Creepy Crawlers (2002)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by John Claflin & David Zelman
Directed by Ellory Elkayem
Starring Thomas Calabro, Dean Stockwell, John Savage, Kristen Dalton, and Tom McBeath

Features:

• Running audio commentary with director Elkayem and executive producer
  
• Trailer
  
• Filmographies of cast and director
  

Dindrane's Horror Warnings:

• Gratuitous companion animal abuse
• Award for the most effective use of a flare
• Like a rat in a maze
• Really gross chickens and candy

Released by: Fox Home Entertainment
Region: 1
Rating: PG-13
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Worth a rental if you like creature films, otherwise, skip it.

Some horror movies, like The Blair Witch Project, try to scare you with elaborate psychological games and an understanding of what truly frightens humanity. Other horror movies just try to gross you out with gore or with bugs crawling under the surface of skin, like The Thing...or like this film. Pointing out our modern fear of anything "dirty" and our dislike of bugs in general, Creepy Crawlers is another in a long line of humans versus bugs films.

The plot of the film is as follows: a city doctor, having just kicked his alcoholism, needs a vacation. A year previously, before his marriage dissolved, he and his wife had bought a house on a Maine island (it's always an island; see Jurassic Park)--a house desired by a couple of the residents who now resent the doctor's townie intrusion. A local shopgirl, however, is more than friendly, and she and the doctor join forces when some mysterious deaths start happening. Eventually, they of course discover that the deaths are being caused by an invasion of a rare African cockroach, complete with man-eating mandibles.

The acting in this film is not half bad. Dean Stockwell is of course amazing as the small-town sheriff, but the principal leads are also surprisingly good. The problem is that the script gives them little to do, and the direction gives them only a split second in some cases to express complex emotions and point to undercurrents, like the good doctor's alcohol issues.

The features are fun. The commentary is entertaining and even informative, explaining behind-the-scenes happenings, as well as how many of the special effects were created. The trailer is pretty standard, but is almost required now. The filmographies well help you pinpoint where you've seen that character you recognize.

The audio and video quality are quite nice. The film is only a year old, so the film stock was still in excellent shape for the digital transfer. There are no flickers, no dirt on the film, or other visual issues, and the sound is nicely consistent all the way through. There's nothing worse than having to turn down your film in certain places just because the director wanted to cheat and rely upon volume to manipulate you.

And of course there are a few screaming issues with plot holes: why did the housewife not know she'd been bitten and infested? Why was there one weak place in the barn floor, but the rest of the floor was strong enough to support the truck? Wouldn't the bugs eat their prey? And so on. It can be summed up in a quote by the director from the commentary: "It's a bit of a stretch, I suppose, but we just decided to go with it…"

One of the best things about horror movies, especially creature features, is that, with the exception of some of anti-nuclear giant insect films of the 1960s, they are absolutely devoid of pretension. Their desire is to scare and/or shock you, not to enlighten you or "make you think" (which usually, in other movies, just irritates the viewer anyway). In this humble, but entertaining goal, Creepy Crawlers succeeds. Blending decent acting with the usual horror pseudo-science, it may not be as classic as, for example, Aliens or Pitch Black, but it's still good enough for when you want to put your own roach problems into perspective.