“Crawlers” follows building manager Serena and her residents as they battle to survive a catastrophic infestation of venomous and deadly spiders in an apartment building.
Spiders are the perfect horror antagonists; they’re small and creepy, not to mention that they’re many people’s biggest everyday fear. “Crawlers” features a narrative similar to Sébastien Vaniček’s “Infested” (2023) and Kiah Roache-Turner’s “Sting” (2024). In a movie where individuals are trapped inside a building with arachnids, you need to like the characters to some degree. Here, that’s not the case.
Director Angel Gómez Hernández focuses on a group of cliché-riddled people. These aren’t ordinary stereotypes, with many characters acting so bizarrely that they don’t even seem real at all. If this were one or two people, “Crawlers” would get a pass. But it’s virtually every resident.
Serena is the person who viewers are supposed to relate to. Unfortunately, every emotional aspect of her character feels forced. Dead mom? Sentimental guitar? These are briefly mentioned in the early stages of the 81-minute runtime, but are treated as key traits by the time the film concludes. While Hernández wants to turn Serena into a “final girl,” there’s nothing memorable about her. Not to mention, her attempted heroism actually makes the situation worse for everyone. Nonetheless, Matilda Lutz’s (Serena) performance is serviceable, with increasing intensity as the narrative progresses.
“This is my moment.”
“Crawlers” has a “waiting” problem. Jayson Rothwell’s screenplay says something can’t happen — until it can. Spiders can’t climb glass, which allows characters to have a brief conversation before they begin crawling up the slick surface. The IDC won’t allow people to leave the apartment, which results in spider mayhem until they attempt to save the survivors. Because the entire story results from contrivances, there is no tension.
The film also can’t decide whether it wants to be horror or action. At times, “Crawlers” delivers chills by capturing spider shadows and silhouettes. Director of photography Pablo Rosso executes close-up shots inside vents, chip bags or cabinets to show the arachnids lurking around corners. In other moments, however, they’re treated like full-blown action antagonists. With one-on-one face-offs and loud musical cues, these moments eventually grow cheesy rather than scary.
Nonetheless, it has plenty of style. At its most chaotic, “Crawlers” features shaky handheld footage, crash zooms and spiraling camerawork. Additionally, there are POV-style scenes that add an immersive quality. As spiders are unleashed, the visual aesthetic matches the craziness of the situation itself. In the process, Hernández successfully executes a bait-and-switch approach. By continuously teasing disaster, the payoff becomes extra satisfying — and gross — when it does happen. The effects are also impressive. While the film tends to highlight larger arachnids, it also features clusters of small spiders. Leaving behind bites and oozing wounds, there are many effective “gross-out” moments.
“Crawlers” spins a tangled web of annoying characters and drawn-out scenarios. The spiders bite plenty, but it feels like we’ve seen this story before.
Rating: 2 out of 5
