User reviews

In Florida, competitive swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario) returns home to search for her estranged father (Barry Pepper) in the path of a hurricane. She finds him in his basement trapped by alligators. This thriller is predicated on stupid Florida people doing stupid things. It's a horror where the people will always go down into the basement. If there is a basement within the basement, the people will go down there. The people will keep going down basements until they reach China. It needs to alleviate this by subtracting some of the danger. It's an unusual move for the genre but danger is not dangerous when the characters simply walk straight into it. When she searches for her father, the storm should be a further 24 hours away. They could be trapped for longer so that she wouldn't be so outrageously stupid. Also, the message should be a 911 text from her father rather than a whatever conversation with her sister. The deputy should not be so stupid as to be walking in the storm water to investigate a swing. As for thieves, those can be ridiculously stupid. Over and over again, the characters are doing stupid things and it would be more thrilling if they be less stupid. Otherwise, this would be a solid horror.

As a bit of summer fun, "Crawl" is a real B-movie... but with a decent premise at its heart.

But who came up with that title? It's been out for a few weeks before I got to see it last night. But for that whole period I have been cheerfully mis-calling it "Chomp!". This is a far more satisfactory title. Ladybirds crawl! Beetles crawl! Alligators chomp!

For this is a tale of those creepy, ice-cold reptiles. Haley (Kaya Scodelario) - usefully a leading college-swimmer - is called by her older sister Beth (Morfydd Clark) concerned that she's been unable to reach her Dad (Barry Pepper). He lives in the Florida Everglades and a category 5 hurricane is moving in. Haley goes against the tide of evacuees to reach her old family home looking for her Dad and his dog (mangy cute canine alert).... but finds more than just him there!

With nature advancing in multiple forms, will the father, daughter and dog all weather the storm?

There's a nice idea at the heart of this film. In the same way that sharks creep a lot of people out with their unblinking cold eyes - making "Jaws" such a hit - so lots of people - me included - get freaked out by alligators. If you've been to the Everglades, as I have, there is something totally unnerving about the size and (normal) stillness of these monsters from a prehistoric age. A "Jaws with 'gators" had the potential to be a fun summer hit.

It's also a good move for the scriptwriters (Michael and Shawn Rasmussen) to put the action in the heart of a hurricane. How else could you strand two people in the middle of a civilised area? (You imagine the writers going through the same mental exercise as the army geeks in "Close Encounters"). But it's the most inconsistent Cat 5 in meteorological history. I've heard people tell of riding out a big storm at home: that they can't hear each other speak, and that's within the four walls of the house. Here (in an obviously studio-dressed set) the storm barely registers for 60% of the running time: there are moments when you could hear a pin drop! And although the "fan machine rental" store next to the studio lot must have been empty, even in the external scenes I've seen stronger winds on Bournemouth sea front.

Once we get into the basement of the house, things get pleasantly claustrophobic, keeping (at least initially) the tension high.

What exactly is the deal with these gators? WIth the T-rex in "Jurassic Park", the deal was pretty clearly spelled out and stuck to: they could only see movement, so stay still and you'd be OK. In this flick, the rules of engagement are far from clear. There is a speech by Dave about them being able to see you, even in the dark... but I was never clear whether they could see you, still or otherwise, and whether they responded to noise or not. And the rules seem to be flexible throughout the film: at one point the duo stay stock still as 'gators swim right past them; in others they stay still (and OUT of the water) yet the gators suddenly launch up at them. Make your mind up!

Unfortunately, while the story has potential, the dialogue is truly awful. You know you're in trouble when the lead actress is explaining the backstory aloud to a dog! "Jaws" has a brilliant and personal back-story of a misunderstood sheriff battling the greed of local businessmen against common-sense. Here, the writers clearly feel the need to add some family-based angst into the story, but the lines between Haley and dad Dave are SHOCKINGLY bad. And they are spouted at the most inappropriate points in the action! It's actually laughable, and not in a good way. At times I literally had my head in my hands.

