Redneck Michael Rooker is infected by an outer space parasite in this homage to the outrageous splatter and surreal prosthetics of 1980s horror. Soon, Rooker is transformed into a squid-like monster whose primal urge is to turn the local population into flesh-eating zombies, with his spawn of giant slugs worming their way inside any human host. But his wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks) and a lovesick local cop (Serenity's Nathan Fillion) have other ideas. Writer/director James Gunn (2004's Dawn of the Dead) and his effects team reference everything from the remakes of The Fly and The Thing, via From Beyond, Society and Tremors in this gore extravaganza that's full of in-jokes, wisecracks and ironic dialogue. Amiably retro in its icky shock value, this love story with an alien twist is often so funny it's scary.

A small town is taken over by an alien plague, turning residents into zombies and all forms of mutant monsters.