a teenager in the 1960's that brings back many fond memories of my youth. I would have to agree that for all its awfulness "The Slime People" as one reviewer states, does have its charm. The excessive use of fog provides the movie with a unique atmosphere giving it just enough of an edge to make the film interesting and at times even a little scary. Every now and then one of the Slime People would sneak out of the fog and really creep us out. In some places the film is funny to the point of being ridiculous, still I think the story and the science behind it is plausible and it does have its serious moments. I have seen movies that were far worse than this one. If you love the films of this genre, just out of curiosity you should give it a look. The Slime People is very hard to find on TV, Satellite or Cable. I bought my VHS copy new a few years back. Even with the current digital re-mastering to DVD, this film will never be easy to watch.
..must be that all that fog
.
HE SLIMED ,ME!
mmthos1 December 2021
True schlock classic, so bad it's ridiculous from first frame to last. The eponymous people of the title are gorilla suits covered in rubber scales with fishy faces and coneheads, flushed from the sewers by-- what else?-- radiation, favorite threat of the Cold War. The endlessly convoluted "science" that
explains it all is egregiously fictive, and the costumes cost half the production budget, so you can imagine the rest. Sister Susan Galbraith (Judee Morton) seems to regard the whole disaster as a fun adventure, and her father, Professor Galbraith (Robert Burton), who seems to have had the best grasp of the situation theretofore, apparently suffers a lapse of reason when he permits her to unnecessarily accompany her impetuous boyfriend (William Boyce) on a dangerous supply run with a casual "Take good care of her, son.", but maybe it's because sonny was, as he has stated, a marine, and such a background makes him best qualified to do battle with prehistoric monsters. Susan Hart as Lisa, the remaining Galbraith, was hired on the spot at the casting call, without benefit of an audition, solely for her beauty, and it shows In addition, she was given $35 to buy her own wardrobe with hopes that she would be able to dress herself up to be even more beautiful. I can't imagine anyone finding the wherewithal for romance under the circumstances, but in d grade horror, there's always time, not much, but always enough to stop the action momentarily for a brief, passionate smooch. And there's a classic jazzy horror score that isn't even credited.
The fun never ends.
The fun never ends.
Some reviewers don't remember "Drive-In" movies, I do.
oscar-355 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This was the 'cream of the crop' 50's-60's drive-in movies. B-movies like this one were meant to be the second feature film in feature film showing then; when TWO films were shown, unlike today. You were shown an A-film and a B-film. In the drive-ins, they often showed only B-films when "A's". That is why there was so many 50 7 60's B-films around then. Not every film was meant to win awards, just make back their production money profit. I love this film for several reasons. I love the design of the slime men. That costume was very imaginative and different, even from the other radiation monsters of the time. I love the premise of the film being in LA, real LA. For years, LA had a bad reputation for extremely bad air with smog. The slime people 'fog' idea was a nice touch. There were many real recognizable radio and TV announcers in this film. I think that was because of the star and this film's directors major LA radio/TV connections. Seeing KTLA studios in the 60's was a treat since that station was the originator and workhorse of very early LA television broadcasts. The marine character was right out of the 'Elvis' acting book. The worst part of the film was that the film fog effect along with under exposing the film made most of the fog scenes extremely hard to see the action. Most of the climactic fight and drama scenes were too obscured to fully enjoy, a shame. I was not aware of any nuclear testing going on around or under LA during the 50's. (There was only one nuclear facility for testing rocket engines 65 miles outside LA in the Chatsworth mountains on the Ventura county line, 'Rocketdyne'.) Seeing films made and exhibited like this one gives me hope that todays filmmakers can make EVEN better films with all their technology and money at hand. From the film box: Millions flee as armies of deadly subterranean monsters invade the metropolis and surround it with an impenetrable wall of killer fog. Trapped within the evacuated city, a scientist and his two shapely daughters lead the desperate struggle to save the human race from the terrifying creatures spawned in the bowels of the Earth.
"From the bowels of the earth..."came this movie
evilskip19 August 1999
This movie is so bad it will make your eyes bleed.You could better spend 76 minutes giving the cat a bath or waxing the family dog.Truly this is putrid cinema exemplified.
