In the waters off the coast of Erin Island (fictional, actually
filmed on location in Donegal), a UFO crashes and the inhabitants (the titular "grabbers") proceed to munch on the small crew of a fishing boat who is foolhardy enough to investigate. As pods of dead pilot whales wash ashore, and lobstermen pull weird, tentacle-y things out of their traps, the local Garda outpost - currently manned by cynical alcoholic O'Shea and new recruit Nolan - begins their investigation. It becomes clear that the aliens are, well, alien. It also SPOILERS becomes evident that the aliens, who tend to drain humans of their blood via a leech-like protrusion, are deathly allergic to alcohol: when one tries to drain O'Shea (who is well above the legal limit), it vomits up his blood and collapses. Since a storm is coming in and there's to be no help had from the mainland, O'Shea and Nolan convince the island's entire population to come to the local pub to get drunk. To save their lives, of course!
Although the
scenery is stunning and the actors charming,
Grabbers is a slight, pleasant enough film that will be forgotten as soon as the credits roll. It's billed as a horror/thriller-comedy: it's funny enough but it isn't scary at all, and when you're a horror-comedy, you need both halves of the equation. I give it further points off for CGI monsters. I know this was low budget, and I realize that the size of the big alien would have made it nigh impossible for practical effects. But low budget practical monsters are wonderful; low budget CGI not so much.
I do give it some credit for an
Aliens shout-out towards the end, however.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment