Crawl

Crawl m’a procuré exactement ce à quoi je m’attendais de la part d’un film d’horreur de crocodiles au cinéma. Peut-être même qu’Alexandre Aja a légèrement dépassé mes attentes, car il a créé une aventure de style survie à la fois divertissante et dans laquelle il se passe constamment quelque chose. Le scénario laisse à désirer (ce qui n’est pas surprenant si vous connaissez la filmographie des frères Rasmussen) et n’importe qui remarquera – à raison – que la plupart des personnages secondaires ne sont là que pour se faire massacrer. Malgré tout, ce film d’horreur estival a rempli toutes mes attentes et je me suis bien éclaté en le regardant. Après Piranha 3D, Aja a pu une nouvelle fois exploiter un thème bidon au maximum et y coller une sérieuse dose de suspense et de fun. Et ça faisait longtemps que je n’avais plus entendu une musique aussi exaltante dans un générique de fin. (18/07/2019)

Une belle aventure numérique avec une progression décente de tension et une utilisation imprévisible de l'espace restreint. L'intrigue, apparemment transparente au début, sur une nageuse habile et sa relation avec son père qui a besoin d'être guéri, se révèle finalement être un « survival-horror » honnêtement écrit et réalisé. Plus captivant d'une demi-étoile que le film Instinct de survie, dont le thème est similaire. (26/08/2019)

Easygoing, animal attack summer nonsense. An alligator survival taking place during a category-5 hurricane looks good on paper, especially with Aja behind the cameras a Raimi as producer. That would be, of course, if these gentlemen had taken it with more darkness and horror. Crawl, unfortunately, doesn’t have much balls, which is surprising given Aja’s history. The gore is missing, everything is hidden either in the dark or behind curtains of splashing water. The alligators sometimes look a bit artificial, but not much. What is horrifying, though, are the dialogues between the father and the daughter. Brr! (11/07/2019)

Shot in Serbia, this American film, two-thirds of which is set in the basement of an old house, is better than average. Despite its B-movie subject matter, it does not look cheap and offers very solid CGI with animals that do not appear to be digitally generated. Starting with the opening credits, director Alexandre Aja does not squander a single minute and constantly portions out information about the characters and the relationships between them, which later proves to be opportune (almost all of the characters and objects encountered by the female protagonist during the brisk exposition are utilised just as economically). The protagonists are not just walking hunks of meat for the alligators. We understand their motivations and cheer them on, and we comprehend where, despite all of the scars, they find in themselves the strength to grit their teeth and face danger. The overcoming of family trauma is skilfully connected with the eco-horror plot also thanks to the fact that the house where most of the events take place brings the heroine’s childhood, and thus her father’s failure, to light. Its flooding with water (thanks to which Halley can show what works best for her) and its gradual disintegration thus represents an inevitable part of “family therapy”. It is true that the story faulters during longer dialogues, the characters are far too clichéd and, given the R-rating, I would have expected more scenes in which alligators tear people to pieces, but when it reminds us in its entertaining and undemanding way that if we want to survive, we should mainly respect nature, then it works nicely. 65% (10/07/2019)

A suspenseful horror film about two heroes who find themselves trapped in a basement with hungry alligators during a hurricane. Clever and interesting characters, well built tension and some pretty gritty scenes make Crawl a very fine genre entertainment. Too bad it turns from horror to action B-movie at the end. (13/07/2019)