Crawlspace (1986)

Crawlspace (1986) Directed by David Schmoeller

A man who runs an apartment house for women is the demented son of a Nazi surgeon who has the house equipped with secret passageways, hidden rooms and torture and murder devices.

I had been itching to see Crawlspace for some time now, and when I spotted it on at 2:00 AM last night, I said why the hell not?! I'm glad that I decided to stay up and watch it. While it wasn't the best of movies, it was definitely worth the watch.



I was really excited to see another David Schmoeller movie. I feel like Schmoeller was a fairly dominant Director in the Late 70's to Late 80's, with movies like Tourist Trap (1979), The Seduction (1982) with Morgan Fairchild, Catacombs (1988), and Puppetmaster (1989). His Puppetmaster characters went on to drive another eight Puppetmaster movies, and I have loved every frickin one of them! When I saw that he had paired up with Klaus Kinski on a movie, I had to see it!

Klaus Kinski really is the driving factor in this film. Without him, the movie really doesn't have a lot going for it. It really isn't Schmoeller's best writing job, but Kinski plays the part so creepy that it even got to me a little bit. You could have a short film of Klaus Kinsk making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and describing it as he made it, and it could be labelled a horror movie. The awkward chemistry between he and the other characters actually feels genuine, and that's because it probably is.



There are a few negative things about the movie, but they don't really affect it at all. Just know the movie isn't that great before watching it, haha. The pace of Crawlspace is at times mind-numbingly slow, and the acting aside from Kinski is sometimes unbearable. The plot and execution of the film is unique enough to keep you interested, but at times I felt myself thinking "really...really?" at some of the contraptions he had built. I also felt like the movie was creepy enough without the son of a Nazi surgeon side/back story. All in all, the movie is good enough for at least one viewing, and I strongly suggest it purely based on the need to see a great Klaus Kinski performance.

Entertainment Value: 7/10 Trapdoor Rat Holes
Cinematic Value: 5/10 Trapdoor Rat Holes