After status-obsessed teen Sara has sex for the first time, she wakes up the next day nine months pregnant-with an alien.
“Snatchers” follows a high school girl named Sara (Mary Nepi), who was once a nerd, but now is part of the popular clique. She loses her virginity to a cute guy named Skylar (Austin Fryberger) and the next day ends up nine months pregnant with an alien.
I actually haven’t watched many B horror movies, the only ones that come to mind are 1956’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” or “Sharknado” (if you even count that as horror). So, “Snatchers” serves as my introduction to the campier horror films, and while I can say I was entertained, I’m not quite sure if the genre is for me.
Firstly, I was not a fan of the teen drama. Sara, her friends, and her boyfriend are all incredibly shallow. Sara constantly ignores her mother, is preoccupied with keeping her newfound popularity, and doesn’t want to chase away Skylar with her pregnancy. And while Sara is definitely put in a strange situation, I believe she doesn’t freak out enough. She’s more concerned with hiding her pregnancy from everyone rather than getting to the bottom of why she’s magically nine months pregnant in the first place. It’s not until she goes to her once-best friend, Hayley (Gabrielle Elyse) for help, that the true Sara starts to shine and becomes more likable.
Of course, there are plenty of teen horror tropes that are popular in horror films, but “Snatchers” doesn’t really use those. Instead, they utilize typical high school character stereotypes like the mean, popular girl who tries to sabotage her friend, the dumb and horny boyfriend, and the awkward, outcasted girl who isn’t invited to any parties. With that, the dialogue in this film could be atrocious sometimes, with slang words like “cray” being used repeatedly. It’s clear that the writers of the film had no clue how real high schoolers talk, but they also could’ve written the dialogue in this way to highlight the utter absurdity of the film.
The chemistry between Nepi and Elyse is lively and vibrant. They felt like real-life best friends but they were the only characters that I liked in the film, the other ones were one-dimensional or useless.
The element that I enjoyed the most from this film was the monster movie feel. Not to mention that a bulk of the comedy goes hand-in-hand with the monster movie feel since the comedy mostly comes from the birthed alien who kills everyone in sight. I must also mention that the alien effects were very well done since the filmmakers opted to go for practical effects rather than CGI.So, as I said before, I was ultimately entertained by the movie. However, I will gladly skip faux teen drama any day of the week. The real enjoyment of “Snatchers” comes from the absurd and bloody monster comedy. If you’re don’t mind cheesy teen drama and you’re a fan of camp or B horror films, then I would say give “Snatchers” a shot.
Now available on Digital HD and on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD February 18th
