When a massive hurricane hits her Florida town, young Haley ignores the evacuation orders to search for her missing father, Dave. After finding him gravely injured in their family home, the two of them become trapped by the rapidly encroaching floodwaters. With the storm strengthening, Haley and Dave discover an even greater threat than the rising water level -- a relentless attack from a pack of gigantic alligators.
I sat down in my seat for another secret unlimited screening, hoping it would be something like ’good boys’ or ’fast and furious’ so when I saw that it would be this film I wasn't massively excited, to be honest. I was definitely in for a surprise though. Sure, reptile films have been shown so many times that they don't have the same effect anymore, but ’Crawl’ does things a little bit differently which makes it a really exciting and thrilling watch. The story follows the daughter of a character named Dave who tries to rescue her father but gets ambushed by Alligators, they then face a battle on two fronts, rising water levels and a battle against the alligators. We follow their reach for safety. All in all, it uses a well used them but adds a series of twists to make it feel new and interesting. Overall though, is the film a ”see you later alligator” or is it more of a success? Here are my thoughts.
I'll start off with what I liked, I thought that the way in which the film started off was really effective at introducing us to the various characters within the film - seeing Haley as a swimmer in a tense race not only helped to introduce us to the type of character she would be but it also forebode that later on the swimming would be key to her survival. The film really used the foreboding effect really well, from seeing her swimming to a statue of a shark eating a person in Haley’s car, even to the ’Hunter’ alcohol at Dave’s house - all of these little effects really helped to build up the tension and excitement very well because we were subtly introduced to the themes of the film, whilst it also focussed on the storyline and the intensity of the hurricane. The characters were absolutely key to the amazing effect that this film had on the audience, I thought that having only 2 key characters was perfect because it meant that we could really focus on them, their relationship and how each of them were surviving - the film helped to keep us involved through constant cuts between the two characters which were really helpful because it ensured that we were always seeing action, but from a variety of perspectives and locations. So where Haley was on the ground floor of the house, Dave was underwater trying to find air to breathe and the constant camera cuts between them really ensured that we felt immersed with what was happening and it just generally made the film feel much more solid because we actually knew what the characters were experiencing and how they were feeling. As well as this though, the character relationships felt like they really actually had a meaning and purpose, seeing Dave and his Daughter talking about memories of their perfect family in pieces throughout the film helps not only to make them seem like a genuine family but also to make them feel real and multi-dimensional, they don't just feel like characters but the ways in which they work together and really speak to each other make them feel like a team, father and daughter as well as a survival team. Films like this generally miss out on a key element which is a ’make or break’ for the film, they don't provide reasons for characters to do certain actions and for them to be in places, but this is completely different. It feels like the characters make decisions for a reason, and they are laid out in a way that makes us agree with them (at times) and allows us to feel the same dilemmas that they do, a good example is Haley subtly getting her dropped mobile phone at the start, whilst trying not to be attacked - the choice to try and retrieve it feels like a massive risk, but one that should be taken. As well as the choice to try and rescue her father, sure it may seem far fetched but most people would go to lengths to try and save their families, especially during a hurricane like the one here. This then allows us to really sympathise with the characters because we feel the same emotions they do, and they are very well demonstrated here. Not only do the characters show fear when dealing with water but when coming across the alligators the pure and raw terror on their faces is breathtaking and really helps to keep us on the edge of our seats and excited - this is also in their actions, the ways in which they hesitate and react to seeing the reptiles makes them feel realistic and all the more terrifying because of how realistic and scared they feel - which is then projected onto us and definitely left me feeling anxious long after leaving the cinema. Alexandre Aja is brilliant, not only does she feel realistic here but as I mentioned before, the ways in which she communicates terror and fear from her character to the audience is amazing! The fear isn't too much though, it's not like it is trying too hard to scare us, but instead, it just thrills us and has us on the edge of our seats naturally which feels well executed. To me this rivals jaws. Of course, jaws is a classic, but this movie just takes it to a whole different level due to the character relationships and the realism of their escape. The only thing keeping this movie from becoming a classic is that it's just extremely unlikely to happen in real life compared to the more common fear of shark attacks, so it's less likely to stick with the majority (unless you live in Florida!!) I was also generally impressed with all of the characters though, Barry Pepper played Dave’s role really well. I really felt like there was a genuine relationship between the two characters and his will to survive and carry on was a really integral part of the film which kept it going and maintained the thrill and excitement. He was a big part of that.
