Crawlspace (1986)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

David Schmoeller

Writer:

David Schmoeller (writer)

Release Date:

21 May 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

He seduces them in his mind and traps them in his crawlspace.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Air Duct | Booby Trap | Rat | Film Projector

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Dr. Karl Gunther
Talia Balsam	...	Lori Bancroft
Barbara Whinnery	...	Harriet Watkins
Carole Francis	...	Jessica Marlow
Tane McClure	...	Sophie Fisher (as Tane)
Sally Brown	...	Martha White
Jack Heller	...	Alfred Lassiter
David Abbott	...	Hank Peterson
Kenneth Robert Shippy	...	Josef Steiner

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (1987) | USA:R (certificate #28107) | Australia:R | France:-16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Empire Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Empire Pictures

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The heating ducts (or crawlspaces--from whence the picture derives its name) are absolutely immaculate. Not a speck of dust or anything. This is highly unlikely.

Quotes:

[repeated line; after each failed attempt to kill himself by playing Russian Roulette]
Doctor Karl Gunther: So be it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Please Kill Mr. Kinski (1999)

One Of My Personal Cult Favorites

Klaus Kinski was one of the great underrated actors of our time. Perhaps because he was too wild, uncompromising and tragically self-destructive to play the Hollywood game. Sure, CRAWLSPACE is low-budget, and he did it for quick cash. But his performance as the tortured, enigmatic, and totally twisted Dr. Gunther corruscates with understated brilliance.

Scenes from this film will always stay with me: Kinski playing Russian roulette with himself after he kills each victim and announcing "So be it!" when fate spares him and he can keep on killing. Kinski's deadpan voiceover as he writes his demented philosophical musings into his madman's diary. Kinski's almost touching monologues to the woman who's tongue he has cut out and whom he keeps in a cage to ward off loneliness. Kinski holding his hand over the gas burner as he waits for a prospective tenant/victim to take the apartment. Kinksi with lipstick and makeup in full SS drag, saluting "Heil Gunter!"

I could go on, but then again I'm a diehard Kinski fan. Even though this movie is low-budget, I think it is well-written, well-acted, and successful on many levels. It's one of my sentimental favorites, which I have seen more than once. Deserves to be redone!!!