Production
Filming began in January 1962 at the KTTV television studio. The film ran out of money after nine days of shooting; the cast completed the film without pay. [3] Additional sequences were shot at San Fernando airport (closed 1985) in San Fernando, California, in Mandeville Canyon (showing damage after a wildfire) and in Agoura Hills, California.
Joseph F. Robertson recalled that the filmmakers originally intended to feature dwarves as giant voles, who would serve as the advance guard of the invasion, but the sequence was so bad it was cut from the released film. [4]
Robertson stated that the film was shot for around $80,000 and featured eight costumes worn by stuntmen, each costume costing $600. Vance Skarstedt was the original screenwriter, but his script was rewritten by Robertson's wife Blair.
In an interview with Hutton, he said that neither he nor the stuntmen were paid for their work in the film, and that the slime people costumes cost over half of the film's budget.
Richard Arlen was the original choice to play Prof. Galbraith, but Robert Burton took the role. Burton died of cancer shortly after filming. [5] The Slime People was the only film directed by Hutton, who later wrote the script for the 1975 horror/drama film Persecution . [6]
Reception
Author and film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film a BOMB, his lowest rating, stating that the film "talks itself to death". [9] On his website Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings, Dave Sindelar criticized the film's inconsistent tone, repetitive soundtrack, and lack of visibility due to the overabundance of fog. [10] TV Guide gave the film a negative review, awarding it 1 out of 4 stars. [11] Allmovie also panned The Slime People, calling it "cheap" and "inept", and further stated that the film only worked in short spurts. [12] Graeme Clark from The Spinning Image awarded the film 4/10 stars, writing, "One thing you can say about The Slime People is that the money is all there up on the screen. It's just a pity there wasn't very much of it, because the cash evidently went on making the costumes for the titular monsters and the rest went on post-production mist effects." [13] Reviewing VCI Video's release of the film, Glenn Erickson from DVD Talk called it "a prime example of a no-budget monster show hoping to find a place on a drive-in double bill". [14]
The Terror Trap awarded the film 3/4 stars, writing, "Quick and quirky, it’s among the last in the great double-bill creature feature era". [15]
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