Matisse van Rossum’s review published on Letterboxd:
I'm not gonna lie, when I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch and saw Grabbers, I thought it was one of those Asylum-esque terrible horror movies with the worst CGI in the world and actors they picked up off the streets or out of their dying careers (*cough cough Tara Reid cough cough Carmen Electra cough cough*). But I was in the mood to watch something terrible and potentially hilarious, so I decided to give it a shot. But I was completely mistaken.
Despite its B-movie packaging and title, Grabbers is a surprisingly well done Irish horror comedy about tentacled aliens who invade an island off the coast of Ireland, drinking the blood of its inhabitants, and the only way to defeat them is by getting drunk because they can't tolerate high blood alcohol content. This is a premise that off the bat seems silly and far fetched, but is actually pulled off quite skillfully. It doesn't rely on cheap thrills or unnecessary bloody deaths to keep the audience entertained. Rather, it uses a group of surprisingly well developed, relatively non-cliched characters to drive the story forward. The one overarching cliche is that of the drunk Irish, but rather than just being a simple jab, it's a major plot device which is treated creatively rather than stereotypically.
The cast is quite strong for the most part, delivering convincing, funny, occasionally heartwarming performances. Richard Coyle and Ruth Bradley give particularly good performances, and Ruth Bradley is quite lovely to look at as well. There's no blatantly terrible acting in Grabbers, which is actually a nice relief. It's well shot, it's well written, and ultimately its well executed. The CGI is remarkably well done, which is certainly refreshing when it comes to movies like that. But in this case it's thanks to the 4,000,000 pound budget Grabbers had.
So I went in expecting something of Sharknado caliber and came out surprised and pleased with what I had just watched. Grabbers is a clever, witty little film that doesn't outstay its welcome and and provides a solid 90 minutes of entertainment. It doesn't try to be anything extraordinary, but it definitely accomplishes what it sets out to do. Relatively untested director Jon Wright shows that he knows how to handle a film and I'm looking forward to viewing his future efforts.