Crawlspace (1986)

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Blistering performances.

A tightly made horror film written & directed by David Schmoeller. College student Talia Balsam rents an apartment from landlord Klaus Kinski and soon realizes that it's not just rats running around the building's crawlspaces. Kinski is absolutely demented, following in the steps of his Nazi doctor father and coming up with clever ways to kill people. He's a rancid peeping Tom who puts a gun carrying one bullet to his head, deciding it's safe to continue killing if he doesn't blow his brains out. It's a creepy movie to say the least. Balsam is pretty appealing and there's a great music score by Pino Donaggio. Director Schmoeller has an amusing cameo early in the film.

Crazy old landlord, and former Nazi, preys upon the lady tenants of his building via a system of passages.Being directed by David Schmoeller (maker of 1979's excellent Tourist Trap) I expected a better-than-average horror film and was sadly disappointed. While Crawlspace has its moments of creepiness, it doesn't possess hardly any of the tension or suspense that one would hope for. It basically becomes a run of mill killer-psycho movie with little imagination.However, the film is not a complete waste. Klaus Kinski does make for a decent villain, who is one very sick and twisted character. Kinski fans will likely enjoy this movie more than most viewers.Over all, an OK effort that could have been much better.** out of ****

I think that this is overall a good movie, Klaus Kinski is perfect for the part of Dr. Gunther and the whole Idea of the movie is great. I never want to live alone. I feel that although there have been better 80's horror films, this is at least worth watching because everyone will have a different opinion on this film. I feel that the majority of people will like it even if it scares you or not. The film could have gone into more depth about his life with maybe some flashbacks...but other than that I enjoyed it and I think other people will as well. I watched it twice on IFC and both times I was still was trying to bite my nails.

The film is just limp. You may desire more of an introduction than that when first reading someone's response after seeing a hunk of trash such as "Crawlspace", but it's my only accurate description. It seems to go nowhere and feels like two hours when it is only around 20 minutes long. The ending feels rather hackneyed as if many deaths were cut out in support of time constraints. One thing I felt the film lacked was any kind of real thrills. It's all anti-climactic. The film is simple in it's grotesque nature, but really doesn't shock as it does bore you to tears. Kinski plays the owner of an apartment complex who spies on women through a crawlspace which leads to each room via ventilation shafts. He eyes a particular young college women played by Talia Balsam. The film isn't really that violent so even that can't help give this film any momentum. It's simply a lifeless exercise with Kinski doing all he can with his sicko doctor whose father was a nazi. He loves to kill as he explains, but director Schmoeller never allows us to see much violence. It's sleaze without much sleaziness. The film is just not worth the time unless you're a Kinski die-hard.