To be mercifully short on the plot:Slimy varmints from the bowels of the earth have encased L.A. in a solid wall of fog to establish their new home.(Why in heaven's name would anything want to encase Los Angeles and move in? La Jolla or some place in Orange county would be much more desirable!)These varmints are impervious to bullets as they are self sealing. Anyway it falls to 5 people to do what the armed forces couldn't do: liberate L.A. and defeat the monsters.
The fatal flaws in this film are abundant.Robert Hutton directed this probably because no one else wanted to risk their career.While Hutton and the 2 other "older" actors do a competent job the three youngsters are terrible. The actor portraying the Marine is painful to watch. The rubber suited monsters evoke howls of laughter. They look more like walking carp than inner earth denizens.
This movie truly is from the bowels of the earth.Giving it a 1 only because we can't give negative numbers.
To be mercifully short on the plot:Slimy varmints from the bowels of the earth have encased L.A. in a solid wall of fog to establish their new home.(Why in heaven's name would anything want to encase Los Angeles and move in? La Jolla or some place in Orange county would be much more desirable!)These varmints are impervious to bullets as they are self sealing. Anyway it falls to 5 people to do what the armed forces couldn't do: liberate L.A. and defeat the monsters.
The fatal flaws in this film are abundant.Robert Hutton directed this probably because no one else wanted to risk their career.While Hutton and the 2 other "older" actors do a competent job the three youngsters are terrible. The actor portraying the Marine is painful to watch. The rubber suited monsters evoke howls of laughter. They look more like walking carp than inner earth denizens.
This movie truly is from the bowels of the earth.Giving it a 1 only because we can't give negative numbers.
Oozes with ineptitude.
BA_Harrison20 October 2018
The Slime People reveals it's craptabulous titular monsters before the credits have even rolled; I guess the makers knew that their film was utter garbage and thought "what the heck".
A Z-grade example of drive-in trash, the film sees a race of subterranean creatures (men in really bad rubber costumes) invading Los Angeles, covering the city in fog, killing the citizens and creating a dome to keep the army out. It is up to brave broadcaster/pilot Tom Gregory (Robert Hutton) and a small group of survivors to try and defeat the hideous creatures.
Since most of the film obscured by the aforementioned fog, The Slime People is liable to give a migraine to those who make the effort to try and work out what it is they are supposed to be seeing. Diabolical acting, a lousy script, and dull direction make this the sort of film that would have had viewers in the '60s scrambling into the back seat of their Edsel for a spot of heavy petting... even if they were on their own.
A Z-grade example of drive-in trash, the film sees a race of subterranean creatures (men in really bad rubber costumes) invading Los Angeles, covering the city in fog, killing the citizens and creating a dome to keep the army out. It is up to brave broadcaster/pilot Tom Gregory (Robert Hutton) and a small group of survivors to try and defeat the hideous creatures.
Since most of the film obscured by the aforementioned fog, The Slime People is liable to give a migraine to those who make the effort to try and work out what it is they are supposed to be seeing. Diabolical acting, a lousy script, and dull direction make this the sort of film that would have had viewers in the '60s scrambling into the back seat of their Edsel for a spot of heavy petting... even if they were on their own.
The scum from beneath the planet of the morons
mark.waltz26 October 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Classic movies never go out of style. So says the logo for VCI entertainment which has released this on DVD. And certainly while an old movie and certainly unforgettable, it is not memorable in the way that I consider classic films to be. Certain cheaply made horror films can sometimes turn out to be better than expected, and actually this one did not start pretty bad. In fact when I first saw the rising creature emerging from it pit, I actually thought it was pretty frightening looking and certainly better a movie monster than many of the rubber creatures we had already seen. But in a longer running time than it needed to be the film just goes on too long. The creatures it has roaming through the fog, searching for victims actually end up being better actors than the humans and all the monster makes for a sound is something like a chicken cluck played back at slow speed.
