"“Thanks to a good cast and a witty script this is a winner...”"

Jon Wright's Grabbers is a film whereby our protagonists are vying for survival following an alien attack on a coastal village, and they can only avoid being killed if completely and utterly smashed. Somewhat unsurprisingly, this good-natured picture hails from Ireland.

Set on an island off the coast of Ireland, local law enforcers Ciarán O'Shea (Richard Coyle) and newcomer Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley) have quite the task on their hands, when an alien invasion sweeps across their small village. Having wiped out a few unsuspecting fishermen, these creatures, that are as baffling to local residents as they are to specialist Dr. Adam Smith (Russell Tovey), are affectionately named as Grabbers, as they attach themselves to their victims faces before killing them. However, when local alcoholic Paddy (Lalor Roddy) survives a vicious attack, they soon realise that the only way to defeat these creatures is to be drunk, as the alcohol in the blood is poisonous to their attackers. So, off to the local pub they go...

Grabbers has a traditional feel to it, as a horror movie that bears a predictable romantic sub plot, and you can always tell exactly who is going to die next, as influences from other films – like Tremors, for example – are rife within this production. However although paying homage to such films, Wright ensures he doesn't simply copy them, as he has his own unique narrative that allows for this to stand apart. The setting is somewhat unique too, and also works well as a hauntingly tranquil environment, while also looking beautiful up on the big screen. Never mind the aliens, the Irish coast looks lovely. Though it's no Craggy Island.

Grabbers also benefits from having quite impressive special effects – as it attempts to actually be taken seriously as a proper horror movie, rather than play up on the fact it's low budget and thus deliberately have poor quality effects and go for that B-movie appeal. But where Grabbers excels most significantly, is that it has a well-written, witty script, full of the Irish charm that allows actors to pull off one liners that may not have otherwise been funny had they not been said in an Irish accent. Words such as “feck” and “gobshite” just sound comical when delivered well, and that's where much of the humour derives from.

The performances are mostly by-the-by, but it's always pleasing to see Coyle take on a lead role in a good movie, following on from doing much of the same thing in Pusher. The talented performer does a fine job portraying Ciarán, an alcoholic hoping to turn his life around following the death of his wife. However despite that small (and somewhat superfluous) plot line, Grabbers suffers from being devoid of any emotion. We simply don't care much for our protagonists, and whether they survive or not means very little, while the rather obvious romance pending between Ciarán and Lisa has little conviction within it. Wright could be excused in a sense that Grabbers isn't attempting to be poignant or romantic, and emotional involvement is not a necessity to a horror movie (this is just good fun, after all) but in any case when you watch a movie, caring about the lead roles always helps you connect more with the feature.

Grabbers is a film that could very much have gone either way, as with a rather preposterous story this could so easily be nonsensical garbage, yet instead thanks to a good cast and a witty script this is a winner. Now I'm looking forward to Grabbers 2: The Hangover. I wonder if these aliens are allergic to aspirin too?