GRABBERS (2012) Movie Review

Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 19
Total First Time Views: 12
Amount raised for ALBANY PARK THEATER PROJECT: $1,515.25

Grabbers (2012) d. Jon Wright (Ireland/UK) (94 min) (2nd viewing)

On the small community of Erin Island, hard-drinking small-town cop Ciaran O’Shea (Richard Coyle) is teamed with perky, by-the-book Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley) when his superior goes on holiday. This strained odd-couple dynamic only gathers steam after a school of massacred pilot whales wash ashore and a few locals go missing... incidents seemingly connected with a recent meteorite splash offshore.

GRABBERS (2011) review

Grabbers (2011) (1st viewing) d. Wright, Jon (Ireland/UK)

Finally, an intelligent, well-executed CGI creature feature that earns worthy comparisons to Tremors, ably folding comedy into the monster mix without descending into campiness or bargain basement SyFy f/x. Hard drinking small town cop Richard Coyle is teamed with perky, by-the-book Ruth Bradley when his superior goes on holiday, a strained odd couple dynamic that only gathers steam after a school of massacred pilot whales wash ashore and a few residents go missing…incidents seemingly connected with a recent meteorite splash in the local loch. Screenwriter Kevin Lehane so effectively concocts his Irish island community – filled with colorful characters leveling witty, lived-in barbs at one another – viewers are thoroughly invested by the time the tentacled terrors from below show up, imbuing the fanciful premise with emotional stakes. The Paul Catlin-designed beasties are a fearsome lot, writhing, tangled masses radiating from a toothy maw (although in hatchling state, they’re actually quite cute, evidenced in a pub scene that evokes Gremlins in tone and hijinks), while the prospective human snacks’ counter-tactics are sly, inspired winks at the inebriated Irish archetype. Highly recommended.

Fantasia Day 17 (Saturday, August 4)

A full day of flickers in the large Concordia Hall, covering the gamut from bombastic Japanese space opera to bare bones torture efforts, with a nifty creature feature sandwiched in the middle. This latter title, Grabbers, will undoubtedly end up in my top 3 for the festival, perhaps even in the top slot, so enjoyably engaging it is.

Special guests included writer/director Boris Rodriguez and co-stars Dylan Smith and Alain Goulem from the Canadian crowd-pleaser, Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal…