Crawl (2019)
Film Review
By the Geezer of Oz
“A young woman, while attempting to save her father during a category 5 hurricane, finds herself trapped in a flooding house and must fight for her life against alligators.” [IMDb]
The new release from Alexandre Aja (Horns, Piranha 3D, Mirrors, Hills Have Eyes 2006, Haute Tension) is a surprisingly effective action-horror-thriller. Although it bares some similarity to various recent horror flicks in the same vein as Bait (2012) and The Shallows, it manages to stand on its own and entertain pretty well throughout.
Kaya Scodelario stars as Haley and does a fine job remaining believable and relatable throughout. Barry Pepper also holds his own as her father, Dave. The rest of the cast are pretty much in the background as this is largely a two-person show. This is a testament to the great job Scodelario and Pepper do, as they hold the film pretty much on their own.
Having only two actors carry the film must have helped keep the budget down, which at a reported US$13.5 million [boxofficemojo.com] is quite modest by Hollywood standards, though I would have thought it could have been made for less. So, unless the bulk of that budget went towards padding some producer pockets, I assume most of it went into special effects, which are above reasonable. The gators, for the most part, seem fairly realistic or at least do the job of not distracting us from the story. In some parts they are quite horrifying, while in others less so. The film went on to make over US$87M in worldwide box-office, so it’s safe to say we might get a sequel in some form.
The overall viewing experience is exactly what you’d expect of a good horror-thriller. It start off setting the scene, getting us to know our main characters and making us care enough to fear for their safety, then it kicks into gear and keeps the action and suspense going pretty much to the end. Again, although not terribly original, it is quite effective and probably better than most films of this style.
The special and practical effects are, while not amazing, above average and the cinematography is decent. Not much to fault in this one and I’d go as far as recommending it to general horror fans and fans of monster/creature-features. Most will not be disappointed.
Lacks some originality, though solidly executed. Better than expected. 7/10.
