They Crawl Beneath (2022) User Reviews

Too uneventful to be overly enjoyable...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 11 October 2022]

I had never heard about this 2022 horror movie titled "It Crawls Beneath" (aka "They Crawl Beneath") before stumbling upon it by random chance. So I had literally no idea what I was in for here, but the synopsis for the movie sounded interesting enough. And actually with it being a horror movie, then of course I had to watch the movie.

While the concept idea behind "It Crawls Beneath" was interesting and had potential, then writer Tricia Aurand only managed to put together a script and storyline that was subpar. Sure, "It Crawls Beneath" was watchable enough for what it was, but this movie just simply didn't bring much of anything to the table. And I have to say that the narrative in the movie was too mundane, slow paced and there just simply wasn't enough of anything interesting happening to keep 88 minutes of the movie entertaining.

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough, but the actors and actresses literally had a very little to work with in terms of a properly constructed storyline, interesting characters or riveting dialogue. The only familiar face on the screen here was Michael Paré.

Visually then "It Crawls Beneath" sort of felt like something that had crawled out of the late 1980s or early 1990s, pun intended here. The special effects, while suitable enough for this particular slow paced and uneventful movie, just didn't feel like something grand or spectacular, and definitely didn't feel like something at the top of what effects are like in 2022.

I managed to sit through director Dale Fabrigar's horror movie here, but I wasn't particularly entertained. This is not a horror movie that I would recommend for horror aficionados, nor is it a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.

My rating of "It Crawls Beneath" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

Laughably terrible. It's so terrible I actually first thought this was a parody!

[imseeg · 2/10 · 29 September 2022]

Not any good? Well, I had a laugh alright, when I started watching this movie, because it was so utterly terrible, that I actually thought this might be a parody, a conscious attempt to make a terrible horror movie that was meant to evoke laughter instead of horror. But ofcourse this wasnt the case!

The bad: this is NOT horror. This is NOT thrilling for one second.

What is it then? Amateur hour. We get to see a guy laying trapped under a car for an hour long. Well, you might think, isnt that dramatic? NOPE. The "actors" starring in this product are C-listed actors, who usually only would get roles in tv commercials or tv soap series, wherein any acting capabilities are not important.

ever heard about dino delaurentis???

[ops-52535 · 4/10 · 25 September 2022]

Or have you ever seen a film out of the ca 500 he made? Well, 20 percent of his production where horror/monster things growing big and biting hard in an instant. And when main producer is suzanna delaurentis, then youll know where the funds comes from.

A tiny little earthquake and crawling slugs kinda horror movie, just like they made in the 70's and 80's, with good old handcrafted monsters and a storyline that seems pretty quirky in the year of 2022.

I had hoped for a lot more than a man getting trapped in a garage, fighting his inner demons and his dead uncle and father, just to show us how frailed cellphones are at urgent moments. So here theyve made a sole survivor selfrescue drama on a small cast , low cost budget.

And here comes the trigger point of it all, where is the nematodes brain? Front , back or inbetween? Check it outby viewing this b-horror thriller called ''it crawls beneath'', a simple try on a mostly forgotten genre.

The grumpy old man afford to give a 4 for the guts of trying, success within this genre is utopian brainfog to make. Be curious said the cat before it got killed...

seriously wtf

[vaiwalker · 1/10 · 30 September 2022]

I actually thought it was a good start 10mins in. The first worms seemed believable. And after the protagonist got trapped, it went all the way downhill there. Cliche.3% battery left. Cliche no phone signal. Cliche making a call with poor reception. The dumbest part was when his chic called him to warn him about the worms, he was crying like a bitch and listening to her story instead of going "HELP!!!!!!!!! IM TRAPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the dumbass fell asleep when the police was there looking for him. Cliche wakes up just when the cop closes the door and leaves. God this had nothing at all. Barely a story, and any action or thriller.

It Crawls Beneath

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 12 October 2022]

Police officer Danny (Joseph Almani) is working on an antique car at his uncle's remote ranch when an earthquake traps him under the vehicle and leaves him hurt and unable to get any help. But then, something worse happens: something crawls out of the cracks.

Michael Paré plays the uncle and honestly, that's what got me into this. What also helped was that director Dale Fabrigar also made Reed's Point with writer Tricia Aurand and also made D-Railed, a movie that combined a train crash with aquatic monsters. This time, he's making a movie all about killer worms that make you hallucinate. I mean, at this point, I would totally buy one of those worms. What's the street value of those worms?

