Grabbers is proof (at least for me) that you should never judge a movie by it’s terrible name.
On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, Garda (Irish Police) officer Lisa Nolan has just arrived to help out while the chief is away for several weeks. She meets up with her fellow officer, Officer O’Shea, and quickly realizes that things on Erin Island are not like where she normally works. At the same time of her arrival, a fishing boat returns with a strange catch. Paddy, one of (the many) local drunk(s) discovers that what he has caught is no fish, and nothing like anything he has ever seen. He takes his strange catch home and puts it in his bathtub.
Besides the residents of Erin Island, something else strange is moving around the island. Several whales end up dead at the same time from odd circumstances, and people go missing. Officers O’Shea and Nolan are investigating the dead whales when Paddy tells them that he has caught something, and had it at his house. No one believes the old drunk, until the creature attacks Paddy and he is forced to “kill” it. He takes it to the local marine biologist to examine the carcass, and they discover that it is like nothing else found on this planet. Also, it’s not alone.
I had seen the title/cover of this movie for months on Netflix, but honestly thought it was probably pretty tepid at best, given it’s lackluster name. It wasn’t until someone on twitter that follow suggested that everyone needed to check it out that I decided to do so. What I found upon watching it was something close to Shaun of the Dead but with sea creatures. It has a lot of humor, and it’s very well written. Grabbers is never really “scary” but I guess there could be some jump-scares in there if those affect you.
I certainly was not expecting to enjoy this movie as much as I did. There were more than a few parts that had me laughing, and that’s kinda rare in a horror-comedy. Most movies like this come across as terribly forced, and end up making me groan more than smile or laugh. I have no idea of what actual culture is like in Ireland, I’ll be upfront about that. So the only real question I have about this movie is whether it is playing up the whole “Irish people are all drunks” or if… you know… Irish people are all drunks. I’m not trying to insult anyone, or ruin the movie (shockingly I actually care about the plot) but let’s just say that alcohol, and the consumption of it, plays a pretty key role in this movie. All said and done, this is another one of those surprise movies that I never expected to like, but came out of it really thoroughly enjoying it.
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