A top-tier modern creature feature hidden gem is lurking in the depths of the Paramount+ streaming library, and fans finally have an update about its anticipated sequel. The creature feature subgenre has been a staple of horror since the earliest days of cinema. Monsters ranging from humanoids like Dracula and Frankenstein to massive beasts like King Kong and Godzilla have terrified audiences for decades and created some of the most iconic figures in a genre that keeps growing and is about to revisit an underrated monster movie.
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That movie is Crawl, Alexandre Aja’s 2019 natural horror film about a father and daughter who become trapped in a home by rising floodwaters and hungry alligators during a category 5 hurricane. The movie, co-produced by Sam Raimi, started streaming on Paramount+ on March 1st. The severely underappreciated film is set to get a sequel, with Crawl 2 officially in development at Paramount Pictures. After a long period of silence following the film’s confirmation back in August 2024, Raimi finally gave an update on the New York City-set sequel when he told The Wrap in February that they’ve “been trying to get a go from the studio” following the Paramount-Skydance merger and he now has “a new hope to make it.”
Sam Raimi’s Crawl Is an Intense, Claustrophobic Survival Story
If you’re looking for an effective, high-tension creature feature, then Crawl won’t leave you disappointed. The movie is a prime example of a fight-or-flight struggle against nature and blends creature-feature horror with a natural disaster scenario to create a claustrophobic, high-stakes survival thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Whether it’s the rising, murky floodwater or the aggressive and seemingly endless number of alligators, there’s no shortage of threats or fear, and that’s all amplified by the tight, confined space of the home. Paired with plenty of action, bloody creature violence (including some gnarly bone-cracking injuries), efficient storytelling that avoids unnecessary filler, and a strong, physical performance from Scodelario, Crawl is a can’t-miss, easy-to-revisit movie.
While Crawl is criminally underrated as far as creature features go, the movie did earn some pretty impressive ratings. With a “Certified Fresh” critic score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film even ranks No. 11 on Raimi’s list of highest-rated films (No. 6 if you factor in tied critic scores). That’s paired with a great 75% audience rating. The film’s simplistic, no-nonsense approach to the creature feature genre has earned it a cult following and, thankfully, a sequel, though details on that remain scarce.
What’s New on Paramount+?
Crawl is far from the only movie freshly streaming on Paramount+. The streamer has added dozens of titles to its streaming catalog this March, including eight Friday the 13th movies, Good Will Hunting, both the 1989 and 2019 versions of Pet Sematary, the original Spy Kids trilogy, and the creature feature The Ruins, among numerous others.
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