So the grabber’s brother is living with him yet, he has no clue what is going on? His brother is kidnapping boys and placing them in the basement. Plus, the grabber is wearing his scary masks in the kitchen while seating in a chair and holding a belt. Surely, the brother should have noticed that at some point in time. I know he eventually figured it out but, it was a long time coming….
shareHe wasn't living with him, he was living across from him. He was, however, living where he was burning them in the crawl space. He did say he was just visiting too, while down on his luck.
share"He wasn't living with him, he was living across from him."
This is not correct. The brother was in the same house that Finn was kept in. When Finn leaves the basement you can see the board of clippings in the living room.
I agree with this, it was the same house, because all the brother had to do was to go down into the basement and see the truth. But the brother was so retarded (and seemed so to the visiting detectives) that it took him a long time to realise that the area of interest on the map that he spent so much time on was centered on the house where he lived.
The one thing that wasn't clear was the combination lock. Was it in use when the detectives came by and briefly questioned the brother? Or did the abductor just start using it again he was letting the lower door be open for Finn to "escape"?
shareThe combination lock wasn't used most of the time because Finney was already locked in his basement cell, so there was no need for it. The Grabber only used the CL on the outside door and then opened Finney's cell door when he was playing his sick little game of letting Finney try to escape, just in case the boy got past him.
But where was the brother when this was happening?? That really is a big hole.
shareI'm guessing that the Grabber sent him away on an errand, or told him to stay away until a certain time. Maybe he had that much of a hold over his weaker-minded brother, a mind he would eventually cleave in two with an ax.
They really should have made it clear though. I mean it is really really never made clear. His brother did clearly say though that he's staying with him. And being a cokehead you think he'd be awake all night long or at least most of it anyway. They just should have made it more clear that part because that really is glaring.
shareThe Grabber had two homes across the street from each other, he did the killing in his primary residence and disposed of the bodies in the crawlspace of the other home. Also, his brother Max was sort of an idiot and chemically impaired to boot.
shareThe brother was extremely eccentric and very slow to catch on. He told the visiting detectives about where he thought the Grabber might've taken the victims, but they just thought he was a kook and eliminated him from their enquiries. Later on, for some reason, the brother stares at the map he's spent so long working on, figures it out, and finds a startled Finney in the basement, but is murdered by the Grabber for his trouble, plunging Finney into despair once again.
I came here to say the exact same thing. I really really like the movie and it didn't have too many plot holes which is a plus, but, the plot hole that they do have with the brother is huge. It's like you said, does he not see his brother sitting in the kitchen with a belt and the weird mask on and not ask him why he's doing that?? And does he not notice the lock on the storm door and ask him what's up with that?? And yes the brother was most definitely staying with him. Some people here mention the house across the street. That house was empty except for what was in the basement.
shareYes, good point and I agree with you.
shareWhat didn't make sense to me???
With all these kidnappings and balloons, Finney STILL falls for the "oops I am a clutzy magician, help me"
Even worse, all those kids in the same area going missing but parents still let their kids roam free???? I realize that it was a different time, and that things were much more relaxed back then. But come on now. Several kids go missing in the same area, none were found, but you're still going to let your kids roam free without any adult supervision?? I can see not every kid having supervision but none of them?? No, not even then when something big like that was happening at the time.
shareDude's brain was half-dead from snorting all the time. You could get anything past him.
share"He's an idiot. But he was my idiot."
clearly.
While I do agree it's a bit of stretch to buy that the brother isn't catching the grabber wearing his mask sitting in the kitchen all the time, the thing that makes the whole thing a *little* more believable is that the brother doesn't come to live with him until after he gets Finn in the basement. The first scene down there the grabber has basically just got the news that his bro is coming to live with him. At least, that's what I got from it.
Grabber: "I gotta be upstairs for awhile, something's come up" ... "It's not the police"
Finn: "Someone though? Someone's coming. I'll scream. If someone's upstairs they'll hear me"
Grabber: "No he won't, not with the door shut."
Finn: "He?"
Then the grabber changes his mood a bit because Finn's "he" is accurate and referring to his brother.
"I'll scratch your face, and whoever's coming will see and ask why"