We love nothing more than a good, gooey monster movie, and from the looks of the new trailer released for Irish horror comedy "Grabbers" (a surprise hit at Sundance this year), we've got one coming our way very, very soon. Written by Kevin Lehane and directed by Jon Wright, with a cast that includes Richard Coyle, Russell Tovey, and Lalor Roddy, it centers on an idyllic seaside fishing village menaced by something altogether unnatural (and very, very squishy).
The twist, of course, and the thing that makes this a horror comedy instead of "just another monster movie," is the fact that they discover that the creatures (all whipping tentacles and oozing fangs) want to drink our blood but are allergic to high alcohol levels. Which means everyone on the island, to stay alive, has to get really stinking drunk. Some critics, when reviewing the film from Sundance earlier this year, found this aspect of the film invigorating while others felt it kept the film from being a true classic. (A fellow team member saw it more recently and liked it a lot.)
There are some obvious touchstones in the trailer, most notably Stuart Gordon's excellent but sadly under-seen "Dagon," an elegant adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's "Shadow Over Innsmouth" that plays like "Night of the Living Sea Creatures." It also reminded us of the equally underappreciated "Cherry Falls," the comedic slasher movie by "Romper Stomper" helmer Geoffrey Wright about a serial killer targeting virgins, so all the virgins in the town decide to have a huge orgy (it's great – Netflix it immediately). Overall the trailer gives off a really good vibe – "Tremors" meets "Leaving Las Vegas." Or something. And the monsters look really cool and appropriately Lovecraftian. We can't wait.
Earlier this spring it was announced that IFC Midnight, the cult arm of IFC Films, would be releasing the film in North America and Latin America later this year, probably over multiple platforms (iTunes, On Demand, etc.), even though this looks like a movie best enjoyed in the theater, surrounded by rowdy (and highly inebriated) viewers. We can definitely see this coming out before Halloween. But if you're in Ireland, it opens on August 10th. Watch below.