As a B-movie with a limited budget, the cast is small and made up largely of unknowns. Barry Pepper (sniper Private Jackson in "Saving Private Ryan") is the best-known name of the cast. Unfortunately, having to emote the lines he's contracted to say in this movie doesn't help his CV.

Kaya Scodelario - who was in the "Maze Runner" films and was the love interest in the last "Pirates of the Caribbean" flick - suffers the same fate but fares slightly better. She strikes a good action heroine pose, and is one of the better things in the film.

Directed by Alexandre Aja ("Piranha 3D") this is a sub-90 minute film that at least doesn't outstay its welcome. It's been a decent summer hit for the studios (at the time of writing it has made $75 million on a meagre $13 budget).

It's certainly not for the faint-hearted in its gore. It delivers a lot of chomping, with the action getting progressively more ludicrous, reminiscent of the "flesh-wound" scene in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"!. Some jump scares work well. But I can' t say its a great film, because it's really not. In the hands of a Spielberg, this might have really had legs (...to chomp on, LoL). It's CERTAINLY no "Jaws". It's not even a "Deep Blue Sea". But it's mildly entertaining nonetheless.

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It's a so-so action monster monster movie with a creepy creation of tension, thriller , terror and lots of bloody attacks. Thrilling but run-of-the-mill crocodrile movie with the ordinary underwater bloody attacks . When a massive hurricane hits her Florida hometown, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father (Barry Pepper) . Finding him gravely injured in the crawl space of their family home, the two become trapped by quickly encroaching floodwaters. As time runs out to escape the strengthening storm, Haley and her father discover that the rising water level is the least of their fears. They're repeatedly attacked by a monstrous alligators . With the house sinking into the water and the alligators hunting them, they must now face terrible enemies and find a way to get their safety and stay alive. They Were Here First Danger! Alligators are common in this area. They can be dangerous. They have been known to stalk prey. Nature bites back !. They will hunt you If the storm doesn't get you... they will. Swim Like Hell. Watch Your Back

There are vicious carnivorous animals causing bloody events and wreaking havoc with lots of gory scenes. Thrilling film in which 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, but things go horribly wrong when both of whom face off the large reptiles, so the stormy gale releaes the deadliest predators that have ever roamed the keys of Florida. It results to be the ordinary and already seen film about sea monsters attacking here and there. You already know that this movie is about alligators from Florida swamps and terrorizing a family. A passable and disconcerting thrill ride that takes the action to higher heights and even greater depths with hungry crocs and so much more. The released enormous alligators deliver the goods, as father and daughter become the next meal, and the two together and fight to stop themselves from becoming food. Here our heroine and her father pitted against giant alligators, as the protagonists must outrun, outsmart, and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time. Starring only Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper, both of whom give appropriate interpretations; along with other actors providing brief appearances unworthy of detail.

Containing a colorful and adequate cinematography by cameraman Maxime Alexandre, Alexandre Aja's regular. As well as suspenseful and intriguing musical by composers Max Aruj and Steffen Thum. The motion picture was professionally directed by Alexandre Aja, but with no originality because we have already seen the events that happen in many other films and much better. Alexandre Aja is son of director Alexandre Arcady and belongs to a new wave of filmmakers making brutally violent horror films that include the following ones : Neil Marshall, Greg McLean, Rob Zombie Darren Lynn Bousman, Eli Roth, James Wan and Leigh Whannell , who are nicknamed the Splat Pack . This French filmmaker is a good artisan who has made some nice and successful terror movies , as in France as in the US , such as : ¨The Hills have Eyes¨ , ¨Mirrors¨, ¨Furia¨, ¨Horns¨ , ¨Piranaha 3D¨, ¨The 9th life of Louis Drax¨, ¨Crawl¨ , among others. Rating : 5.5/10 . A passable and decent film, but nothing special, neither notable; being aimed for the fans of thrillers starring attacking monsters and disaster genre enthusiasts.