Everything is fine for the first 15 minutes, especially the fact that you get to see the creature within the opening minutes of the film. Many truly bad horror movies do not show the monster enough to make it even remotely memorable, but this film did not wait at all, wasting absolutely no time. But when the humans locked into this fog covered area topped by a dome allegedly created by the creatures themselves, it becomes so ridiculous with chases from monster after man that's are so silly looking that it made me surprised that the camera man did not speed up the chase and add on silly music. Encounter with the creature lead the heroine to being kidnapped by them, even though they have killed everybody else have gotten their hands on. I felt sorry for the young lady being grabbed by these slimy creatures, because they really look like they are covered in some sort of greasy residue that is too disgusting to imagine being connected to human flesh. Little imagination went into the writing of the story, and even if the creatures are a step above many that I've reviewed in recent horror movie viewings, this ends up just being stupid beyond belief, unbelievable with the alleged unseen dome, & a conclusion that is just beyond anti-climatic.
Everything is fine for the first 15 minutes, especially the fact that you get to see the creature within the opening minutes of the film. Many truly bad horror movies do not show the monster enough to make it even remotely memorable, but this film did not wait at all, wasting absolutely no time. But when the humans locked into this fog covered area topped by a dome allegedly created by the creatures themselves, it becomes so ridiculous with chases from monster after man that's are so silly looking that it made me surprised that the camera man did not speed up the chase and add on silly music. Encounter with the creature lead the heroine to being kidnapped by them, even though they have killed everybody else have gotten their hands on. I felt sorry for the young lady being grabbed by these slimy creatures, because they really look like they are covered in some sort of greasy residue that is too disgusting to imagine being connected to human flesh. Little imagination went into the writing of the story, and even if the creatures are a step above many that I've reviewed in recent horror movie viewings, this ends up just being stupid beyond belief, unbelievable with the alleged unseen dome, & a conclusion that is just beyond anti-climatic.
Good premise, just not the time period to execute it....
Aaron137511 August 2013
This is a case where they had a pretty good idea for a B horror film, it just came 20 to 25 years too early. Imagine, a movie filled with slime monsters in the 80's! I see gore, I see awesome kills and I see slime on hot attractive women! It would be a sleazy film to be sure, but it would have a cult following and be considered a guilty pleasure. This one, unfortunately, was just a bit to boring. Bland monsters, where they did not seem to know what they were going for, bad effects and lots of conjecture scenes. Basically, if you gave this same film to Roger Corman in the 80's you would have had the perfect in nasty horror cinema. Instead, you get a film where you see they had an interesting story, but they just could not have the effects or the fast story to make the film itself all that interesting.
The story has a pilot over LA, he lands despite warnings suggesting he divert from his current trajectory. He encounters an empty airport; however, a car with a scientist and his two attractive daughters pulls up and tells him to get in. The pilot soon learns the city is under siege from terrible creatures that live underground. These slime people (what they are dubbed) have created a slime dome over the city and are turning the atmosphere into one of their liking. They also randomly kill the people still entrapped within the city with spears. So yes, creatures that can create a device to change the climate are still using spears. The group encounter a marine and the group soon tries to find a way to break the slime dome and stop the terrible slime people once and for all!
Like I said, make this film in the 80's and it probably would have been still bad, but a really fun bad. With the way it is presented in 1963, though, it seems like a bunch of other films of that era. A lot of promise, undercut by the limits in technology and the inability to show a bit of skin. I saw this film on an episode of MST3K and it was not a particularly strong episode, but it is not really the movie's fault as this film was featured during the first season of MST3K and that season is their weakest in my opinion. So, if you see the film, just be prepared to think to yourself how much potential the plot had...if only.
The story has a pilot over LA, he lands despite warnings suggesting he divert from his current trajectory. He encounters an empty airport; however, a car with a scientist and his two attractive daughters pulls up and tells him to get in. The pilot soon learns the city is under siege from terrible creatures that live underground. These slime people (what they are dubbed) have created a slime dome over the city and are turning the atmosphere into one of their liking. They also randomly kill the people still entrapped within the city with spears. So yes, creatures that can create a device to change the climate are still using spears. The group encounter a marine and the group soon tries to find a way to break the slime dome and stop the terrible slime people once and for all!
Like I said, make this film in the 80's and it probably would have been still bad, but a really fun bad. With the way it is presented in 1963, though, it seems like a bunch of other films of that era. A lot of promise, undercut by the limits in technology and the inability to show a bit of skin. I saw this film on an episode of MST3K and it was not a particularly strong episode, but it is not really the movie's fault as this film was featured during the first season of MST3K and that season is their weakest in my opinion. So, if you see the film, just be prepared to think to yourself how much potential the plot had...if only.
