The first review of 2014 comes from me, Pete, returning to the written word for the first time in a about 3 months. Anywho, here's the film i'm kicking off 2014 with, GRABBERS, a fun b-monster movie from Ireland that i found quite enjoyable, check out my words after the jump....
It's
2014 now, a new year and a shit ton of films to watch. So what was
the first film I saw this year that was a first time viewing? An
Irish, B-monster movie called GRABBERS. Grabbers
was a fun a flick, not the best of it's kind but it still managed to
make me chuckle and have a good time. At it's core it's a simple
plot, a plot which has been seen many times before but they put a
little twist in the tale of a monster taking over small village.
Owing a debt to previous monster flicks like Tremors and a lot of the
old Corman/AIP monster movies of the fifties such as Attack Of The
Giant Crabs and Them! Grabbers manages to be it's own film.
The
film follows an isolated alien invasion of the tentacled blood
sucking kind and the heroes discover that the only way to survive is
to get blind drunk as alcohol acts like a poison to the invading
Aliens. Hilarity follows as the inhabitants of the island fight for
survival while completely pissed.
The
film works as a comedy, an Alien Invasion flick and a sci-fi horror
movie thanks to a well written script, some genuinely well crafted
special FX and an old school feel to it. Add into the mix some choice
performances by the wonderful Richard Coyle who isn't a stranger to
fishing village monsters having narrated BBC radio's adaptation of
H.P Lovecraft's The Shadows Over Innsmouth and he's ably supported by
the very beautiful Ruth Bradley as Lisa, who plays one of the best
drunks this side of Nick Frost. Rounding out the cast is TV's Russell
Tovey off of Dr.Who and Being Human as the marine biologist trying to
discover the origins of the creature. His drunkenness hits “ can't
feel my face” levels of silliness.
The
film is directed by Jon Wright whose previous venture into the horror
genre was the less than impressive Tormented, but he redeems himself
with Grabbers, the film is well directed and beautifully shot on the
Red One camera in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio which gives the film a very
filmic look, to be honest, before I checked I though the film had
been shot on actual film stock, the cinematography is stunning at
times, it's well lit and for a low budget B movie, it's held together
with a wonderful musical score, something that's usually quite rare
in a low budget horror film. Composed by Christian Hansen, the score
features everything from traditional Irish style folk music to a
wonderful variation on the old Hitchcock style musical beats.
Grabbers
is well worth your time if you have a couple of beers and a few mates
over or if you just want to watch something that isn't a superhero
movie or a film about women's issues. A good time guaranteed...
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