Creeping Crawling

Horror anthology "Creeping Crawling" is a film that creates entomophobic inducing anxiety. The stories are modern distortions of today's struggle between the vapid and the devalued. The vapid being the burden and guilt put on women to live to a male standard, in return devaluing the mind, talent and whole worth of the female as a person of equal value. Okay so maybe this anthology doesn't get that deep-but that was just the impression left on me by every one of these short films.

Told more like a trilogy of terror with stories that are framed by a very odd entomologist during a student interview for a paper or something. Anyway Each of the tales invoke a blind of unease, confusion and a serious case of the creeps. The characters deal with some really serious body image issues, like body dysmorphic disorder-fetish/ fantasy delusions-highly sexualized pressure to impress in the workplace-not to mention creepy, creepy, creepy insects, of course. "Creeping Crawling" takes a facetious attitude toward addressing contemporary issues about acceptable images in society with mature, fun, surrealism.

The acting is mediocre, with some characters feeling a bit too caricature. The over-the-top performances work during most of the anthology but there are times when it feels contrived. The cast give convincing performances for the most part and really bring these twisted tales to life. When the story gets creepy, the characters get bent much the same way. Actually the mental insanity put on the lead characters is rather convincing. I didn't really get the jest of the point of the short films completely. I think I did but they really left me with a question mark about "was what I got out of the stories what the writers was going for". I did however enjoy the dark humor, social commentary and just completely disturbing vibe "Creeping Crawling" gives off.

The special effects and soundtrack are above the grade for these low budget, indie films. I was impressed. The bug thing is a real skin crawler and this film gives it a good shot. The horror isn't so much horror, in the sense that I never felt suspense or chills. The nightmare comes completely from the gross out, utter fear of insects that most of us have to some degree. "Creeping Crawling" is fresh, contemporary and very now. I am not completely sure that the continuity or framing is precise, but the blended genre that brings the surreal, b-movie critter- that kept us glued to late night thrillers-and the twisted storytelling that is reminiscent of "Tales From The Darkside" work in this anthology more than I expected. "Creeping Crawling" is worth checking out, the stories may not relate to everyone, but the bugs, and overall creep factor will entertain most.

Creeping Crawling is a Brain Damage films production therefore it's horror and it's uber low budget. Brain Damage films tend to be awful but to its credit this actually manages to look considerably better than most of their works.

It's a horror anthology tale with 3 stories and the traditional wrap around. The theme is bugs and as the title suggests it successfully manages to get under your skin but certainly not in a good way.

The three stories include an out of control tape worm being used by a woman to lose weight. A nurse who develops a fatal attraction to the paralysed patient she takes care of and finally a man with a sexual attraction to insects.

So yeah, all three stories are uncomfortable viewing but credit where credit is due are very original for the most part.

The movie managed to make me squirm and I didn't like that, a couple of scenes inparticular are just plain nasty especially in the third and final tale. Nobody wants to see that *Cries*.

For a Brain Damage film it's above par, as a horror anthology its disturbing stuff.

The Good:

Looks good for the production values

Fairly original

The Bad:

Across the board it's uncomfortable stuff

Poor soundtrack

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Bug spray is the cure for everything........technically not joking

A jar of leeches is a suitable sex toy

This film is a respectable effort. An insect anthology with philosophical and psychological undertones, something that has been done very few times, if any outside of this. The writing was also fairly original. Unfortunately, it is not helped by its tiny budget. The production values suffered greatly. The acting was okay, not too bad or great. The execution of the script also only scratches the surface of the intelligence behind the ideas. This film had a lot of potential that was unfortunately wasted when the directors decided to go for more of an exploitation style. I would only recommend watching this if this kind of stuff interests you and you have a lot of time to kill.