Crawl

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2018 was a disappointing year for me. A lot of letdowns regarding my most anticipated movies, and not enough surprises throughout the year. 2019, on the other hand, has been quite interesting. Most blockbusters have resonated with me, and they’ve been my favorite films to watch so far (Avengers: Endgame, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Us, Glass). Additionally, original low-budget flicks have also caught my eye, and I’ve been enjoying them as well, even if they’re no masterpieces (Greta, Long Shot). Although, I had some bad experiences as well (Dark Phoenix, Hellboy, Godzilla: King of the Monsters).

Crawl, which I honestly expected just to be a cliche-filled silly horror movie, joins this last group, and it’s on par with Long Shot as the best surprise of 2019, until now. First of all, this is not a typical horror film, at least having in mind the last few examples of the genre. People might go in expecting something along the lines of Annabelle Comes Home, but with alligators, so I might as well moderate those thoughts. I wouldn’t even place it in that genre, even though disaster-horror isn’t exactly a bad description. It’s definitely a suspense movie, almost like a survival-thriller. Haley and Dave have to fight for their lives in a race against both a hurricane and fatal predators, so I wouldn’t generally put this in the horror genre. Moving on …

I love this type of films, you know that. Suspenseful, claustrophobic sequences, straightforward plot, and set in (mostly) just one location. You might think that since it’s only one place to shoot and it’s such a simple concept, it’s easier overall, but it couldn’t be more distant from the truth. With high-budget, multiple-location movies, directors and screenwriters can hide their technical flaws with tremendous VFX or huge set pieces. In one location, especially such a small one like a modest house, there’s no hiding. If you want to del...

Crawl didn't changing my life or anything, but it is far and a way the best creature feature I have seen in years. Kaya Scodelario still hasn't quite got the hang of an American accent, and the very first time we see a gator it does nooot look good, but I still am very happy with what was achieved here.

Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time.

Crawl is a medium budget creature horror film that’s more Bait than Jaws – but with the added back drop of a massive hurricane. As if our characters weren’t already in enough danger.

Is Crawl a “so bad its good” movie, or a “so bad you should avoid it” movie? Read on to find out.

Set in Florida during a category 5 hurricane, Crawl tells the story of Haley and her father Dave, played by Barry Pepper. After receiving a frantic phone call from her sister, Haley goes on the hunt to find her father who is trapped in their old house as the hurricane approaches.

Unbeknownst to Haley, the overflow drain has been breached by Alligators, and their about to make Haley’s rescue mission a whole lot more difficult.

And if the gators don’t get Haley and her dad, the rising hurricane waters will.

I don’t know much about Alligators or Hurricanes, but I do like to think I know something about logic. And that is something that is sorely lacking in most characters in this film. Even the dog.

A series of unfortunate events conspire to make the rescue almost a futile effort. And the missing logic from our characters only add to the frustration to us, as the viewer.

Where should I start? First and foremost, I want to understand why neither Haley or Dave ever tried to smash out the weak looking brick work patterns on the basement wall and then crawl out of the new hole to safety? It doesn’t look like the bricks would need much in the way of a good whack to break open – and considering there were tools in the basement, including the shovel that Dave uses later on to half-decapitate a gator, this bit makes no sense to me. Now I realise two things – 1 is that the open brick patterns serves a purpose to flood the basement – but in reality it’s the first thing anyone would think to smash open. And 2 – if they did do that, then I realise we’d have a short film. But then the writers could have had more fun for the next hour putting Haley and Dave in more incredible and hard...

Simple but entertaining enough, and quickly paced (running time around 80-minutes w/o credits), thriller that has just enough character development for me to care about their predicament. Not sure how much replay value this has but it's at least worth a rental. 3.5/5

The movie plot follows Hayle, who heads towards a storm in Florida to check on his father, who is not answering calls.

When she gets there, her father is hurt and the house is surrounded by hungry and furious alligators. To make it worse, the storm causes a flooding and all this water just makes the hunt easier for the gators.

The movie has good visual effects, but the plot armor is the most absurd one I have seen in years. Against everybody else, the gators are relentless and super-effective man-killing machines, tearing anyone in pieces before they are even able to see what is attacking them. The protagonists, however, suffer only mild scratches from gator bites that would at least result in an arm or leg being torn off.

This is so frequent and so clearly absurd and unrealistic that the movie ceases to be enjoyable after a while.

Hurricanes, alligators, and a fractured father-daughter relationship - Crawl is a fun creature flick that survives it all!

Crawl is different from my usual favorite stupid shark or alligator creature features because this is not a so-bad-it’s-good ridiculous movie. Instead, Crawl is a well-done creature survival thriller that creates high anxiety with claustrophobic environments filled with enraged starving alligators. Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper play a father and daughter trapped in a flooding basement in the middle of a hurricane that has become the new home of some hungry crocs. The serious tone and high quality of Crawl would be comparable to The Shallows making this an excellent film as much about survival and growth as the alligators looking for dinner. The effects, well-designed sets, and great performances make Crawl a top-notch creature feature.

Ok, so there are more holes in this plot than in an entire factory of Swiss cheese and it does, quite literally, level up from the basement to the roof - but I actually quite enjoyed it. Accomplished swimmer “Haley” (Kaya Scodelario) is worried about her dad (Barry Pepper) who isn’t answering his phone and there’s a hurricane coming. With the roads gridlocked, she heads off to find out what’s what at his home and next thing we know, both are trapped in his flooded out basement and there is one very hungry alligator marauding about looking for some “Haley” flavoured snacks. With the relentless rain pouring down, the winds blowing and the lightning lighting up the sky, she knows that she is going to do all of the work here as her father is injured and help isn’t coming any time soon. Fortunately, her legs seem as impervious to it’s jaws as it’s eyes appear to be to her stabbing them with a screwdriver, so we know that this adventure is going to go all the way as the waters rise, beasties get hungrier and angrier and the humans have to use all of their ingenuity to survive. Will they? Well, no I don’t suppose there is really a lot of actual jeopardy here but the photography gets up close and personal with the scaly fiend and Scodelario manages with far less hysterical shrieking than we have might have expected. It does what it says on the can, nothing more nor less and if you are looking for something claustrophobic, slightly menacing and quickly paced then this ought to fit the bill.