Crawlspace (1986)

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:

Murderer | Film Projector | Narration | Landlord | Mute

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Schmoeller	...	Rejected Tenant (uncredited)

Directed by
David Schmoeller

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
David Schmoeller		writer

Produced by
Charles Band	....	executive producer
Roberto Bessi	....	producer
Ron Underwood	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Pino Donaggio

Cinematography by
Sergio Salvati

Film Editing by
Bert Glatstein

Sound Department
Vanessa Theme Ament	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Juliet Avola	....	post-production

Music Department
Cinzia Cavalieri	....	musician: synthesizers assistant
Maurizio Guarini	....	musician: keyboards

Other crew
Andrea Borella	....	production assistant
Andrew Doucette	....	title designer
Maurizio Guarini	....	synthesizer programmer
Giancarlo J. Sini	....	assistant production accountant

Production Companies

• Empire Pictures

Distributors

• Empire Pictures (1986) (USA) (theatrical)
• Eurogroup (1986) (France) (theatrical)
• Lightning Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Avid Video (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Belgium) (video)
• Vestron Video (1987) (France) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Ryder Sound Services)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Empire Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Empire Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: Hank's last name is given as Storm in the credits, but twice in the movie he is called Hank Peterson.

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)

Another great horror flick you may have somehow missed in the 80's...

Klaus Kinski's performance is, as usual, well beyond the expectations of the film (and, as always, in another world beyond the accompanying cast). But that isn't to say the notion of a creepy ex-Nazi landlord crawling around in the ceiling and spying on and killing pretty college girls isn't a good one for horror ...just that if somebody else had tried to pull it off, it would never have been so much fun. Perhaps part of the problem with this movie getting the attention of horror fans (none of those I know had seen Crawlspace before I recommended it) has to do with marketing. The box gives it the appearance of something more akin to drama or even mystery. If the designers had done something so simple as put Kinski on the front cover, dressed in his Nazi costume, applying lipstick to those big lips of his, this movie would have received a lot more attention.