Review of Grabbers (2012) by Justin A — 22 Feb 2014

The setup makes you hope for some sort of Tremors-ish kind of movie. Unfortunately, there's a whole lot of nothing going on. I understand it's a smaller budget film, but that's kind of what bothers me.

They put all of their efforts into making it look good, but not necessarily being that fun. The setup is monsters want to drink their blood so they have to drink alcohol because a higher blood alcohol level makes the monsters not want to drink their blood.

Okay, interesting idea. However, they learn this immediately and everyone gets drunk so... there's really nothing left to do. There's a bigger monster roaming about, but it doesn't lead to any interesting chase scenes or action sequences.

That's what the movie really needed. We needed moments where the heroes try a plan, but it fails and then they have to regroup and figure out something new to get out of their situation. The bar catching on fire was a good touch, but it didn't really lead to anything.

I was hoping for a sequence where everyone is scrambling and running from monsters, but nothing ever amounted to that. The final action sequence is fine and works, but that's what the movie should have been throughout.

Instead, we get people killed off here and there, some drunks who seemingly act drunk one minute and fine the next, and some less than stellar CGI. Again, I understand it's a low budget affair, and so I didn't expect the best special effects.

My problem is instead of rising above the constraints of its budget, it felt like the movie took the easy road and filmed around its budget. The setup was there for a fun b-movie. Instead, it's just a boring, competently made disappointment.