Cult Cinema: Grabbers

.....just when you thought it was safe, Michelle's review of Grabbers is here.

"Alright. Full body cavity search!!" 
If you are looking for a horror movie that mixes comedy with scary monsters and features characters with cool Irish accents, then look no further. Grabbers has got you covered.  It’s in the same vein as Shaun of the Dead and almost as cleverly written. 

A small Irish town is besieged by Cthulhu looking squid monsters and they have to scramble to find a way to defeat them.  The special effects for the monsters are a mix of excellent CGI and practical effects—I was very impressed at how good it looked. It takes what could be just a run-of-the-mill monster movie and moves it up an echelon. It was a lot gorier than I thought it would be (which is always a plus in my book) but it never comes off as too much.

Grabbers is one of the funniest horror movies I have seen in a long time. I haven’t laughed this much since Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. Most of the humor is pretty dry but there is some slapstick thrown in there for good measure. The situations and dialogue will have you cracking up and even when the horror aspects kick in, it still manages to have a light mood. There is a romantic subplot but it doesn’t come off as contrived and it’s adorable to watch it unfold.  It’s interesting how the director managed to blend so many different genres together so seamlessly.

"Is that what I think it is?" 
Since this takes place in Ireland, there are lots of gorgeous vistas to look at and the cinematography is quite good. The actors all do well in their roles and even the side characters have lots of personality.  If I have one negative, a few of the jokes do fall flat, and the movie plays heavily into a certain Irish stereotype. I’m not sure if it’s offensive as it’s played for jokes. The score is the Celtic, pan flute heavy type of thing you always hear in movies about Ireland, but it’s unobtrusive.

I would definitely say this movie is an underrated and fun little flick and it would do well for horror fans to check it out.  It’s lighthearted for the most part but does have some scary moments that keep it squarely in the horror category.


-Review by Michelle Kisner