Crawl (4 Stars)

This is a film with a simple premise that's very effectively filmed. Florida is being hit by a Category 5 Hurricane. While everyone else is being evacuated, Haley travels into the area, because her father isn't answering his phone. She finds him lying unconscious in his basement after having had an accident while doing repair work. The water is starting to rise, so she tries to drag him out. The water itself isn't the biggest problem. Two alligators enter the basement, and as the water rises further there are more alligators swimming in the street around the house, attacking anything that moves.

"Crawl" is a terrifying film that made me jump more than once. The atmosphere and tension are superbly crafted. This is what a horror film should be like. My only criticism is that Haley shouldn't have survived. She's bitten by an alligator more than once in the film, but every time she pulls her arm out of its mouth and carries on fighting. I've never been bitten by an alligator, but I don't see how she could have escaped. Wouldn't the loss of blood from the first bite have put her into a state of shock?

The film's title doesn't refer primarily to crawling. Haley is a competitive swimmer who uses the crawl stroke.