Alexandre Aja’s new creature feature Crawl takes a relatively simple concept – a father and daughter stalked by man-eating alligators in Florida during a hurricane – and dials the tension up to 11, creating one of the most thrilling, edge-of-your-seat cinematic experiences of the year. With a minimal cast and low budget it’s amazing how effective the film is at making the audience care about the characters, cry out in terror and squirm with discomfort, given there’s only really two options for anyone on-screen at any time: to survive or be eaten alive.
What grounds the events of Crawl is the complex father-daughter dynamic between Hayley (Kayla Scodelario) and her father Dave (Barry Pepper). We learn very early on that this is a family fractured by divorce and that Hayley once had a very close relationship with her father, as he coached her during her swimming career. It’s a smart move to invest the audience in the characters and we actually care about them surviving in order to patch things up and make amends without the distraction of giant reptiles. Whilst the trailers may paint the film as a straight-up monster movie, it is doing a disservice to the story of a family healing and coming together; the alligator action serving as a catalyst for interaction between the estranged family members. When Haley arrives at the old family home to make sure her father has evacuated, she finds him in the crawl space under the house in pretty rough shape with some rather large bite marks in his shoulder. From there we have ourselves a good old-fashioned survival horror movie as the two must navigate through a veritable maze of pipes and dirt under the house, dodging an increasing number of reptiles brought in by flooding caused by the hurricane.
Scodelario and Pepper shine here as the father-daughter duo, crafting a loving yet very clearly broken relationship between the pair. Scodelario carries majority of the action in the film and she is more than up to task, with an understandable fear and trepidation towards the events unfurling, albeit with just the right amount of B-movie sass to give the movie a fun energy to get the audience behind her as she battles the gators. Under the surface of the character, much like her father, is a world-weariness that comes from her struggle coping with the family’s split. Haley is done letting the world beat her down while she takes it and her fight against the alligator is doubly enjoyable to watch because of what it means for the character. She’s done being kicked around by life and is ready to get back in the fight, both physically and mentally. The film is ultimately a two-hander in regards to its cast and Scodelario’s efforts are in vain if Barry Pepper doesn’t deliver as her father. Fortunately he too gives an excellent performance, holding his own against Scodelario as the down on his luck patriarch, returning to the old family home in an effort to preserve not only the building itself but the memories of happier times that took place there. Dave clearly has many regrets about how he has handled the challenge life has thrown at him in the divorce and has accepted the fact that he may not get to make amends. The situation he finds himself in with his daughter offers him a chance at redemption and to put his fatherly duties first, and it’s a role that Pepper plays brilliantly as a man who desperately wants to keep his daughter safe while at the same time recognising that she needs to take control of the situation if they are to survive.
This familial story might be an unexpectedly strong point of the film but it’s not the reason most audiences will turn up to see Crawl – rather it’ll be to see a host of wild alligators in their element snapping up anything that moves. Director Alexandre Aja is something of a horror veteran at this point having directed films such as 2006’s excellent (and ridiculously violent) remake of The Hills Have Eyes and 2010 aquatic monster movie Piranha 3D. The skills he has acquired throughout his career clearly serve him well here; the scares are big and extremely effective, the tension is high throughout the entire film and the underwater sequences are shot brilliantly – you can always tell what is happening but there is still an element of unknown in the murky green depths. The gators look believable enough given the smaller budget and a “less is more” approach is taken, never showing the beasts for too long or in too much detail. It pays off in a big way as the audience is never quite sure where or when the beast will strike and is always on edge. This sense of dread and fear is only compounded as the body count rises and our heroes are forced to make some big plays for survival in order to avoid becoming reptile food. While the plot may veer into some pretty ridiculous places later on in the proceedings and the alligator’s start doing some crazy things, it’s all part of the B-movie charm of Crawl; a movie that knows exactly what it is and gives audiences that in spades.
Crawl is an unexpected horror delight that makes for a great time at the movies. If you’re looking for some thrills, scares and a healthy dose of B-movie cheese – and aren’t opposed to a well developed emotional plot thrown in for good measure – then this is the movie for you. Kayla Scodelario and Barry Pepper give the film some real emotional depth that elevates it above your basic creature feature, providing an experience that is a complete blast but one that also makes you feel for its characters – a rarity in this genre.
Crawl stars Kayla Scodelario and Barry Pepper – in cinemas now.