REPTILE DYSFUNCTION
JUST HOW MUCH NIGHTMARE fuel can one film put in the tank?
“It’s a home invasion movie with a disaster movie invading your house,” says director Alexandre Aja, relishing the genre-splicing hazards of Crawl. “But the water doesn’t come alone. The water comes with alligators as well. I think most of us would die within 10 minutes of this movie!”
It’s the kind of immediate, razor-sharp pitch that Hollywood hungers for. A ferocious hurricane hits the small Florida town of Coral Lake, triggering mass evacuation. But Haley Keller returns to the family home, finding her wounded father in the basement – and ravenous gators hunting human flesh in the ever-encroaching floodwater. It’s not the greatest tourism booster for the Sunshine State but it’s a nerve-twisting scenario that sold Aja on helming the movie.
“After making films that were more on the scary side, and , I went on to explore the bolder side of the genre in and ,” he tells . “But I always wanted to find a very simple subject, something that would give me the opportunity to go back to the vibe, something that was really intense and all about suspense and all about creating an atmosphere.