What could've been a good disaster movie to at least a cheesy but decent creature feature is thrown into the soileds hamper by constant insults to intelligence. From the beginning it's plainly obvious that the 2 characters don't want to be saved, and their boneheaded decisions throughout reassure that time after time. At one point the dad and daughter discuss the unspoken trauma that broke their family apart. The reason for the parent's divorce? The mom was upset the dad was spending too much time with the daughter and her swimming ambitions. That's right, folks, being a good parent can destroy your marriage. Add to that the impossibility of shrugging off multiple gator attacks/wounds without any physical hindrances and you have the perfect storm of garbage on a stick. It does have some nice, albeit expected, jump scares, though. Save for a free Redbox rental.

I can't believe how the producer missed to pour some water on the girl's sweater while she's running in the storm !! So stupid, also i never hear a crocodile krrrrrr like a dinosaur!!

Someone said it's a mix between Into The Storm and Lake Placid. That's pretty much it. Before the film it's explained on the screen, even before the commercials, that this film was based on true events in 2018. That's probably where the reality ended. The film starts with stiff acting and a cameraman who seems to have to find the right angle. But suspense starts and you just wonder where this is going. As long as we stay in the basement, this is actually a pretty solid movie. CGI-wise it could be better, but it's by far no Sharknado, it's much better than that and you keep wondering, where do these people get the strength to go on. But then shit hits the fan outside of the house. Slapstick, over the top, totally unbelievable and, in my opinion, completely useless in the whole movie, except for the laughs, because boy, did I laugh out loud watching some of this. Then, all logic goes out of the window. When you think 'This can't be topped', it will be topped, when you think, 'Don't do this'. they will do it, and yes, some of you might want to look away for moments like that. Some things stay unexplained, but by that time, you won't really care, because then you think: how can the waterlevel outside of the house be higher when there's the house is not a closed environment and there are holes everywhere. And yes, alligators keep hunting when there's a hurricane and violent floods. You have to hand it to them, they keep trying!! So, 5 stars, because it's so over the top, it's rediculous. 5 stars, because it's so much better than all the crap we've seen over the past years and the first half of the movie is pretty solid. Then 5 stars for comic relief. Damn, did I have fun, but damn, did I shake my head at all the action. I am curious to see who will give this higher than 6 stars and to what movies people would compare this to. because after all, this can't be better than the true classics we've seen in the past. This could have been the alligator version of Jaws. (That's why I think they opted for 'Crawl' as a title.) but the moment the animals stop at the gasstation, is when the creators missed their turn on the highway and went down south. Good popcorn flick, but don't take this serious at all.

I saw this movie for basically free at the theater, decent cinematography, but it was like placing a big ticket actress in a "B" film. Not much more to say, it's exactly what you'd expect.

This movie was just okay!!! It's not worthy of a 10 rating. Don't believe the hype! It's a movie that you could wait to see when it comes out on dvd.

I live in FL, there are no such things as basements, the water level is too high. Very few homes have a second level too. Cat 5 Hurricane winds would have ripped the roof off of the bungalow home. Corny dialogue. Glad the dog survived.

Started out with some promise, but the ridiculousness was so over the top that I was enjoying laughing at it quite a bit. For this reason I gave it a 5-- it was fun. The young protagonist does as well as she can with the thin script and cringe dialogue. The storm, well, as for that, it has high water but certainly lacks the rest of a direct hit from a cat 5 hurricane. It sounded nothing like even a low category 1 hurricane, and the rain and wind made it look like perhaps an at-times severe thunderstorm. It seemed like the only time the wind was loud was when people were trying to yell out to someone else. Sure, maybe they didn't have the effects budget to make it look any more imposing, and that's fine. BUT the sound of the wind was awful. It should sound like it is a howling, almost living beast trying to get in and get you. The interior and crawl space scenes made me think they forgot there was supposed to be a storm. Adequate wind sounds couldn't have been much more expensive, if at all.

Jaws in a basement of a house is a description that will flatter this movie as it is nowhere near Jaws. The reason Jaws is a masterpiece is because it's a great movie without the shark scenes in it. Character development, great dialogue, side stories and formidable acting. This movie has none of that. In Crawl you barely know who the characters are so you don't really care for them. The movie is set in a basement which seems huge for the size of the house above it. The characters have no development so you dont really care for them and the dialogue is bare. There is plenty of water in this movie, ironically the movie has no depth. Just alligators popping up and attacking one after the other. Great CGI and a fast paced story it does have, but little else. With a little more time taken it could have been really good, instead it's just doesnt succeed what it wants to achieve.