This movie is inspired by 50s monster movies yet it has all of the gore you need. That said, it has a lead who may be amongst the dumbest I've ever seen in a film, someone who knows an earthquake may happen and then throws a car up on a jack. You can't be mad when said jalopy lands on you after that. When his girlfriend leaves him in the beginning, you totally get it and you barely know him.

Not awards material

[okpilak · 3/10 · 10 January 2023]

Very low budget, so one has to evaluate it based on what they did on a low budget. Practical effects, and having most of the movie take place in one area saves money. The acting wasn't great, nor was it as if random people were hired who never did any acting before, so most of it was not mere reading a script. The Danny character is a bit of a puzzle. When he finally gets a phone call, on a phone that is at very low battery level, he decides to go off on a tangent rather then making sure he gets help before the phone dies. That can be looked upon as wasted screen time, or padding to make sure the film was as long as promised. In the biology lab, the only science books on the counter were physics books, which would have been out of place so that is a bit sloppy for the props people. The film probably delivered what they wanted it to deliver, but it still is a very forgettable film. It is not so over the top that it is a parody, nor is there any reason for the creatures being what they were. It is a dull movie, as Danny is a dull person. It is interesting as the pistol he has is referenced to Jose Wales. In that movie's background info, that civil war pistol was as likely to kill the shooter as kill the enemy! It was prone to misfire.

That's Not Good

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 1 October 2022]

Danny (Joseph Almani) is a cop who is spending Thanksgiving drinking beer with his Uncle Bill (Michael Paré). His girlfriend Gwen (Karlee Eldridge) left him because he got shot at once and his Uncle Bill is crude and Danny likes to hang out with him. While kicking back a few and working under a propped up car expecting aftershocks from a recent earthquake, Bill gets bit by something that crawled from out of the ground and looks like a maggot. Gwen who stopped by takes it to the university to be examined. The bite is deadly if not treated. Sure enough an aftershock (PLOT SPOILER) causes the car to drop and bill is crushed and Danny is trapped with a dying phone trying to get help, get out from under the car, and fight off large toxic maggots. That takes up the bulk of the film. Danny alone in the garage. It was a waste of film. They had Karlee Eldridge in the film who looks like a blonde Megan Fox. They made it about the relationship. Boring. He wouldn't quit his job for her. I would have Kill Bill for her.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity.

Dumbest guy ever

[amymay-69916 · 1/10 · 24 February 2023]

This character actions in this film were INFURIATING!!! Dying cell phone? Call your mom instead of 911. And this character was a police officer!!the amount of times I thought "JUST CALL 911!!" we're too numerous to even make sense! The "not being able to get guy from under the car" premise was also dumb earthquakes happens,and "hero" STAYS UNDER JACKED-UP CAR AND TRIES TO PULL OUT OTHER GUY SIDEWAYS!!! If he had just gotten from under the car himself,and pulled the other guy by his pants,this whole movie would have been a moot point. So stupid and unbelievable,and none of the characters was even remotely likeable.

Disappointing: repetitive and tedious, with unconvincing creatures

[johannes2000-1 · 5/10 · 24 November 2023]

I sat the whole movie out, but to be honest, I more than once used the FF button. Watching a man lying trapped under a car in a garage for what feels like an hour, gets pretty tedious, even if there are weird maggot-like worms creeping up on him. I guess the makers wanted to evoke the claustrophobic feeling of main character Danny, and in this they succeeded, but that doesn't automatically make for compelling cinema. The worms should have made the difference, but they were just too fake and unconvincing.

The lack of logic didn't make things any better. Like that a bite by a worm should be lethal within three hours, but we see Danny struggle for what seems to be endlessly, and he still can put up some heroic physical fights with the creatures up until the last minutes! Then there were these unnecessary side-storylines: Danny discovering (during the predicament of his being trapped!) that his real father is in fact the guy that lies crushed to death next to him under the same car; and his relational problems with his girlfriend. They didn't add anything whatsoever to the main story; if Bill would have been just a friend, and Danny's relation with Angela all peachy, then the story wouldn't have changed a bit! And finally they came up again with this lamest of clichés: a smartphone having only 3 percent battery (in the middle of the day?! What on earth did Danny do with that phone all morning long?!).

My only positive feeling concerned Joseph Armani as Danny, albeit mainly for his great looks. As an actor they didn't give him much to put his teeth in (well, except for one of the worms!).

