The discovery of several mutilated dogs along the canals of Venice Beach and the subsequent murder of a couple in a nearby home prompts the police to believe that some sort of mutilation cult has appeared in the area. Frustrated high school journalism teacher Wayne Connors (Alan Blanchard) decides to do some poking around of his own and discovers traces of mud at the murder scene. His science teacher friend Dr. John (J.C. Claire) identifies the slightly radioactive mud as "slithis" which first appeared in Utah in a lake near a nuclear power leak and was capable of absorbing and taking on the characteristics of living organisms. Wayne and his girlfriend Jeff (Judy Motulsky) learn from one of the Utah scientists (Dennis Lee Falt) now horribly disfigured by radiation that a nearby power station may be the responsible for the presence of slithis. With the help of diver Christopher Columbus Alexander (Mello Alexandria, PSYCHIC KILLER), Wayne discovers slithis in the water near the power plant and that fish have entirely disappeared from the area. He conjectures that whatever creature developed from the slithis has moved inland in search of food after having depleted his food sources in the water. When Wayne and Dr. John close off the canal access, the monster strikes at the marina. When the police will not believe his story, Wayne, Dr. John, Jeff, and Christopher decide to track the beast and destroy it themselves. SLITHIS is pretty strong for a PG rating (then again, this was before the PG-13 rating where the violent and sexual content was just as likely to get a PG as it would an R) with some shredded corpses, shredded blouses, and lots of paint-red blood. That said, it's the perfect cheesy grindhouse venture with a sub-HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP monster, laughable scientific dialogue, bland performances (save for a police lieutenant who looks and sounds like a bad Shakespearean villain), distorted monster POV's (some sort of vaselined center spot filter that suggests the monster has cataracts rather than heightened senses), a solarization effect or two, and a multitude of transitional optical wipes and irises. The Venice, California setting is attractively rendered with some good exterior location choices (including some covert conversations between the four protagonists shot at various exteriors solely for production value) and there is the expected "surprise" ending. Fast-paced (despite some static expository scenes) and unintentionally funny, SLITHIS is a must for bad movie fans.