Before I begin, I'll like to give a shout-out to @teknon. I had come across this movie sometime ago on my TV screen and was intrigued by it. But living in a country like mine, where power outage is a norm, it was halfway into airing before I began watching and I wasn't still given the opportunity to finish it. I didn't even get the chance to grasp the title. It was not until I came across an amazing review by her on this movie that my fascination was rekindled. And this time, I downloaded the movie and was happy this was my select choice of film after a long break from the cinema world.
Crawl is a 1hr 37mins movie directed by Alexandre Aja and produced by Sam Raimi. The horror movie stars Kaya Scodelario as Haley and Barry Pepper as Dave.
The film follows Haley, a swimmer. When she hears from her sister about a storm making its way to Florida, she decides to go check up on her father, Dave. She gets to their old family home and with the help of the family dog, she is led to the crawl space of the house and finds her father unconscious there. On her way to getting him out, their passage is blocked by alligators. Leaving her trapped in the crawl space with her unconscious father. Will they come out of it unscathed or will they surrender and get devoured by these predators?
I really really liked this movie. There's nothing like a horror movie with a simple and very realistic plotline. The movie centered on Haley and her dad surviving and it was just that. Haley and Dave fighting these alligators, getting injured in the process and getting trapped more and more in the crawl space. And in the midst of their struggles for survival, the movie showed the beauty in Haley and Dave's estranged relationship. They both were very alike in so many ways but their alikeness in being stubborn did more harm than good to their relationship.
I liked Haley as a character too. She was strong minded and determined. Being a swimmer, she had encountered difficulties and failures but with it, she was determined and kept trying. Before the storm, we were shown that she had encountered difficulties in swimming but her determination didn't waver. Having a dad who believed in her even when she didn't believe in herself was beautiful to watch as well. Shame on those alligators. A human outswam them😂
I don't know if it's because it's been a while since I watched a movie with severe jumpscares or I was too unprepared for a scene like that but the jump scares in this movie were jump scaring. I wasn't really expecting the way the first alligator in all it's majestic beauty, graced us (the viewers) with his presence and before I could control my surprise, a scream had been let out. This movie is the kind that even if you made up your mind not to let all your guards down, it'll still find a way to break through those barriers and have your tough heart skipping a beat. It wasn't really a suspenseful movie but it had quite a number of unexpected scenes.
Although I'm not that much a fan of fast-paced movies, I enjoyed this one. This movie has the ability to have you glued to your seat while watching it. A straight to the point movie without any unnecessary scenes and plot twists. I loved it.
As for rating, I'll give it a solid 8/10. It's a nice movie suitable for all horror movie lovers and all those looking to get into the genre. It's a perfect blend of horror and suspense without the usual gore associated with movies of it's kind. I definitely recommend it to all movie lovers.
Thanks for reading.