Directed by Alexandre Aja. Starring Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Jose Palma, Morfydd Clark. (R)

Florida swimmer Scodelario and her injured father (Pepper) are trapped in a crawl space as a hurricane bears down on them, terrorized by a congregation of alligators--that's what a group of alligators is called, which is probably more research than the filmmakers did when it came to the toothy reptiles, but what should be expected? After all, director Aja previously made piranhas do things that piranhas don't do ("Piranha 3D"), mutant cannibals do things that mutant cannibals don't do ("The Hills Have Eyes"), and mirrors do things that mirrors don't do ("Mirrors"). The performers do valiant work even while devoting most of their dialogue to unpacking family baggage and being soaking wet throughout filming; the attack scenes are a little closer to silly than scary, but kinda fun when not overly preposterous (and a lot of fun when very preposterous). The CGI, however, is so much moist rubber that it's genuinely surprising that Arnold Schwarzenegger never shows up to make luggage out of them. Similarly, the script is so corny, it's genuinely surprising that when the heroine gets her hands on a two-way radio, the voice on the other end doesn't belong to one of the gators (what a sly prankster!). Blessed by brevity and limited ambitions.

54/100

Crawl is surprisingly a decent monster movie. Here are the negatives. The visual effects suck. The alligators look like they came out of a Playstation 2 game and it is kinda distracting. Barry Pepper's acting was really inconsistent. At the beginning of the film, he wasn't trying at all and his acting was pretty bad but as the film progressed, it did get better. Towards the end of the film, some of the action scenes start to get repetitive. The main character will get out of a fight with an alligator into another fight with an alligator. Another issue would be that some of the characters kinda walk off major injuries. One of the characters has a broken leg but seems to walk it off later on. My main issue is that the characters make some pretty dumb decisions. They are multiple moments where the characters could make an escape but they don't. One such scene is when one of the characters finds a shovel and instead of using it to knock out a weak wall, they decide to attract the attention of the alligators. That problem does take away from the experience of the film a little bit. Here are the positives. Kaya Scodelario does a great job as the main character. You feel for her and what she is trying to do, which is save her Dad. She does a great job at finding different and creative ways to fight off the alligators. The production design for this film is really good. The sets are pretty cool. The basement set makes you feel claustrophobic while the water fills in. The film knows how to build tension really well. The film always present this sense of danger throughout the entire scene until the last act. The beginning scene with the gators is incredibly tense. They set up the fact that the gator is in the basement and you just have to wait till they reveal it to the characters. The film is incredibly gory also. You do see people's bones sticking out of their body and you do see a gator rip a guys head off and it's incredibly intense to watch. They also make the smart decision to not use music in these tense scenes so that it feels real. The soundtrack is generic but it does have a couple good scores in there. The cinematography is decent for what the film is going for and the tone and pacing are consistent. Overall, Crawl is a decent monster movie with a good protagonist and some great set design but is held back by dumb decisions and crappy visual effects. I give Crawl a 5/10.

This is a film about alligators, very predictable, but still good in parts with some jump scares. The plot is very thin and you just need to disengage your brain before watching and ignore the lack of realism. It is not the 80s b-movie, Alligator if that is what you are looking for.

1. Commendable production quality and set pieces, extreme tension and fear, overall a memorable natural horror film that is enjoyable. Even with the shorter runtime, the pacing felt really slow and movie seems too long.

2. Commendable production quality and set pieces, extreme tension and fear, overall a memorable natural horror film that is enjoyable. Even with the shorter runtime, the pacing felt really slow and movie seems too long.

3. Commendable production quality and set pieces, extreme tension and fear, overall a memorable natural horror film that is enjoyable. Even with the shorter runtime, the pacing felt really slow and movie seems too long.