"Crawl" Review

If decades past were golden for the cheesy fun of low-budget B-movie monster films, "Crawl" is the more polished modern take with a more gritty delivery. Kaya Scodelario plays the protagonist, Haley, and gives a tremendous performance that demands a significant amount of energy and focus as much of her action is done without dialogue. The swimming background is an important piece of context that is introduced right at the beginning and makes perfect sense given the film's premise of having to battle giant alligators.

Director Alexandre Aja is consistent in his work being in the horror genre. My personal favourite is the film "Horns" (starring Daniel Radcliffe) but what was particularly great about him doing this new film is that he had the rare gift of being able to have his complete vision released to the public without any producer/studio cuts or interference. It's a simple, straight-forward concept but there's still some deeper poetry to Haley's character journey throughout the film as she fights to survive the elements and the creatures that come after her (the alligators have risen to the level of human homes because of a hurricane). Though there are a few more jump scares than what I typically like to experience in a film, the overall pacing is well-organised as the tension builds up towards the bigger scares. Any horror fan should enjoy this summer contribution to the genre.