One of the least competently made movies ever
dave13-111 October 2016
If ever a movie served as an object lesson that film is a visual medium and must be treated as such, this is the one. It begins with a series of spoken news reports about the arrival of subterranean monsters in L.A. Since four of the five main characters in the story have lived through these events, there should be no reason to gather them together to screen news items about the monsters, but it kills a few minutes of running time, so... The characters then spend several minutes talking, followed by several minutes of driving. The viewer begins to wonder whether this creature feature will ever feature any actual creatures. In fact, the early part of the movie feels like a radio play, with the actors being filmed as they give their lines. And the dialogue bits go on seemingly forever.
Once the (minimal) action gets going, the thick fog (created by the monsters to cool L.A.'s hot climate and make it livable) obscures much of what is going on. The fog is obviously intended to cover up the movie's cheap production values, but mostly it just makes everything even harder to watch. The visual style has evolved from casual minimalism to ocular strain inducing. Not that blowing aside the fog would have made it much better. Every aspect of the movie comes off as shoddy in the lowest sense. The plot was poorly thought out and the action poorly staged. Little that happens moves the story ahead, makes any logical sense or generates interest. The average student film shows more evidence of thought and planning. The characters are unappealingly dull, and most of their interactions seem pointless and go nowhere. The locations add nothing of interest. The lighting, editing and camera direction seem outright amateurish, about on the level of a locally made infomercial. What little budget existed went toward the creature costumes. These are mildly imaginative, but not very scary.
As entertainment, even bad entertainment, absolutely nothing gets achieved here. There are not even any unintentional laughs. All a viewer can expect to get out of this movie is a mild case of eye strain and an appreciation for the cinematic lavishness of The Blair Witch Project.
Once the (minimal) action gets going, the thick fog (created by the monsters to cool L.A.'s hot climate and make it livable) obscures much of what is going on. The fog is obviously intended to cover up the movie's cheap production values, but mostly it just makes everything even harder to watch. The visual style has evolved from casual minimalism to ocular strain inducing. Not that blowing aside the fog would have made it much better. Every aspect of the movie comes off as shoddy in the lowest sense. The plot was poorly thought out and the action poorly staged. Little that happens moves the story ahead, makes any logical sense or generates interest. The average student film shows more evidence of thought and planning. The characters are unappealingly dull, and most of their interactions seem pointless and go nowhere. The locations add nothing of interest. The lighting, editing and camera direction seem outright amateurish, about on the level of a locally made infomercial. What little budget existed went toward the creature costumes. These are mildly imaginative, but not very scary.
As entertainment, even bad entertainment, absolutely nothing gets achieved here. There are not even any unintentional laughs. All a viewer can expect to get out of this movie is a mild case of eye strain and an appreciation for the cinematic lavishness of The Blair Witch Project.
Cool monsters, bad movie
lordzedd-33 March 2007
Warning: Spoilers
There is allot wrong with this movie, which will be a pretty long list. But let's start with what they did right for a B-Movie. The Slime People themselves are pretty damn cool looking. The story works and the action is not limited. Now let's get to the dialog, the dialog is pretty cheesy, there are major character issues and they never explained why the Slime People suddenly decided to want to conquer us for no reason. Something have had to have happened in the subterranean world in order to break the peace of millions of years. But it's never explained. I wish we saw more of the Slime People, most of the movie was the survivors hiding out and yelling at each other. That's not fun, but as a whole it's not a total waste. If you're up at three O'Clock in the morning and can't sleep, then watch THE SLIME PEOPLE, 3 STARS.
Boring
funkyfry4 November 2002
The Slime People have risen from the earth in anger at our nuke testing -- but they want to live in Los Angeles!? They build a huge dome that traps Hutton, Tremayne, and a built marine, a scientist (to explain everything to the audience) and his two lovely daughters. The monsters are pretty crappy looking, but at least they're large and mobile. The acting is all very poor, with production values from below the bargain basement the slime people crawled out of.
Minimal chills, thrills, and laughs.
Minimal chills, thrills, and laughs.
