11 minutes on the phone with Superman director James Gunn back when he was promoting a gross-out horror-comedy that bombed

By Steve Newton

I didn’t get invited to Hollywood for last night’s glitzy world premiere of writer-director James Gunn’s $225 million blockbuster-to-be, Superman, but that’s cool. I’m not really into superhero flicks anyway.

What I am into is horror movies. That’s why, 19 years ago, I took a phone call from Gunn while he was promoting his new comedy-horror Slither, which was shot around my stomping grounds of Vancouver, B.C.

While I loved that film–and gave it a rave review when it was released in March of 2006–it was a box-office bomb. It had a budget of $15 million but grossed less than 13 mil worldwide.

Still, it was a gas chatting with Gunn for 11 minutes or so when he rang in from his home in L.A. Nothing like two dedicated horror freaks geeking out.

I should apologize in advance for my loud chuckling during the conversation, but Gunn had me in stitches a few times. Like when I asked him what kind of audience he was shooting for with Slither and he replied “mostly women ages 54 to 79.”

Also quite irritating is the constant hum of the audio. But hey, I was working on a low budget at the time, too.

Have a listen, if you dare: