Movie Review: The Killer Shrews

Number 16 on the Countdown to Halloween

The Killer Shrews

Movie Review by Siobahn Harris

Just another Wickedly Way back Wednesday. This time we are traveling back to 1959 to enjoy The Killer Shrews! Like always, I had my guard up because it’s an old one, but the real worry was that I would be laughing more than anything. Thankfully, that wasn’t what I did… at least not the whole time.

Breakdown:

On a small island during a hurricane, a couple of doctors are experimenting on animals. Bastards. They decided to do their work on an island so that if anything goes wrong, it wouldn’t affect anyone outside of themselves. Smart thinking considering their work resulted in giant killer shrews with poisonous saliva. Yanno, just your ordinary Tuesday. But when a boat captain and his… first mate? friend? his helper? his racially stereotypical side kick? Let’s just go with first mate, even though we all know it’s that last one. Anywhoo, when a captain and his first mate show up with supplies and a warning about a coming hurricane, things get a little crazy.

The plan was that the doctor’s daughter would sail back with the captain, to keep her safe. But when the captain explains that he will be staying on the island to wait out the storm, everyone gets a little flustered. It isn’t until later that night that they reveal what they’ve created. What’s worse is that one of the people on the island accidentally released the killer shrews.

Good news is, they hunt at night. Bad news is, there are about 300 of them on the island. More bad news is, those bitches lied, they also hunt during the day. In order to survive the island of blood thirsty shrews, they will have to team up and out smart them. However, this can be difficult when jealously arises and tempers flare.

Thoughts:

Again, I was super worried that I would be laughing through this whole movie, but I didn’t. If I’m being honest, I did laugh at a few parts, but overall, I really enjoyed it!

I think the part that actually scared me was the sounds. I did not expect the sounds they used for the shrews. You can hear it in the trailer above. Maybe it’s just because it was so quiet and then boom there was that sound, but it freaked me out. And in my defense, it scared my dog too, so you can stop judging me now!

What’s weird is that the shrews are what scared me, but they are also what made me laugh. At one point they are using a flashlight to look for one of the killer shrews and when the light pans over to the creature, it ducks from it. Huh? This crazy beast was smart enough to duck out of the way of a flashlight. Sure.

Then there was the fact that they were just dogs in costumes. I flipping loved that about it! I had to keep reminding myself that they were horrible mutant creatures that only want to kill, but my brain kept saying “PUPPY!” The only other funny part was that some of the music during intense scenes was just silly. It felt so derpy and yet they were under a big attack. Sadly, it took a lot of the fear out of those scenes.

The story was strong. I really appreciated that they explained why they couldn’t just leave the island. There was a hurricane. Being someone who is very familiar with hurricanes, I get it. It made so much sense why they wouldn’t want to be on a little boat at that time.

Also, I just want to point out that the idea to rope four metal barrels together and hide under them was genius! I was a little confused about them taking the time to do that during a massive attack but the end result was perfection.

True Fear?

This movie had its moments, but the True Fear just wasn’t there. With it being a creature feature, I don’t think any of us would take it seriously enough for it to instill True Fear. However, it’s a short and fun creature feature that I think you’ll enjoy!