HORROR BUSINESS Episode 38: Hungry Hungry…Aliens? (THE DEADLY SPAWN & GRABBERS)

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys. On this episode we’re discussing The Deadly Spawn and Grabbers. First and foremost we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thanks! We begin by talking about what horror related things we had done lately. We discuss the Netflix original film The Ritual, the recent addition to the Cloverfield franchise The Cloverfield Paradox, the recent Hellraiser film (Hellraiser: Judgment) and Day Of The Dead: Bloodline. Up first we talk about The Deadly Spawn. We discuss the low budget nature of the film and how it succeeds in spite of that low budget due to the filmmakers recognizing their limitations and wisely working within them. We talk about the special effects, the look of the monsters, the blending of nostalgia for ‘50s movies combined with some rather effective gore, and the unconventional narrative of the film in which certain characters traditionally considered safe in horror films are constantly in danger. We examine the claustrophobic nature of the movie and some of the lackluster acting that, while being technically bad, ultimately ends up being charming. The ‘stinger’ style ending, another throwback to ‘50s movies, is discussed. We conclude by talking about the movie inhabits a weird area of not quite underrated/unappreciated yet isn’t as well known as some other ‘80s monster movies are. Up next we talk about Grabbers. We begin by giving a basic plot outline of the movie. We talk about how the movie is of a unique kind of movie that was “festival ready” with a “snappy” script, and how if we had seen it at a festival we wouldn’t mind it as it is a good “filler” movie. We talk about how despite us not being crazy about the movie, it is not necessarily a bad film and is actually quite competent. We dissect the film further, picking apart the character development (or lack thereof), the reliance upon worn out character tropes, and the possibly problematic nature of a movie that relies heavily on the stereotype of Irish alcoholism. This issue with the plot is further examined when we point out and pick apart the fact that this plot development doesn’t really ultimately help the characters in the end and seems to be little more than a marketing gimmick. The possibility of the film not really doing it’s best with what it had is discussed. We talk about how the film actually succeeds in the FX department in that it has a compelling creature design and the actors convincingly interact with the CGI creatures. The formulaic nature of the movie ultimately overwhelming everything else about is discussed. The strange logic and decisions some of the characters make in order to prolong the plot all the while introducing weird imagery is discussed. As always thanks to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, Alexis, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com), and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers! Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!