Crawlers

by Mike McGranaghan

Spiders are sufficiently creepy that horror movies have long capitalized on them. Their multiple eyes, disconcertingly hairy bodies, and creepy legs do a fair amount of heavy lifting in making audiences cringe. Screenplays practically write themselves. Crawlers might be the most ick-inducing example of spider-horror since Arachnophobia in 1990. If you even remotely dislike the little suckers, buckle up for 81 insanely uncomfortable minutes.

Serena (Red Sonja’s Matilda Lutz) is the live-in manager of an apartment building. When a tenant’s rotting body is discovered, the health department quarantines the building, leaving everyone locked inside. They think it’s viral; she learns that the place is filled with poisonous, man-eating spiders. As panic begins to grow – along with the number of bite victims – Serena tries to figure out how to get rid of the intruders.

Jayson Rothwell’s screenplay finds all sorts of creative ways to capitalize on its concept. Spiders get in people’s shoes, in their food, and in their hair. There’s a nightmarish sequence where two characters are trapped in a broken elevator with a clutter of very large spiders, and another that finds two different characters trapped in a shower with only a glass door for protection. The movie has jump scares aplenty, too. Early on, a spider that’s inside a man’s body explodes out through his eye. That’s just a taste of what’s to come.

A sense of humor underlines the creepy stuff. The tenants are comically quirky – a tech bro, a social media influencer, and a dominatrix are among them. Director Ángel Gómez Hernández often includes a joke after a suspenseful scene to let out tension. Crawlers even begins with a playful warning to the audience via onscreen text. The film isn’t as wink-winky as Eight-Legged Freaks, but it does take the opportunity to offer a touch of light-hearted fun amid the arachnid-based madness.

Excellent visual effects make the spiders look real, which is a big reason why the picture works. You can easily buy into the idea that they’re teeming inside the building. Nowhere are the visuals more effective than when the spiders are crawling across somebody’s skin, including an infant’s. Many similar movies from the past lacked that quality, thereby limiting the impact. It’s safe to say that the imagery here is realistic enough to induce significant discomfort.

Crawlers has no larger substance. It’s simply intended to be a fast-paced chiller that gets viewers jumping out of their seats – when they aren’t uncontrollably squirming in them, that is. On that level, the film absolutely succeeds. You’ll be inclined to stock up on insect spray when it’s over.