‘Crawlers’ Review: A By The Numbers But Effective Arachnid Thriller

Creepy spider movie tropes might be by-the-numbers, but there is a reason they’re effective. Most of us have a certain fear of the eight-legged pests that resonates, and Hollywood has found a way to exploit that to various degrees of success. The 1990 horror-comedy Arachnophobia might be the best example of this, as it was a mixture of B-movie charm, but with all the necessary tools to make you squirm in terror. Creature features don’t need their monsters to be large, lumbering threats. Sometimes they can be the ones that crawl sneakily up your wall. Ripped from the same cloth is Crawlers, which was released digitally this week. While the Ángel Gómez Hernández film doesn’t offer much new to the arachnid genre, it still works because the film knows what will get under the nose of arachnophobes. From spiders crawling into open mouths and dropping into shoes and food, unbeknownst to their would-be victims, it’s hard not to have your skin crawl during the film’s 86 minutes. That’s not to say that the film isn’t silly to its core, but given the relatively short runtime, Crawlers does what it needs to do by spinning a web of fear that will linger especially long for viewers who can’t even stand to see spiders from a distance.

The film begins with an infestation that would make anyone want to find another place to live ASAP. Amateur entomologist George (Chris Rogers) has just returned from the airport to his apartment building with a nasty wound from his travels. Along with his return is a nasty buildup of spiders that have made their way through the air duct in the building, and they’re multiplying and spreading fast. In addition, the spider who kills our first victim is growing to large proportions.

Enter Serena (Matilda Lutz), the building’s superintendent who also happens to be an extreme arachnophobe. She has to deal with everyone’s complaints about the poor condition of their dwelling as the less-than-savory landlord (William Miller) avoids the tenants at all costs but has no problem raising the rent on a whim. Beyond the leaky pipes and problems with air conditioning, Serena now has to deal with the spreading of venomous spiders, which has put her building under quarantine. As the residents do what it takes to survive, Serena has to use her knowledge of the building to help them escape the increasing threat while also confronting her own fear of the creepy-crawly arachnids that love to spin a web.

The one unique approach that Crawlers takes, although it’s unclear if it was an intentional choice, is that the spiders feel very precise and premeditated in their attacks. Even though there are a lot of near misses and moments of tension that are well executed by Hernández, once the spiders go beyond toying with their prey, their drive to eliminate their human foes feels personal. Their first victim has a collection of dead spiders pinned to a board, and their pursuit and attack of him feels driven by pure revenge. These spiders don’t feel like the typical ones you’d come across in your home. They’re mad as hell, and perhaps they look at the humans in the film as a threat in the very same way that the humans view them.

The film is also modern in its structure and themes beyond the spider threat. Although Crawlers was filmed in Portugal, the anti-capitalist message, especially about the multi-occupancy building at its center, comes straight from Los Angeles as the landlord declares the city council is a group of socialists because they make it harder for him to bleed his tenants dry. Also, the film makes it intentional to feature characters of various careers and income levels to add a more grounded approach to the proceedings. It doesn’t all work because the film doesn’t take time to explore these themes fully, but the attempt at social commentary raises the movie above most creature features. Fans of recent spider-centric horror may also want to check out our reviews of Infested and Sting, which similarly lean into arachnophobia for maximum unease.

Crawlers teases the viewer and makes it clear that the spiders have a clear advantage over their prey. Their size alone gives them an advantage for a sneak attack that our characters and the audience don’t see coming. One clever moment involves a sort of spider POV that allows the viewer to see what they see as Serena is munching away through a bag of chips.

The film is littered with potential victims as they begin to spread around the apartment building, and they’re all colorful characters who lean more into stereotypes rather than genuine personalities. Along with the smarmy landlord, there is a dominatrix who occupies the building and acts as an ally to Serena as she tries to convince her to stand her ground. Other occupants don’t receive as much development and are clearly there to up the potential body count. Once you meet the guy with a pet snake named Reynaldo, who has a virtual girlfriend, or a woman planning a chill night in with Netflix who doesn’t pay attention to her surroundings, it becomes clear what will likely happen to them. Needless to say, don’t get too attached to the influencer or anyone who gives our spider final girl grief because the spiders seem to have the most beef with them.

Jayson Rothwell’s script knows what kind of film it is, but things lean towards the ridiculous at times, even though it becomes acceptable because it’s clear early on that the outcome will play less realistically than its setup. As the infestation is viewed as an epidemic, the building is put on lockdown (a plausible scenario), but that soon escalates to the announcement that the building will be engulfed in poison gas to kill the spiders, and those inside only have a short time to escape (builds proper tension, but one doubts a decision would be made to snuff out the occupants along with the arachnids). Things get further into camp when Serena goes through the gear of her dominatrix neighbor to find a weapon to neutralize the threat (silly, but a scene that stands out for its humor and absurdity).

It’s all a bit silly, and it may not be entirely original, but it’s a fun time. Anchored by a serviceable performance by Lutz that makes you care about Serena’s fears and her overcoming them, Crawlers works because the fears of its creatures are common, and they easily get under your skin. Complete with a dark twist at the film’s end that brings it all together, this is a film that proves that no matter how small the threat may be, it still becomes ingrained in your nightmares. For more giant-spider thrills from the archives, revisit our look at Eight Legged Freaks.

Crawlers is now available on digital via Roadside Attractions and Saban Films.