Synopsis
A father and daughter get trapped in their basement with an alligator during a hurricane.
Review
This was Cineworld's 12th Secret Screening and I hadn't been this happy in a very long time... oh wait, until I left the screening and saw my name listed as the "Guess the Movie" winner! I thought my guess was an outside chance but it was my choice mainly because of my deep desire to see it as soon as humanly possible.
Haley's father isn't picking up his phone and there's a hurricane heading straight for him. After prompting from her sister, Haley drives down to Florida to check that he's okay. She arrives at his condo to find his dog home alone and family memories strewn across the bed. The storm is getting worse but there's just one more place to check. Haley and Sugar the dog drive over to the family's old house, there's his car, his phone is on the counter, tool bag by the sink and somewhere a radio is playing... but there's still no sign of him. Haley and Sugar search the house and eventually find the open basement doors, crawling under the house she searches in the darkness... what was that sound?
I have watched a lot of creature features in my time, most of which were made for TV. Those ones are great but tend to have a bit of a fantasised side to them, I loved that Crawl actually presented you with a plausible explanation for its predicament. (No houses on hilltops flooding... I'm looking at you Sharknado!) Sure there are moments that make you pause for thought, but nothing that distracts you from what's going on in the film.
It was a risky move having so few characters, but then it was very close quarters for the most part. I would have loved more gator bait but it really worked as it was. There were just a handful of peripheral speaking roles but I thought they did a great job. My favourite/s were the trio in the gas station, particularly the one inside (although he may not have actually spoken, I can't remember), he really made me chuckle.
Kaya Scodelario as Haley had plenty of moments to bring us some scares and she took every one of them. She's also set up for a lot of predictable moments that at their climax go "Aaaaaahhhhh... we got you!" I loved that they know what you're waiting for and tease you with it.
I was so impressed with Barry Pepper. I'd have said I'd seen him in a lot of things but his filmography is mainly a mystery to me. His character is full of ingenious ideas that are both successful and horrendously unlucky throughout the film, but he's not one to give up. He shows this throughout even though he might be one of the unluckiest characters in the film.
The story of the two of them is perfect, it's not so bulky that it takes over what's happening in the present but it's enough to will you to a successful ending for them. We're introduced to the fact that Haley is a swimmer and that that's where their bond is from the very opening of the film, and while I enjoyed that it does bring about the one thing in the whole film I will quibble about. The very first scene with the opening titles is at a swim meet that does run a little long, but saying that, I really liked the satisfying pool effect with the film title.
I could quite happily have sat through more of Crawl, it flowed really well and the action kept you on the edge of your seat. There could have been more carnage, I wouldn't have been against that, but I liked how they managed to "tone it down" by obscuring it with water and changing the camera shot mid-scene. That was particularly effective during the gas station scene.
Crawl had the potential to be a very dark film visually being that most of it happened in the crawl space and stormy water. The set of underneath the house was thought out so well that you barely notice, and with just enough light from the brickwork and flashlight it allowed for some amazing reveals as the film unfolded.
Someone mentioned to me that they didn't like the fact that the shots set up what was going to happen and that it ruined the scenes for them... wow... this to me is peak creature feature gold! The anticipation of that moment, the "Oh my god, something's going to pop out" wide-eyed intrigue. That's what I love because the pay off is just so entertaining and you get satisfaction no matter what happens in those moments. Like I mentioned earlier, the filmmakers might not give you what you expect and that leaves you thinking "oh, well played" or they give you exactly what you want and you get to feel that joy of knowing you predicted what was going to happen. That's top-notch creature feature joy right there.
I haven't really mentioned the alligators at all yet. Something I always expect, after years of watching TV disaster and creature movies, is that the effects are going to be dubious, that the subject of the effects is going to look animated. To see such good graphics in this sort of film was wonderful. I feel like I'm a connoisseur when it comes to this stuff, and as an "expert" in the field I'm going to say that the effects were brilliant. The fact that on a budget of $13,500,000 (estimate on IMDb) you can make something this good astounds me. I can only wonder if it's actually all real and they just trained gators to do the shots and stunt-doubled in CGI ones for the dangerous shots.
I've made one large omission so far, and that's concerning the real star of this movie, not Pepper, not the gators... Cso-Cso the dog. What an amazing little fur baby! Clearly she picked up some techniques from Lassie reruns for her role as Sugar. She's courageous, vulnerable, heroic, we should all strive to be more like Sugar.
So, can you tell I liked this movie? The only drawback is that I have to wait until August 23rd to see this again... and I will be seeing it again. I'm unsure if it will be more times than The Meg (6 viewings at the cinema) but it could certainly come close. I genuinely had so much fun watching Crawl, even with the anticipation of action it still caught me with the odd jump, and I laughed so much... "But it's not a comedy, Emma. Why were you laughing?" Because this film is helping me live my best life, that's why.
What you should do
It's out in cinemas on August 23rd... keep refreshing those apps until ticket booking is available.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I'll take one big spoonful of Sugar, please.
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