Crawlspace

Science fiction films are a tough genre to get right. There are those that go full on space style and others that just take a more subtle approach. With the latest film from Australia Crawlspace it takes on the more strange and unknown in regards to strange experiments. Could this be one of those that delivers something special or is it just another in a long line of failed attempts to a difficult genre.

Crawlspace follows a group of elite soldiers sent to infiltrate and extract a science team from an underground military compound. When they encounter and unknown woman with no memory things go from bad to worse as they realize something more sinister is happening. The overall film of the movie plays like Aliens with the soldiers running through various tunnels hunting and being hunted around every corner. While there is a bit of a mystery to the story most of it plays pretty straight forward and pretty well. The acting is good for most of the film, with just a few moments here and there that are questionable. The visuals to the film give it a gritty and dark tone that really fits well with the overall story. The first half of the film takes you on a fun ride and delivers a really cool creature, but then the film shifts into a whole different direction. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but that first part was so cool and creative it would have made for a much better overall film. As it stands though the rest of the film still works well, but does manage to get a bit convoluted at times trying to twist and turn things for a more creative direction. This never makes the film hard to understand, just doesn't always make a lot of sense in why they are doing it.

Overall this is a pretty decent action science fiction film. There is plenty of action and complexity to the story to keep things entertaining, but given the addition to more of the cool creature they delivered early on this movie could have been so much better. If you are a fan of films like Aliens, then you may want to give Crawlspace a chance.

Although this movie may have borrowed a bit heavily from a few better made sci-fi films, (and you can pick and choose as you see fit where hints of 'Aliens', 'Scanners', 'Resident Evil', and 'Doom' is sprinkled in throughout), this film still manages to thoroughly entertain throughout the length of the film and even provide a fairly decent, "Hmmm, I definitely wasn't expecting that" conclusion at the end of the film. Usually, if a sci-fi movie doesn't begin to deliver a believable plot, good character acting, and more importantly, strong, well thought out dialogue within the first 15-30 minutes of the film, I tend to find other things to do while watching many movies, i.e., multi-task, if I just don't turn off the movie entirely or watch something else altogether, but this movie did manage to keep my attention focused from beginning to end, . . . even though there were a couple of times where I had to pause, rewind, and playback just to make sure I didn't miss an important scene or clue in the movie, but overall a fairly good and entertaining movie!

It is amazing how low budget movie from OZ, with hardly known performers can deliver such entertainment. I am not going overboard and say it was an Oscar material but the movie kept me interested up to the end, I have read some of the reviews on IMDb and to be honest I was disappointed because other reviewers decided to give negative review just because they can. The acting was very convincing as for the story line; the movie makers could have elaborated on the main two chatterer past to make sense of some parts of the movie. This movie wont make it to the Oscar but by its own right is good entertainment; I know that because while watching some boring movies I tend to do something else or my mind wander away, this one kept me on my seat to the end.

A team of elite commandos are sent into a top secret military base with instructions to rescue the scientists who are apparently under attack from escaped prisoners. What they find is something very strange and different...

Australia has produced some high quality horror in recent times, this sadly - in spite of some sterling efforts - isn't one of them.

Justin Dix's (director/co-producer/co-writer) film is guilty of lifting from a whole bunch of other sci-fi/horror films to the point where the smart ideas in the narrative are practically squashed. Everything from Aliens and Scanners to Event Horizon are greased in to maintain a viable interest factor, a shame because the low budget is never an issue as the debut director shows a keen eye for atmosphere setting.

The facility that the characters find themselves in, as they fight for survival, is splendidly awash with a futuristic metallic sheen. While claustrophobia, as the title suggests, is one of the key character's of the piece. Acting is fine, no ham or cheese here, and in spite of the leanings from elsewhere, pic is never dull. It's not one for genre fans to base their evening in by the fire with, but it's just above average and shows Dix to have some potential behind the camera. 6/10

The plot is quite simple but powerful. It is intelligent from the beginning trying to show you very little as the movie goes along. I was very surprised with acting in general, cinematography, art, editing and music. But perhaps the thing I liked the most is all references to Area 51, and conspiracy theories. From EVE to Genesis project, and quoting the Soviet Union paranormal experiments during the cold war which, now we know, were actually real, at least in their intent. I also enjoyed the several classic science fiction movies homages like James Cameron's "Aliens", Roger Donaldson's "Species", the Resident Evil games and even Steve Barker's "Outpost" if you want, and some others. Perhaps the main issue that generates dislike is the lack of dynamic and rhythmic editing during the 2nd part of the film. The climax to be precise. Nevertheless I think it is a good film for those hardcore science fiction fans that are always searching for new productions.