Danger, the Slime People are coming to get you!
chris_gaskin12327 September 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The Slime people is another one of those movies that is so bad it's good and I certainly enjoyed it.
A race of strange, slimy creatures have invaded Los Angles and shrouded the city in thick fog to help them live. They use a fog machine for this. A group of people, including a TV presenter and a professor and his two daughters along with a Marine try and find a way to get rid of these creatures. One of the daughters is kidnapped by a slime man and eventually, the Slime People are defeated when the professor throws something at the fog machine and blows it up. The Slime People then collapse and die, as they can't live without fog. The army then rescue everybody. The TV man and Marine fall in love with each of the professor's daughters through all of this.
The acting in this movie certainly isn't brilliant, despite a few well known stars in the cast, including sci-fi regulars Robert Hutton (The Colossus of New York, They Came From Beyond Space), Les Tremayne (The War of the Worlds, The Monolith Monsters), Robert Burton (I Was A Teenage Frankenstein) and the girls are played by Susan Hart (The City Under the Sea) and Judee Morton.
The Slime People is a must for every sci-fi fan. Watch it if you get the chance.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5.
A race of strange, slimy creatures have invaded Los Angles and shrouded the city in thick fog to help them live. They use a fog machine for this. A group of people, including a TV presenter and a professor and his two daughters along with a Marine try and find a way to get rid of these creatures. One of the daughters is kidnapped by a slime man and eventually, the Slime People are defeated when the professor throws something at the fog machine and blows it up. The Slime People then collapse and die, as they can't live without fog. The army then rescue everybody. The TV man and Marine fall in love with each of the professor's daughters through all of this.
The acting in this movie certainly isn't brilliant, despite a few well known stars in the cast, including sci-fi regulars Robert Hutton (The Colossus of New York, They Came From Beyond Space), Les Tremayne (The War of the Worlds, The Monolith Monsters), Robert Burton (I Was A Teenage Frankenstein) and the girls are played by Susan Hart (The City Under the Sea) and Judee Morton.
The Slime People is a must for every sci-fi fan. Watch it if you get the chance.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5.
Slimer's relatives...NOT!
lee_eisenberg26 May 2010
"The Slime People" is the typical sci-fi flick from the early '60s that could have gotten shown on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". In this case, a species of creatures coat Los Angeles in a strange mist and take over, while a few people hold out.
Yes, it's basically a B minus movie. Had they waited at least ten years to make it, it would have shown people violating the rules that "Scream" laid out about horror movie survival. As it is, the line "I'd like to see more of you" is up for some cool misinterpretation! So, this movie is nothing special, but fun to watch. A modern tag-line could be: THERE'S SOMETHING BAD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD...AND THIS TIME, YOU CAN'T CALL THE GHOSTBUSTERS!
Yes, it's basically a B minus movie. Had they waited at least ten years to make it, it would have shown people violating the rules that "Scream" laid out about horror movie survival. As it is, the line "I'd like to see more of you" is up for some cool misinterpretation! So, this movie is nothing special, but fun to watch. A modern tag-line could be: THERE'S SOMETHING BAD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD...AND THIS TIME, YOU CAN'T CALL THE GHOSTBUSTERS!
Proof that bad movies go WAYYYYY back!
InzyWimzy2 November 2000
This movie does not try to be a movie. It ashamedly admits its lack of cohesion, story, acting, or whatever. Someone said, "Hey, I'm bored. Let's get shots with my new camera."
This black and white classic film of boredom sets the idea that slime people have risen due to negligent human practices and have set up a dome trapping frenzied Californians inside. The rest has a sports anchor, father and 2 daughters, and a marine who try to survive. So does the viewer.
I have never seen so much fog since Cave Dwellers.
Slime People have cheap props department.
The butcher shop "stand" scene is idiocy supreme.
This movie was miserable to watch.
This black and white classic film of boredom sets the idea that slime people have risen due to negligent human practices and have set up a dome trapping frenzied Californians inside. The rest has a sports anchor, father and 2 daughters, and a marine who try to survive. So does the viewer.
I have never seen so much fog since Cave Dwellers.
Slime People have cheap props department.
The butcher shop "stand" scene is idiocy supreme.
This movie was miserable to watch.
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