Despite familiar plot 'Crawl' works and keeps viewers at the edge of their seats.

Think of a survivor horror of the vein of Jaws, 47 Meters Down or The Shallows, except to survive, instead of the sharks you must face the deadly alligators of Florida. Crawl is a fun, electrifying and horrifying adventure that will satisfy fans of a thrill.

The story begins with a Category 5 hurricane that hits Florida. A young woman, Haley (Kaya Scodelario) goes against the wishes of the town and of evacuation to search and rescue her father. When she finally finds him trapped in the crawlspace of their family home basement, she realizes that they're in bigger danger than just a hurricane, that there are also deadly animals they must face…

Produced by Sam Raimi (Drag Me to Hell and Evil Dead) and directed by Alexander Aja who is known for directing handful of frightening movies that feature a lot of gore scenes such as The Hills Have Eyes or Piranha 3-D, his newest movie naturally had fairly high expectations, which were clearly met. The picture is surprisingly full of drastic and bloody scenes, few can be described as truly disgusting and suitable for people with strong nerves. An experienced horror maker, such as Aja, confidently creates another engrossing and thrilling survival horror full of twists and adventure.

While the story is far from perfect and there are a few illogical choices made by its characters throughout the movie, Crawl is still more realistic than most of the horrors touching comparable subjects. Most importantly the one thing that can be said about its characters is that they don’t put their life in danger because of the dumb decisions and that there is an explanation and logic behind most of their choices.

The protagonist is played by the talented and unfortunately underused Kaya Scodelario, who successfully carries the movie on her shoulders, understanding the struggles that her character has to go through and giving a convincing, energetic performance. Her co-lead, Barry Pepper is a far cry from being bad, however his performance is a little bit less memorable. They work as a team; their father and daughter on-screen chemistry is credible.

The cinematography is beautiful. The action takes place in the state of Florida, a state known for its unpredictable weather, hurricanes and the deadly animals. Florida is also a gorgeous and unique state with plenty of landscapes to see, and Crawl represents this worthily. Its visuals are appealing and effective, they also fit perfectly with the setting and the type of adventure the movie is. The music used in the film, while not being specifically memorable, is pretty good and adds a lot of suspense in many scenes.The alligators almost look like real animals – one would frighten seeing creature like this in real life, interestingly the alligators here look way more realistic than the sharks in aforementioned The Shallows and 47 Meters Down. One can't stop thinking about those movies, considering that they are quite similar.

Crawl is a chilling and exciting movie that should satisfy horror fans, as well as casual movie-goers. The characters are well-written and easy to root for. Like almost every survival horror, it has its flaws, however, the ending result is more than satisfying. It’s like wild and full of suspense ride that is perfect to see in theaters during summer, it should do well among teenagers and more mature audiences.

3.5/5

#2019 #kayascodelario #horror #alligator #adventure #thriller