Movie Title: Crawl
Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Writer: Michael Rasmussen and Shawn Rasmussen
Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, Morfydd Clark, Ross Anderson, Jose Palma, George Somner, Anson Boon, Ami Metcalf, Tina Pribicevic, Srna Vasiljevic, Cso-Cso
Review: During a category 5 hurricane, Hayley (Kaya Scodelario) attempts get her father (Barry Pepper) to safety, but finds that task to be deadlier than anticipated when they find themselves trapped in a flooding house and surrounded by a congregation of vicious alligators. When it's man versus nature to the extreme, then it's time to Crawl.
I like movies like this. It's a simple premise, father and daughter are trapped in a house during a hurricane and have to survive an onslaught of alligator attacks. I'm in! It's a B-Movie through and through, but it's smart, tense, well directed, and doesn't attempt to go too over the top with its premise.
The thing that I really enjoyed about Crawl was the fact that it takes time to set up its characters and inform the audience of the geography of the house, especially the crawlspace; where a good chunk of the movie takes place. Director John Carpenter (The Thing) always did that in his films so that way when there's a threat the audience knows where it is and where our character can and can't go to avoid it. This shows that the filmmakers knew what they were doing. And it certainly helps for you to get invested in what's happening.
Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper are both very good as they help each other survive this unimaginable nightmare scenario. They are believable as father and daughter by what they say and more with what they don't. They are the right amount of scared, stressed, and exhausted, as the story plays out.
The gators, even though they are CGI, really look, act, and react realistically. As with good monster movies, if the monster is believable and threatening then you in for a good time - and that's what Crawl is. It's a good, old fashioned monster movie that's striped down to its essentials and entertains clear through to the end credits.
I'll leave it at that because it was a great surprise to watch and I want you to be surprised too! I'd highly recommend it to those that are looking for a thrilling horror movie that, much like an alligator, grabs you right away and never lets go!
Fun Fact: The two leads, Kaya Scodelario (Hayley) and Barry Pepper (Dave), also starred together in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018).