Crawl(2019)
Hello all it’s been awhile since my last post , but I knew I had to write about this 2019 creature feature Crawl directed by Alexandra Aja and produced by Sam Raimi.
As a fan of creature features i found myself really excited to see this one because it got me to thinking that it’s been a long time since we had a alligator creature feature, Rogue from 2007 is the last one that I can think of, maybe it’s just the Florida man in me that really likes Alligator movies.
The movie is very simple in scope and has a very old school horror feel too it as we go on this crazy journey for survival with Haley(Kaya Scodelario) and her father Dave(Barry Pepper) as they not only have to survive an Category 5 Hurricane that’s fast approach northern Florida but they really have to survive some unwanted house guest of Alligator who have been forced inside their family home because of the Hurricane.
One of the strongest aspects of the film is that of the relationship between Haley and Dave who at the start of the film aren’t really on great terms and thanks to flashback and a few conversations with them we get a understanding of why things aren’t so good with these two mainly from Haley’s side where she doesn’t feel she is the swimming Apex predator champion that her once coach father sees in her and the broken family aspect because Dave and his wife(who is never seen or named) some years back marriage fell apart.
This relationship is one of the biggest things about this movie and the performances from Scodelario and Pepper are very solid that you find yourself rooting for these people to survive both extreme situations.
Kaya Scodelario is an actress I’m not too familiar with but she is very good here as Haley especially when things get really bad and she does a lot of the heavy lifting literally in a few scenes when she has to carry Barry Pepper to safety a few times.
Speaking of veteran actor Barry Pepper, I’ve been a fan of his for a long time now, he’s always been one of those solid character actors that either plays a good guy or a very good bad guy, but here seeming him as the father for me is one of his best performances because he brings something special to a character that seems like you shouldn't like and probably was written as unlikable but Pepper makes him likable especially in the scenes where he helps Haley get her confidence back when she doesn’t feel she can be that Apex Predator that he knows she is.
Also he goes through the worst when he is attacked a few times though out the movie.
As I mentioned before this movie has a very old school horror feel thanks in large to Aja and Raimi who come from that old school horror school of film making, which helps build up the tension very well in this film, the pacing is good, and the alligator attack scenes are very well done and don’t come across as cheesy or forced scares.
Even if you aren’t a horror fan but enjoy tense thrilling films, Crawl is a must watch for sure.
My Rating
3.5/5
