Crawl (2019)

I have to admit, I've been a fan of Alexandre Aja's films since I first watched High Tension.  Yes, I know a lot of people have some issues with that one, but I still love it and perhaps will revisit it soon and explain why I'm right about it.  Insert smiley emoji here.

But for now, let's talk about Crawl, his latest film full of man eating alligators.  It sounds like the perfect setup for another boobs and blood remake, like Piranha  But Aja douses such expectations early on, setting up a different tone and mood.  Does it work?  Well, let's find out.

The film opens with University of Florida swimmer Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario) missing the mark during an exhibition event.  While in the locker room, she receives a Facetime call from her sister, Beth, letting her know her father Dave (Barry Pepper) hasn't picked up his phone when she called.   Given a Category 5 Hurricane, Beth is a bit concerned and Haley heads out to her father's apartment, ignoring a roadblock along her way.

Arriving at Dave's apartment, she finds it empty except for his dog Sugar.  Worried he'd returned to the family home in Coral Lake, on sale after he and Haley's mother divorce, she heads out and finds him injured in the basement.  That wouldn't be a problem, except for the pissed off alligators swimming about the slowly flooding structure, eager to chomp on anyone in range.

As expected, mayhem ensues as the pair try to escape, while other characters show up to be gator chow.  After all, you can't have a killer animal movie with only two potential victims.

Look, we'll be okay.

We're the protagonists.

Aja deflates any expectations this would be another Piranha early on.  Beth's call interrupts Haley as she is changing after her swim meet, and the scene contains no nudity.  Now, I'm not saying a horror film needs nudity to work.  I love too many horror films without anyone walking around in the buff to even consider it a necessity.  And other Aja films shows he doesn't feel the need to include such scenes.

But, I think Aja's best films delve into grindhouse territory.  And, though Crawl lacks such elements early on, one could expect things to get more insane as the weather worsens.  But the script presents some problems, focusing on Haley and her father deal with issues concerning his coaching her as a kid, no matter the danger from the storm or the alligators.  To be honest, the plot seems better suited as a Lifetime feature, had it ditched the killer alligators.

And let's talk about the alligators.  I'm no expert on reptilian behavior, but I suspect a massive hurricane would cause such creatures to find a place to hide and ride out the storm, not become roving packs of human-hungry killing machines.  I will say, I appreciated the script explaining the motivation of the two gators in the basement (though I question how the hell it happened, as storm drains are not that large).  But the other predators outside the house are swimming about, willing to snack on looters, rescue workers, and anyone else the script can deliver to up the body count.

On a recent trip to Florida, I learned alligators can jump out of the water

one and a half times their length.  She is NOT safe here.

And that brings up my expectations on the realistic behavior of the alligators verses a film version of them.  If you know me, or have read a few of my reviews, you know I LOVE pitting humans against critters gone wild.  And I'm willing to overlook my limited knowledge of animal behavior if the action is non-stop and the film isn't trying to be serious. 

For example, in Deep Blue Sea, the clueless scientists increase the brain size of several experimental sharks to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease.  Now, I know just having the capacity to be smarter doesn't give any organism the intelligence to figure out how to sink a floating research lab.  It takes longer than the running time of your average film to figure that out.

But I can go with those sharks not behaving naturally, as that film tries to explain what's happening with science straight out of a classic 50s monster movie, and doesn't try to take itself seriously.  That's the problem with Crawl.  The main plot isn't about the creatures and the mayhem they create  It's about the fractured relationship between Haley and Dave, with some alligators to ratchet up the tension and give Dave a reason to explain why he pushed Haley so hard while coaching her. 

But such a plot grounded in reality makes one wonder why the attacking critters aren't behaving in a realistic manner.  Attacking humans during a Category Five hurricane makes no damn sense in a movie anchored on a realistic plot.  Also, the gators are literal bottomless pits, able to chomp down countless victims and keep coming back for more.  It would work without a serious plot, but as Crawl is a drama and not a critters-gone-wild film, it makes you appreciate the fact that Bruce spread his attacks out over several days in Jaws.

Seriously, guys, I'm full.

Can you come back so I can chomp on you later?

And that brings us to the gator attacks against Haley and Dave.  Sure, Dad seems to take the worst of the injuries, requiring Haley to save him.  But she's chomped a few times, with little more than minor bleeding, which I have to say, is a big load of BS.  I looked it up, as I was a bit suspicious and decided to save you the trouble, and gators bites exert a force of 2125 pounds per square inch.  That means when Haley's leg is bitten early on, chances are her femur would have been fractured, making her unable to swim after the initial attack.  And Dave is introduced with lacerations on his shoulder from the gators, which would have resulted in several ribs crushed, puncturing his lungs in the process, he would have been dead long before Haley showed up.

 Oh, I can out swim you, creature of the water.

I'm on the U of F swim team!

But such catastrophic injuries would have made for a very short film, so both characters pull off a Rambo-like ability to survive.  Which would be fine, if this was a simple Nature-is-a-monster feature.  But the family drama grounds it in reality, making the protagonist's ability to physically avoid the creatures feel so wrong.   Haley shows off a super human ability to out-swimming alligators and...

Oh, I can't even describe the shower stall scene later in the final act, as it's just SO STUPID.

Oh my, I can't figure out the next step to escape.

Can I get a clue?

The acting is fine for the drama this film tries to be, but it doesn't mesh with the mayhem presented on the screen.  Had the film gone more to one side or the other, it would have been a solid movie.  But trying to combine both elements just doesn't gel, and Crawl suffers for the lack of focus.

If you'd like to buy Crawl on DVD or the 4K HUD, I'd appreciate you clicking on the link below.  As an Amazon Affiliate, I get a few cents from the sales if you buy through my site.