Crawl

“They were here first.”

Filmology Rating: 2.75 out of 4

Crawl is the latest film involving an Asylum premise. It was produced by the legendary Sam Raimi and directed by Alexandre Aja. Haley (Kaya Scodelario from 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5') and her father (Barry Pepper) are trapped in a basement in Florida(?) during a hurricane and alligators are also in the basement. As the water rises, the alligators gain more access to the house. Haley and her Dad must escape.

In concept, this film sounds disastrous. However, the film itself, not too bad. What really works for this film is the ticking clock element. Haley and her father are trapped in a flooding basement accompanied by two alligators who guard the exits. Which lends itself to good tension in a self-aware kind of way.

This film does feel very calculated when it came to the characters. They both just so happen to be uneven terms. So, the film is about them mending their relationship through trauma. Haley also happens to be a professional swimmer. How convenient. However, she is presented as the underdog and you do root for her.
The film also asks for plenty of suspension of disbelief. For some reason there is a basement in a home in Florida. Characters who take damage from the alligators should be permanently disabled, but instead, just "shake it off." However, given that Sam Raimi is involved, an amount of self-awareness is recognized.

Not that the film did anything wrong, this is more of a missed opportunity than anything, but, this is the kind of film that would work better had more set-up and pay-off been present. It's set-up in 'Jaws' that the air tanks are explosive. So when Chief Brody sticks the tank in the shark's mouth and blows it up, that is satisfying. 'Crawl' just needed more scenes like that. Maybe Hakey was unable to do a certain thing in the beginning and later accomplishes it at the end. It more lend itself to more excitement during the film.

However, this film was a surprisingly well-made thriller. Given that the trailers were terrible, the film came through on many fronts.

Rating: Rent It

-Nolan