Horror Movie Review: Crawl or Die (2014)
The most impressive thing about Crawl or Die is just how claustrophobic it will make you feel. Forget The Descent, this is proper tight spaces that get smaller & smaller as the film goes on.
A group of battle-hardened marines are tasked with safely escorting the last fertile woman in the entire world to a new planet called Earth 2, catchy huh?
An unknown virus has decimated Earth resulting in infertility in everybody. If no-one can have kids then the human race will be extinct. There is no further explanation than that, it’s laid out in front of you in the first couple of minutes, that’s your lot.
The marines tasked with escorting her are well known as a unit that have never failed to deliver a ‘package’, to this point. A crew of nobodies, their faces & names are irrelevant except for Tank. The token tough female of the group.
Arriving at Earth 2 at night the group are attacked by unseen forces but manage to escape into an underground hatch. Whatever is after them is powerful & the survivors are forced to have to make their way deeper into the underground chamber. Soon it’s only Tank & the ‘package’ left alive as their route becomes tougher & tighter to squeeze through.
They have no time to rest though as they are being pursued by what can only be described as ‘an unashamed Alien knockoff’. While you don’t see it properly until the ending, it’s look & mannerisms are far too similar to not covet comparisons.
The remainder of the movie is just one long chase through miles of enclosed spaces that seem impossible to for a person to get through. Tank is a small woman & even she struggles to squeeze through some of the tunnels & passages leading to potential freedom. It’s tense & very uncomfortable to watch at times.
That’s not to say it’s interesting…a huge amount of the films running time is dedicated to close up shots of the survivors as they drag themselves through confined spaces. It borders on boring a lot of the time & only really picks up when the alien is within attacking distance.
With most of the cast killed off early the only real acting comes from Tank & a few others. They do a good job of conveying the futility of their situation but it would have been nice to have seen a character with a fear of enclosed spaces thrown in. They all take the crawling through tiny tunnels in their stride.
The other major complaint I have is the ending…it’s just so weak. This was a film that needed a good ending & it just doesn’t happen. You’ll just end up wondering ‘is that it?’
Crawl or Die
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The Final Score - 5/10
5/10