Horror by numbers, and further saddled with issues that significantly drag down the viewing experience

[I_Ailurophile · 2/10 · 12 October 2023]

Very direct storytelling, very quick pacing, very excessive use of music cues, very bad dialogue, very weak character writing, very bad scene writing - and, taking cues from kindred fare of the 1950s, an initial "encounter" which is mentioned in dialogue but which we don't actually see. All this and more, within only the first ten minutes. Yes, that's very quick to start making judgments, and I've seen some titles make a definite turnaround, but it's a poor first impression to say the least, on top of how the premise (and promotional artwork) rather recall a more famous series of creature features. As viewers we accept (to varying degrees) that some flicks are going to gleefully embrace the less earnest side of a genre, with no loftier goal than to be a fun little romp. How much fun such flicks actually provide is another matter. I don't think 'They crawl beneath' is completely rotten, but the viewing experience is saddled with compounding issues that place significant limits on what we can get out of it.

Those traits mentioned above that form our earliest impression remain factors in varying proportions. To these add the sudden emergence of a new species of worm, earthquakes that strike exactly when the story require them, and the circumstances in which protagonist Danny becomes trapped as suggested in the premise. It's a lot that the picture throws at us, and a lot that it asks of us under the unspoken agreement of suspension of disbelief. The difficulty is that between these major story elements and the swift pacing, let alone the other weaknesses, that disbelief is hard to surrender, and the possibility is quite dampened of there being any thrills from the conglomeration. As the length draws on, it further becomes evident that basic entertainment hangs by a thread, and it's the baseline level of entertainment that follows from most any conglomeration of light and sound. Moreover, the direction isn't necessarily the greatest; the cast do what they can under the circumstances, though I think they make a decent enough go of it. The practical effects are actually mostly pretty terrific, though may be employed to more questionable ends; the post-production visuals are a little too obvious, though better than a lot of other examples. 'They crawl beneath' also comes across at points as overproduced, accentuated by, of all things, how wholly impeccable Karlee Eldridge's makeup seems to be any time we see her.

Would that screenwriter Tricia Aurand didn't also try to weave in bits about the protagonist's personal life, which are irrelevant to the scenario and direly weigh down the proceedings. The root narrative is fine, if simple, but the specifics that flesh out these eighty-seven minutes are much less sure-footed, including dialogue in the last third or so that seems to senselessly and arbitrarily contradict earlier dialogue. Oliver Goodwill's music ranges from suitable to good, if unremarkable, but is plainly overused here and far too prominent. What it all comes down to is that this is a movie with distinct flaws and shortcomings, and which is troubled still more by too little strength, and too little vitality; there are no meaningful dynamics or meaningful progression, and in turn no meaningful tension or suspense. The course of events is just presented rather flatly, with each beat and inclusion tossed in in the most straightforward, unsubtle manner possible; it's surely longer than it needs to be, and the last stretch following the climax may be the lowest point of all. It's not abjectly terrible, yet for all the hard work that went into it, this is effectively a horror flick by the numbers, with no heart to make any of it count. Add in all the other discrete problems, and watching becomes a tad laborious. If you happen to come across it then there still far worse ways to spend one's time, but regrettably, there's just not any real reason to spend time with this in the first place.

Not to shabby for a B

[coltjessica · 8/10 · 1 October 2022]

Hey hey. This isn't for you spoiled new age horror fans. This is a decent one for us long time horror fans who watch em all. Low budget, not to good a script, super B movie so it's watched and judged as such. Actors werent great, but pretty good and they had an old school veteran supporting the movie so that also bumps it to a B+ movie. Effects were reminiscent of late 80s early 90s. I liked the storyline overall. I dug it and appreciate watching. Thanks for your hard work to the cast, crew, and production. This 600 words thing is still the most ridiculous thing ever. Not sure how much longer I'll keep leaving reviews.

A generally fun if slightly-flawed creature feature

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 5 October 2022]

After being rattled by an earthquake, a police officer discovers a strange species of worm before another aftershock traps him inside the garage of his house unable to reach help, and when he realizes the worms have returned and have a taste for blood tries to fight them off and get rescued.

