Crawlspace

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!

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

IMDb truly baffles me sometimes. The score for Crawlspace stands at 4.8 at the time of writing which is ridiculously low for such a competent, not to mention fun, piece of film making.

Premise - a military team is sent in to an underground complex ("Australia's version of Area 51" one character notes) with the mission of eliminating a group of escaped prisoners and saving the scientists. Of course it all goes wrong, and that's about all you need to know.

No, actually what you need to know is that this hangs together way better than 90% of the other Aliens derived plots out there. The similarities to Aliens are evident at every turn, from the way the military team interacts with one another (much like James Cameron's colonial marines), to the motion trackers and a lead protagonist who bears more than an uncanny resemblance to Michael Biehn. Sure it rips of Aliens, but it rips it off well and if like me you've been waiting for over 25 years for a film that had that Aliens vibe going for it then you will love this.

There's another layer to Crawlspace too though - a pretty intriguing psychological mystery plot woven through that hides just enough answers to keep your interest. But, like all good old school movies, it doesn't try to get too clever and the end is obvious but deeply entertaining including a couple of kiss-off lines that I said right along with the actors and then grinned my head off.

I dunno, I suppose kids these days want something different from movies than we did in my generation. When I go into a sci fi horror movie about soldiers vs underground monsters, all I really want is some gore, some action, and some entertainment and Crawlspace delivered on all accounts.

4.8 - no way. This is a solid 6. But I'm giving it an 8 just to counterbalance some of the insanity.

In 1966 the Australian and U.S. Governments established Pine Gap, a top secret research facility in the remote Australian outback. Fifteen hours ago all contact with the facility was lost, cause unknown. Then there are messages telling that the prisoners have escaped. Three helicopters with a group of elite soldiers are sent to rescue the scientists and eliminate the dangerous prisoners. Commander Romeo (Ditch Davey) leads the team formed by Fourpack (Eddie Baroo), Wiki (Peta Sergeant) and Kid (Fletcher Humphrys) that is mysteriously attacked by strange creatures in the underground. When Romeo meets the amnesic prisoner Eve (Amber Clayton), he protects her compromising their mission. When his team questions who Eve is, Romeo tells that she is his wife that died years ago in Paris. When they find the scientists Darious Caesar (Nicholas Belt), Emily (Ngaire Dawn Fair) and Matthews (Samuel Johnson), they learn that the scientists are developing powerful psychic soldiers in the facility. Who is Eve? Will the soldiers succeed in their assignment?

"Crawlspace" is a claustrophobic movie with a promising idea, good acting but poor beginning and conclusion. The story begins without any development, with a group of soldiers breaking in a facility in the outback of Australia. The viewer does not know whether the story happens in the present, past or future; how is the government of this society; and who are the prisoners (criminals, political). The action is reasonable and when Eve opens the body bag and is surprised with her discovery, the viewer never knows who was there (might be the alien in her recollection, but it is not clear). What Romeo did to his wife and why is also confused and not clear. Last but not the least, the conclusion is totally disappointing. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Fortaleza Secreta" ("Secret Fortress")

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.