Paramount Pictures has delivered a mixed bag of horrors over the past year or so, with some being innovative and others standard-issue. “Overlord” and “Pet Sematary” are decidedly mixed bags. Regrettably, “The Cloverfield Paradox” is mired in its own monstrosity at the bottom of the list. But none were as inspired as “A Quiet Place” though, a truly fresh offering by John Krasinski that sits as the best of the bunch. And now the studio brings us “Crawl.”
While “Crawl” doesn’t rely on a similar premise as “A Quiet Place,” filmmaker Alexandre Aja – a director known for his excessive reliance on a brimming arsenal of cheap and shallow genre tricks – does his best to match the originality of Krasinski’s film.
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“Crawl” follows a young woman trapped in a flooding house during a Category 5 hurricane. You may well think that doesn’t sound much like a horror, but this is Florida people – she’s got some ferocious, ole alligators to fend off. On top of feeling frighteningly current in today’s climate change context, this film looks outwardly unique. As they say though, never judge a book by its cover. That familiar idiom is certainly applicable to Aja’s more recent flicks, “The 9th Life of Louis Drax” and “Horns” two that pleasantly surprised many a fan.
Here’s the synopsis:
When a massive hurricane hits her Florida hometown, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father (Barry Pepper). Finding him gravely injured in the crawl space of their family home, the two become trapped by quickly encroaching floodwaters. As time runs out to escape the strengthening storm, Haley and her father discover that the rising water level is the least of their fears. From director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) and producers Craig Flores (300), Sam Raimi (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead) and Alexandre Aja, Crawl is a nail-biting horror-thriller in theatres July 12, 2019.
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Starring Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper, and Ross Anderson, among others, “Crawl” will be released by Paramount on July 12. You can watch the trailer below.