There was quite a lot to like about this one. One of the better features here is an impressive setup that manages to provide this one with an enjoyable grounding for what's to come. After getting all the required bits about their relationship together and the interactions with his dad about what's going on between them, the lead-in to the discovery of the worm species and the few bits of their biology that are revealed here become quite intriguing. It all offers up a strong early showing here with the fateful aftershock that effectively traps him inside the garage for the rest of the film that's brief enough to get an idea of everything without bogging the film down too much. This allows the film to generate a strong series of creature attacks throughout here. Confining the action to the dark garage that's compounded by being stuck under the car, this situation allows an extra bit of suspense as the scenario of being unable to move and always being just unlucky enough to signal outside help or alert others to his predicament manages to move along into the series of encounters where the creatures appear out of the darkness to attack either him or the prone body of his father. Being able to generate some minor additional info about the creatures while also allowing the practical effects-driven creatures to shine quite nicely, the second half here is rather heavily filled with scenes involving him trying to stay alive long enough to overcome the effects of the creatures long enough to require rescue and get some enjoyable gore along the way. These manage to keep this one fun enough to have a lot to like. There isn't much to hold this one down but it does have some issues. Among the biggest factors here belong the utterly lifeless and unnecessary padding that goes on to try to stretch out this flimsy story to a feature-length running time. Those issues revolve around the infuriatingly stupid backstory that emerges involving the relationship quarrels between him and his estranged girlfriend that focus on the cliche story of a ruthless cop determined to make a difference and his significant other comparing their behavior to a psychopath with a death warrant. None of it is original or creative and serves mainly to add her into the proceedings when she doesn't have anything to do in the film. Likewise, an equally cringe-filled storyline that doesn't need to be included involves an extramarital affair that's discovered between people who don't matter which just eats up time. Combined with some cheesy CGI work that doesn't need to be there, these issues manage to bring this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

Just no

[ShftyEyedGoat · 1/10 · 30 May 2023]

Bad writing, bad acting, bad sound mixing. I think the worst part was the main character being trapped under a car for about 20 minutes of the movie. That was just dumb writing, maybe it was the only way they could fit in a monologue for the main character? Yeah, skip this.

The writing really tried to add some depth to this but all of the character plots given were just cliche or boring. What about the monsters? Confined to one location making things even more uneventful and boring. The pace was slow, I skipped through swaths of it just to get to something of actual interest so least to say I watched a good 30 minutes of this movie and that was still more than enough.

Very Well Done Low Budget Horror-Thriller

[mwcurran · 10/10 · 8 October 2022]

Everyone loves to trash low budget horror movies, but having just watched this one, for me it was a winner. The movie's story mixed a good human story with the creature element in expert fashion. It reminded me of John Carpenter's THE THING. I gave this a 10 out of 10 because I know how hard it is to make these movies on a low budget and how easy it is for a story to go off the rails. The creature effects were wonderful, the acting was quite good for its budget class - I am assuming under 1M - and the production values were decent. The writer and producer were smart enough to not take the premise too seriously and had fun with it. So I would urge you to give this movie a chance and don't listen to the trolls and the boneheaded critics. Think for yourself. If you enjoyed the drive in Roger Corman movies of the 70's and the Charles Band movies of the 80's, you'll love IT CRAWLS BENEATH.

Potential wasted in unexplainable ways to create an artistical failure

[siderite · 6/10 · 10 October 2022]

Imagine you are trapped in a room with some monstrous creatures hunting you. This is the premise and it works very well! Unfortunately, almost everything else doesn't. And it is strange because the actors were OK, most of them.

The biggest problem are the monsters. They are run of the mill three jawed worms coming from under the ground. After a small attempt to explain them logically, the movie makes them function completely differently from how they were described. And they are pathetically low budget. You can only suspend your disbelief so much before you start laughing out loud.

Then there are the side stories that have absolutely nothing to do with the main plot! Family drama, relationship drama, a neighbor that appears at the beginning, leaves for town and is never mentioned again, a scientist that appears for a short while only to vanish completely, an entire background of being a policeman (even if the guy is practically blind without glasses) that never materializes and so on and so on.

What probably annoys most of the viewers is the potential of this film which was completely wasted in silly ways. One can almost see what it could have been if only edited differently or if some of the ideas in it would have been explored more. The venom of the worms is hallucinogenic. At times the victim believes fantastical things happen. Could that have been used to increase the stakes? Of course. They just didn't. Then there is the nature of the monsters. They are worms! Could they have made them be more gross, infect their hosts somehow, increase the fear. Of course. They just didn't. The plot sounds a lot like a Covid film, with a tiny cast in a small location. But they had 10 people in it, with at most three that mattered in any way. Could they had given them more to do, die horribly and graphically at least? Of course. They just didn't.

Bottom line: you want an entertaining worm horror movie watch Tremors again for the 15th time. It's still good. It Crawls Beneath could probably be very amusing in a MisT3k kind of way, while drinking with friends.

Good creature feature

[fluffchop · 7/10 · 14 May 2023]

The little bread loaves attack the guy in the garage. It would have been nice to have had a change of scenery other than staying in the garage. However that is realistic. Because you could be caught under a car like that. The circumstances of the movie could therefore be described as realistic. Why the little critters got so big remains a mystery. Why they chose that garage to attack I don't know. I'm not sure what the scene at the start was with the vines pulling his mother away and him being locked in a cupboard. The movie starts out looking pretty good but then you're trapped in the garage for the whole time and it becomes a little uninteresting.