The Consumption

For the 10 days leading up to CIFF’s opening gala, I’ll be posting a quick write-up per day on some of my favourite movies at the fest. I’m not exactly unbiased — CIFF does give me a paycheque, after all — but these posts are my own opinions and not those of the festival.

This is the first of the movies I’ve written about here that I haven’t actually seen. I was considering avoiding that all around and sticking to ones I’ve watched and can completely vouch for — and for the big ones that I haven’t seen, well, you don’t need me to tell you that Amour, Holy Motors and Laurence Anyways are going to be amazing, right? because they will be — but Grabbers is one that I’m worried is going to slip through the cracks. Which would be a shame, because the premise is just superb. If you’re a fan of Shaun of the Dead and other creature features of that ilk, this should be pretty near the top of your list.

Weird alien brain-suckers are terrorizing a remote Irish town. They start off harmless enough, but when they get full-grown, headless corpses abound. But they have a weakness, and don’t worry, it’s nowhere near as dumb as Shyamalan’s hydrophobic invaders. From careful observation, the town’s policeman has realized that the aliens are allergic to alcohol, and won’t prey on anyone who’s blood alcohol level is high enough. That’s right: The only way to save the town is to get everyone so staggeringly blotto that it’s pretty much impossible to save the town. It all sounds pretty great, and it’s safe to say this is the only sci-fi flick I’ve heard of that’s been compared to Withnail and I. And best of all, the reviews so far all seem to mention Spielberg’s Amblin work in the ’80s, so suffice to say, my expectations are high.