Crawl

This was so very slow progressing. I had to turn the movie off after 30mins. I couldn't watch another 50mins of something that was moving so very slow. At the 30min mark, I still had no idea what was going on. Usually an event has happened that leads I to the story line of the movie within the first 10-15 mins but not this one.

If you read the online comments on various internet message boards, you'll see phrases like 'a thinking man's horror film' and 'highly atmospheric.' Then, when people - sadly, like me - who simply describe the film as 'boring,' we get criticised for 'only liking the lowest form of film' and 'not appreciating it.' It's about a seedy bar-owner who hires a mysterious hit-man to do away with an out-of-favour colleague. However, things go wrong and the hit-man ends up stalking a hapless (and overly-perfect, in my opinion) barmaid who works at the bar.

I'm afraid, for all the high-brow talk about Crawl, I just found it dull. There are long periods where there's no talking. And, in an attempt to 'create tension,' the same three chords are played endlessly on a cello. These scenes repeat at various intervals all the way through the film and you're just as well fast forwarding them and watching the speeded-up version (as you'll see what's happening at a fraction of the screen-time).

I don't just watch Michael Bay films and movies filled with endless car chases. I do watch other movies where I also have to (occasionally) use my head to figure things out. However, I just couldn't help but get bored with this.

Obviously, judging by the amount of positive praise there is out there for this film, then it has found an audience out there somewhere - I'm just one of those philistines who didn't appreciate it. Sorry! On the plus side, it's short!

This one definitely had scary elements to it but by the end of the movie, I had this weird feeling of being mislead. The whole movie has a very dark comedy feel to it, but it mostly leaves you feeling confused and a little bored. I never really felt the urge to laugh, but I was aware that some stuff was meant to be funny, it just wasn't enough for me to actually laugh. It's still worth watching because there are some definite creepy situations but overall, nothing new that you probably haven't already seen.

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The story is great, the actors are great but it is slow paced. The dialogue was very little. It would be more interesting if they added a bit more to the story. The killing over the dept could be more developed to justify the employment of the Croatian. But later we find out why. A bit flimsy in that area.

The photography & the music draw you as what will happen next. The Croatian was very creepy, great acting. However, again if the three main actors had more screen time, elaborating more on their parts would enhance the story.

The choice of the color of the jag, chocolate, adds to the creepy flavor of the Croatian. The chasing of Georgina round the house can be longer. I think the china brothers have a good vision & I am sure it will be greater in future films.

One of the dullest so-called thrillers I've seen in a long time, CRAWL has aspirations to be the next classic Aussie movie. The only good thing I can say about it is that director Paul China clearly knows his movies, but there's being inspired by and ripping off, and CRAWL falls into the latter category. In various press releases, China and his brother are described as the new Coen Brothers, but CRAWL is more like a Coen Brothers rip-off.

The opening scene is about the most memorable bit in it and even that rips off NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN like nobody's business. After this point we're in BLOOD SIMPLE territory, with a slow-burning plot involving a small cast who come together on one fateful night. Bloodshed ensues, but everything is dragged out to an endless degree so it becomes a chore to sit through. There's no artistry here, no suspense or gripping moments, just a film that eventually becomes silly because it's so po-faced.

It doesn't help that the script fails to breathe life into the various uninteresting characters, or that the cast members are singularly unmemorable. But by far the worst thing about this is the director himself, who has no idea of how to make a thriller work. I think even I, with zero training in film-making, could have done a better job.