Crawlers (2026) Written Review
What has eight legs and creep people out a lot in real life and movies? Spiders! The creature feature genre of horror has been unnerving audiences for decades. Kaiju. Giant insects. But sometimes just a horde of regular critters can make for a terrifying experience. This claustrophobic experience finds a group of residents of Paradiso Palms in Las Vegas being terrorized by a rising tide of killer spiders. Director Angel Gomez Hernandez takes the reins of this brisk little horror flick with a screenplay by Jayson Rothwell to deliver all the creep crawly vibes you want from a horror film like this.
How does Hernandez bring this little flick to life? From a pacing standpoint, this is an unrelenting experience that never lets up for the brisk 77-minute runtime (sans the credits). The energy that Hernandez crafts is quite impressive. Tonally, this is the type of creature feature that is having fun the whole time even if it is quite a grim experience. There are plenty of brutal and disturbing experiences that hit you hard. Hernandez finds plenty of intense and suspenseful moments that keep you on the edge of your seat. The effects of the spiders are believable even though the effects are not the most dynamic. You can tell this film is made for a smaller budget, but it certainly has some charm. This film never attempts to dig deeper into emotion or themes as it is perfectly happy just being a creature feature. The music in the film injects a little bit of charm too.
Does Rothwell’s script deliver much to the experience? Rothwell’s writing for Crawlers is certainly not the strength. This lean little horror film is going for vibes and terror but not depth. What works best is that Rothwell finds some interesting little features that stand out. A few of the set pieces work quite well. The poster shot of a repelling spider attempting to get in a woman’s mouth is quite intense. The most antagonistic human character owns the building, and he gets quite the fun bit of comeuppance (along with some inspired camera movements to highlight it). You probably haven’t seen a gimp suit used this way in a creature feature before either. But generally, the characters are all one dimensional and don’t stand out. The protagonist, Serena, is the building manager and we feel for her having to deal with so many shenanigans in this building. The film is overall just a fun ride even if the final shot is quite annoying and feels like such a stereotypical horror movie ending.
Can the cast bring much to the experience? Matilda Lutz is really the only performer who gets to shine much at all. She is empathetic and delivers as the tough female protagonist who must be resourceful throughout this series of shenanigans. There are a few performers who shine more than the material given or they embody their specific roles well. Melina Matthews is certainly having fun as the local Madame in the building. William Miller gets to have some fun just being such a jerk as the owner of this building. Outside of that, everyone is just fine and sells the screams, discomfort, and terror that the film around them elicits.
Is Crawlers a worthwhile horror flick for the Halloween season? This is not a film that does a lot of new things to surprise or engage the audience. A 77-minute runtime is quite enticing though. Brisk and quick, there are plenty of creepy spider moments that will whet the appetite of horror fans showing up for the season. Not a good film but it is certainly a fine horror experience that offers enough to scratch that itch.
Leave a Reply