Grabbers
Short description
Grabbers is set on Erin Island, a remote fishing community off the Irish coast where little of note ever happens. That changes when fishermen begin to disappear, whale carcasses wash ashore, and residents start dying under suspicious circumstances. The cause turns out to be a breed of giant, bloodsucking, tentacled creatures that have come out of the sea. Two mismatched local guards, the hard-drinking Ciarán O'Shea and his by-the-book new partner Lisa Nolan, take on the task of protecting the islanders. Their one advantage is a peculiar discovery: the aliens cannot tolerate alcohol in human blood, so staying alive means staying drunk.
Jon Wright directed the film from a screenplay by Kevin Lehane, with Martina Niland, Tracy Brimm and Piers Tempest producing. It followed Wright's debut Tormented and came before Robot Overlords and Unwelcome. Richard Coyle and Ruth Bradley lead the cast as the two guards, alongside Russell Tovey as Dr. Adam Smith, Bronagh Gallagher as Una Maher, David Pearse as Brian Maher and Lalor Roddy as Paddy Barrett.
The British-Irish production runs 94 minutes and mixes comedy with horror, mystery, science fiction and thriller elements. On TMDB it holds a rating of 6.1 out of 10 from 530 votes, suggesting a modest but real audience for a film that plays its monster-movie premise for laughs.
What's left behind the scenes
- While backpacking around the world, screenwriter Kevin Lehane was often bitten by mosquitoes, and one day he heard an urban legend that eating Marmite (a B-vitamin-rich yeast extract) would prevent mosquito bites. He wondered if mosquitoes suffered from hangovers after consuming the blood of drunk people. This thought stayed with him until he returned home, where he wrote the screenplay.
- Before filming, director Edgar Wright met with actors Richard Coyle and Ruth Bradley to get properly drunk, and then filmed them while they were intoxicated. Ruth Bradley discovered many quirks in her inebriated self, which she subsequently used for the role.
- The film was shot during the harshest winter Ireland had seen in 100 years. Unusual blizzards, storm surges, and sub-zero temperatures caused constant disruptions, creating difficult filming conditions.
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