Slugs, the Movie (1988)

So this was on Tubi (the Arrow release print, I assume), and I was in the mood for a hideous creature feature by the infamous Simón of "Pieces" and "Cthulhu Mansion". I couldn't help but remain astonished at the sheer amount of assholes accumulated in one film. It could be the dubbing, the dialogue, or the way the characters constantly yell at (and insult) each other. Is everyone in Lyons, New York, so off-putting and crude?! I'll say this: the film definitely delivers the slugs. Lots and lots of slithering, slimy, gooey, blood thirsty slugs that crawl about and gather in large swaths of human-devouring colonies. Starting from the sewers of Lyons (where Simón shot the American scenes), eventually all these slugs start to emerge to infiltrate the lives of unsuspecting locals, leaving them flesh-eaten skeletal remains gushing geysers of blood. Yes, perfect entertainment for an early Saturday afternoon! And the sound effects for the slugs with that outrageously robust score just enhance the entire disgusting experience. This is not for all "tastes". How the film's heroes decide to destroy the slugs "to help save lives" actually causes explosions and fires with stores and homes going KABOOM! This does deliver its carnage and creepy crawlies. That will be enough. There's room for high caliber content and low grade sludge...and the horror genre proves to be quite the balancing act!

This dialogue, though, just cracks me up. But there's nothing like a dinner meeting where one among the party's head explodes slugs.

"You're an asshole...right down to steerage."

It looks like Slugs is also available on YouTube free.

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From IMDb user comments from August 2008 after renting a DVD from Netflix to accompany a fresh revisit on Tubi:

The health inspector of a small town has trouble convincing the sheriff, mayor, and other city officials that the sewer systems of certain districts are contaminated with predatory mutated slugs which have feasted on buried toxic waste, hidden for decades under concrete which has been destroyed due to a new project coming soon which would increase the financial growth of the community. Mike Brady(Michael Garfield)will have to rely on Sanitation engineer Don Palmer(Philip MacHale)and a scientist at the town's local school(..who has concocted a possible weapon against these slugs using a chemical containing lithium which can ignite them thanks to their moisture content)if he is to eradicate the problem which has a potential to threaten the entire community if the slugs aren't killed in a singular location. Meanwhile, the film follows how the slugs attack victims with our heroes attempting to convince the powers-that-be that the infestation is serious no matter how ludicrous it sounds.

For those looking for nasty violence, this creature feature from director Juan Piquer Simón delivers. Lots of slugs burrowing under the skin. Blood squirting from places on victims' bodies where slugs are eating away. And, we are treated to how certain murdered innocents' bodies are covered by armies of these slimy blood-thirsty slugs, often whisking them away from our view. We even see a slug bite Mike on the finger! Love the scene where a slug attacks a lab rat! Oh, and you have to see what happens to a businessman whose wife unknowingly chops up lettuce containing a slug..at a dinner meeting, after seeing the poor guy complaining of stomach cramps and head aches moments prior(..and shortly after eating the salad that night before), his face "explodes" worms! Eek! Anyway, this flick has delightful scene where a gardener has to chop off his hand with an ax after one of the slugs slid into his glove without his prior knowledge eating away. You get a chance to see the devastating effects of corpses after the slugs are done with them, often displaying faces eaten to the skull.

Look elsewhere, however, if you desire strong performances and strong likable characters. The sheriff(John Battaglia)is a major @sshole who always barks at his policemen and anyone else who rubs him the wrong way..he's a complete curmudgeon, constantly ridiculing everyone that annoys him. Philip MacHale is perhaps the most likable of the central cast, for his family-man Sanitation engineer rarely bites anyones heads off..something even Garfield's Mike Brady does frequently. As always the town superiors don't bother to listen to Brady's warnings despite the gruesome body count that is increasing. While the score is loud and obnoxious(..as is the hideous dubbing), the sound of slithering slugs sure make the skin crawl. With a movie titled "Slugs", one should expect this kind of cheesy entertainment, and through New World Pictures, you get plenty of icky, unusual grue and some sex & nudity such as the scene between two young love-birds who are attacked by the slugs shortly after making it on her parents' bed, their naked bodies penetrated by the nasty fiends.