Crawlspace (2013)

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

CRAWLSPACE (aka THE ATTIC) is a remake of an obscure 1980s thriller starring Klaus Kinski as a psycho living in an attic and terrorising the residents in the home below. In this version, Steven Weber (THE SHINING miniseries) is the psycho, a guy who definitely doesn't believe in traditional family values.You know what? This turns out to be a fun, offbeat little movie that has much in common with other remakes like that of THE STEPFATHER, but it might well be the best of the recent crop. The reason for its success is a tight, focused script which sees the running time fly by, combined with some nasty little death scenes which go for creativity throughout. If ever you wanted to watch somebody getting killed - realistically - with a vacuum cleaner, then this is the film.The worst thing about the story is, as usual, the characters, who aside from Weber's psycho are so bland that you'll be hoping he gets on with the job of bumping them off one by one. Again, the acting is nothing to write home about, with Weber (who looks like Andrew Lincoln in THE WALKING DEAD) convincing as the bad guy and that's about it. Still, I think CRAWLSPACE is a hoot: a tight little home invasion horror with plenty of gore to recommend it.

An Uncredited Remake of "Hider in the House" (1989) Starring Gary Busey, and with the Same Title of the Klaus Kinski Horror from 1986, this is a By the Book Slasher/Home Invasion Horror Throwback with Genre Trope Kills that will Seem Familiar.A Good Deal of Emphasis is Placed on the Family Unit with Many Scenes of Brother-Sister Banter and Bonding and Parent-Child Relationships and Responsibilities. It is This Focus that Gives the B-Movie a Bit of Gravity but Not Enough to Make this Rise Above Average at Best.It is Formula for Most of its Short Running Time and Might be Worth a Watch for Horror Completists and B-Movie Slummers, but Others can Skip this Styleless Movie Without Missing Anything New.

Steven Weber is an unstable "lodger" who lives in the attic of his old home, foreclosed on him after the loss of his children to drowning in the backyard pool led to his inability to return to work or move on with his life so he could continue to make payments to the bank. The family that owns the house he once lived could very well be in danger as he seems on the verge of going on a homicidal rampage at any time. Jonathan Silverman (Weekend at Bernie's), Lori Loughlin (Full House), Raleigh Holmes (final girl?), Sterling Beaumon (the foul-mouthed prankster), Xander Stolberg (the little brother that reminds Weber of his child), Paul James (as Raleigh's boyfriend, Derek), Shannon Welles (as the creepy old woman neighbor who sees too much and gets it with a vacuum by Weber), Nikki Moore (as the hot babysitter who earns Weber's ire when she leaves Xander unattended to have sex with Sterling for some of his stolen mom's cash) and Leila Leigh (as Weber's ex-wife who is a victim of learning that the house her former husband lived is now owned by some other family, unable to escape when he believes she will ruin his current domicile situation) make up the rest of the cast. Weber is stone cold psycho here, and instead of reeling us into his plight we just always see him as some nutjob willing to kill anyone at anytime, only occasionally revealing the trauma and pain of what he endured which led to his derangement. The film does an okay job of pointing out how unnerving it could be to have a creep living up in the attic of your home without your knowledge of his existence. What Weber does to his wife doesn't exactly ingratiate him to us…in fact; it makes little sense considering he wanted her back so he could return to a normal state of mind. "Crawlspace" is formula slasher all the way. It is kind of ludicrous that when the police are called after it is proved Weber was in the house that the attic wasn't inspected due to the threat he could cause them. Of course, the film wouldn't have the "fight for the survival" close these movies are known for. The violence by Weber is rather shocking (the neck snap in the car door window in particular) as a curling iron and vacuum are buried into the mouths of victims. A little nudity thanks to the hot babysitter is included. Silverman's revelation that he could have helped Weber and chose to let him lose the house certainly establishes some empathy for the killer, but there's only so much mileage you can get from that when he's offing folks with little guilt. The twist ending the film is preposterous as multiple bullet wounds and an exploding paint can would leave little chance of Weber surviving (and even if he did, he would not be spending any time outside a prison cell). This is Weber's "psycho killer" role...most veteran actors of his talent usually check mark this off their list at some point. Nothing about this film will probably remain with you after it is over...it is that forgettable.

Hmmmm...this wasn't a great movie. It was average in everything - average story, average acting ability, average cast. And some things didn't make any sense other than to be a point of spookiness - like the old lady neighbor. *SPOILER ALERT* So the dude in the attic is nuts and starts killing those who get in his way. Let's be real, there's not that much saran wrap in a single roll, OK?! And how is it no one could hear him above creeping around. Wood floors creek. I kept watching though and tried to enjoy the concept. I have heard of an incident or two where unbeknownst to homeowners there's someone living in the crawlspace. The concept is extremely scary, but the execution here was very flawed. Good try though.