Admittedly, when I heard about the concept for Crawl I thought it sounded dumb. After all, alligators infesting a flooded neighborhood during a hurricane is the kind of film just screams cheesy bad. Despite the stupid sounding concept, the film is better than the concept would suggest. The film is so intense and so relentless. It’s the fear of the unknown that’s what makes this film so scary. It’s like Jaws but with alligators.
Yet the film is also convenient as well. Anything that could go wrong in the film DOES go wrong. This leads to more stress as the film goes on but also leads to a feeling of frustration. It feels like a cop-out every time something goes bad. At the same time, these characters tend to conveniently escape at the last second several times in the film.
Despite all that, the film is clever with the way it uses parts of the house to escape from these creatures. The escape from the basement is particularly smart. Also, the film is smart in the way it ties up any sort of plot holes and loose ends. It just seems to have an answer for every possible solution that you can think of.
Although these characters are annoying at first, they begin to grow on you. This occurs as these two characters begin to heal their relationship. It’s amazing how being close to death can bring two people together. You also have to admire the determination and will to live despite these overwhelming odds.
Overall, Crawl is a crazy intense thrill ride. It’s able to overcome its ridiculous concept and deliver a film that’ll surprise you. Just when you think it’s safe to go in the water, Crawl will bring back that fear of the unknown just like Jaws did.
Movie Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
Video
Crawl hits Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The overall picture has a high contrast which leads to high brightness and deep blacks. The bright areas pop from the screen but there’s a lot of bloom in these areas. Although this does lead to some cool moments with the various flashlight shots in the film. At the same time, the black levels are superb with the shadows looking nice and dark. However, there is some slight crush in these areas though.
The colors also look fantastic as well. They’re rich, vibrant, and it jumps off the screen. There is also impressive clarity in the details too. You can see it in the rain where you can see all of the rain being dropped. Overall, this is a great video transfer.
Video Rating: 4.5/5 atoms
Audio
Crawl hits Blu-ray with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. The audio mix is terrific. The mix loves to use water sound effects and move it across the soundstage. When the film is underwater, it truly feels as you’re immersed down there with them. Not to mention, the torrential rain and water flow consistently batter the soundstage from all sides. Then there’s the accurate placement of sound effects which add a lot of tension to a scene.
Max Aruj and Steffen Thum’s score plays dynamically across all speakers. The terrifying use of orchestra strings also flows through the soundstage as a have too. Unfortunately, the only negative to this mix is a big one. Due to the loudness of the storm and rainfall, the dialogue does get drowned out. At times, you can barely hear what they’re saying. Nevertheless, this is a great mix.
Audio Rating: 4.5/5 atoms
Special Features
Crawl has the following special features on the Blu-ray disc:
- Intro to Alternate Opening
- Alternate Opening
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- I Guess I’m Off the Team
- You Were Never Going to Evacuate
- Don’t Quit on Me
- Beneath Crawl
- Category 5 Gators: The VFX of Crawl
- Alligator Attacks
Although it may not seem like a lot, there’s a lot of content here. The alternate opening is an animated motion comic that refreshingly different than the other releases out there. The artwork is superb and it’s really brutal. Unfortunately, the voice acting is pretty bad. The deleted and extended scenes are nice overall, but these scenes would’ve messed with the flow of the film.
“Beneath Crawl” is a lengthy in-depth featurette that covers a ton of subjects. Not only do you see a lot of behind-the-scenes footage but you get to hear a ton of making-of stories about the film too. The visual effects featurette is another in-depth featurette that uncovers all the tricks and work done to bring the alligators to life. “Alligators Attacks” is exactly what it sounds like. It’s simply a montage of all of the gator mayhem that’s in the film.
Special Features Rating: 4/5 atoms
Overall, Crawl is a highly intense and thrilling ride. It’s a film that reignites your fear of water. Both the video and audio mix are wonderful. Also, the special features are both in-depth and informative.
Overall Rating: 4/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Paramount Home Entertainment.
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