Slugs, Slimy Terror from the Sewers

1988's "Slugs," about toxic worm creatures that breed poisonous parasites, is widely believed to be a metaphor of the American welfare system.  These creatures bore into the bodies of the living and eat vital organs and leave parasitic worms which explode out of the victim's face.  Not too subtle if you ask me.  Beyond the political commentary, "Slugs" is an icky, horror flick that will have you feeling these creatures climbing up your back as you watch this on Netflix.

As our story begins, a bikini clad babe watches her boyfriend eaten when he falls out of a boat.  That same evening, a grouchy drunk guy goes home to his house which has just had the utilities cut off. Unaware that giant slugs are oozing out of his vents, he lays down on a sofa and is eaten by hundreds of these creatures.  Next up is an elderly and grouchy couple tending their greenhouse.  Unbeknownst to them, the slugs have moved in, and in very gory fashion, the bickering gardeners are consumed.  Mike (Michael Garfield), the county health inspector starts getting suspicious after the fourth death.  His buddy, Don (Philip MacHale), is head of the country sewer system....someone has to do it.  Don and Mike begin working together when Don discovers half eaten animals clogging the sewer.  Mike's hot wife, Kim (Kim Terry), is very amorous, and we get some nice scenes in which she is clad in some classy lingerie, finds giant slugs in her garden. Unfortunately for Don, his wife looks like she should be his mother, and when he suggests they get naked and wild....well...the imagery is kinda icky.

Back to the story:  Kim's colleague, John (Santiago Alvarez) is a scientist with a lab.  Mike takes a slug to him.  After the slug eats one of his lab rats, John realizes the ramifications for the town if the slugs continue to multiply.  The slug carnage continues. In one elongated and disgusting scene, when two teenagers engage in premarital sex, a million slugs flood their bedroom after arriving through the toilet.  Both are slimed and consumed before our eyes.  These films, after all, are morality tales.  As more hormone driven teenagers are eaten in their states of nakedness, Mike, Don, and John craft a desperate plan.  John concocts a chemical compound that will explode these vermin, and Mike and Don don rubber suits and head to the sewers.  These two brave men must lure all the slugs to one place and blow them up.  

Even if they can blow up the slugs, will Don and Mike be able to escape the slugs in the sewer?  Does Don harbor any jealousy toward Mike because Mike's wife is hot, and his looks like Betty Crocker?  This movie was banned in the Australian state of Queensland when it was released: but was it banned because of the gore or because it was viewed as an unkind metaphor to Queensland's poor and downtrodden?  Slugs will have you squirming in your seats and conjure up images from the movie "Squirm."  See "Slugs," and be prepared to feel them against your body as you slip between the sheets for a good night sleep.