Not only did the characters feel great but the plot and storyline felt very well executed too. I thought it was really good how the plot wasn't new to us, but the twist that it brought and the way that it was executed felt really fresh and helped to make the film exciting and enjoyable throughout. I thought that the actual storyline felt really smooth and flowed well, scenes seemed to lead on from each other well and because of the character camera switches, we could bounce off what each character was doing very well which enabled us to have a great insight into what was going on. The film also really cleverly adds in a series of twists and action points, the way in which the alligator is added in by finding it in the crawl space, as well as the rising water and the pack of alligators helps to maintain the excitement but also catches us off guard, because we are so interested and excited by the events of the film that these additional things are brought in and introduced to us which just adds to the mixture and really helps to keep it thrilling and fast-paced, so something is always happening. I also really liked the events in the film, for example, the looters getting attacked, the police officers getting attacked and the levee breaking. These events all help to add to the realism and intensity of the situation in the film, seeing the alligators tear apart other people really helps to intensify what the characters are doing, because we know that they are always running the risk of being jumped by one of the alligators and dying - such as when Haley finds the eggs and them swims through the tunnel in a race to escape the house - it very cleverly flows through so that multiple times we think the characters are safe and then something else happens, which in this scenario, feels realistic enough for the film. Among the things that made me like this movie is the environment. Imagine you are trapped in a hurricane place. The winds are strong, the rain is pouring and the ever-rising floods are swimming with gators. In a claustrophobic crawlspace, you are cornered, it feels really plausible and definitely realistic, not necessarily in the UK but in the US sure, and that’s what makes the film so scary. The actual plot though feels like it was well thought out and equally executed as well, not only does it provide thrills throughout but it actually genuinely keeps us excited and scared about the fate of the characters, whilst maintaining their family/team relationship which makes us cringe when they are bitten (the human body really can take a beating!!) but then when they are on the roof at the end and they beat the alligators by exciting the house quickly enough, it feels satisfying and like we have won with the characters. The films tight run time was a big advantage, no fat on this one. It's lean, mean and proud of what it is and that's what I loved most about it.
The film wasn't perfect though and felt a bit jagged in places. One of the key issues I had was with realism, I completely understand it is a fiction, a horror and of course a film so it isn't going to be 100% realistic but some things felt too far fetched, like when Haley had her leg bitten and then 10 minutes later she could swim again quite quickly. Surely with a leg that had been bitten, you wouldn't really be able to use it to swim at all? I wasn't impressed with some of the CGI either when Haley.looked out the window at the flowing river near the start of the film, it honestly felt like the CGI river had been done by a primary school student, it looked so unrealistic and poorly done that it was almost a joke. I also thought that the first 15/20 minutes of the film felt quite slow, not too much really happened which is fair enough but I feel more could've been done to excite us and to really add some excitement early on because a lot of people walked out at the beginning (don't understand why people do it but oh well), maybe if the film would've had a little bit more excitement early on then it would've gripped more people? My final point is more of a personal point, not a weakness of the film but the gore in the film was debatable, I wasn't a fan - especially when Dave’s arm was bitten off near the end and just generally seeing people getting torn apart but that's just me. I'm on the fence though, because it's a film about alligators hinting people, of course, it will be gory, otherwise it wouldn't be scary... I also thought that
Overall, I would give this film an 8. I was really impressed, I thought that a combination of great acting, a genuine fear of the unknown underwater, a fresh twist on a classic and the variety of effective scares and nail-biting moments really come together here to make a very snappy film (I couldn’t resist!) which packs a punch and feels very good - may be the film to watch this summer? Of course, it had its issues surrounding realism but all horror/action films do, and it is a film after all so it can’t be knocked too much. Would I recommend seeing it? Sure, if you don’t mind gore (fractures and red water - but not too graphic) then it will be fine for you. The actual film is really exciting and entertaining though, so it would definitely be enjoyable to see for you, but maybe think twice if you’re living in an alligator-infested area. You’ve been warned! 😉
Thanks for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review. I hope you have a lovely day and please if you have time, head over to my Facebook page and give it a like. This is my passion and every like and view I receive means the world to me. ❤
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