Crawlspace (1986)

Director:

David Schmoeller

Writer:

David Schmoeller (written by)

Release Date:

21 May 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

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 | Voyeurism | Mute | One Word Title | Red Panties

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
David Schmoeller		(written by)

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)

Camera and Electrical Department
Massimo Barbona	....	grip

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 (1986) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

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) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Australia:R | France:-16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Empire Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Empire Pictures

Trivia:

Film debut of Tane McClure.

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:

Referenced in Ghost Town (1988)

"I had her tongue cut out..."

Hey I love this one. I've always been a Klaus Kinski fan and he's so particularly demented and soft-spoken from the get-go in this one, that he can't possibly be the good guy. No one with a German accent is.

He plays the Dr. Karl Gunther, son of a Nazi war criminal, who's escaped to America from Argentina and becomes an apartment manager. It also turns out that many of his tenants mysteriously disappear while the building is under his supervision.

It seems the 'good' Doctor can't stop killing them and he sets up his murders by crawling around in the building's heater ducts and observing his victims before making his move. There's also a woman he holds captive in an animal cage up in the attic, who he keeps as company after he's cut out her tongue.

Then innocent Lori Bancroft (Talia Balsam) moves in and Kinski takes a lot of interest in her before going on one final murder spree towards the end.

Also notable for being filmed on the same apartment building set as TROLL (1986), with all the action taking place indoors and in the heater ducts. Don't look for a wide variety of locations here. It's a small film.

Like I said, I enjoyed it and would recommend it mainly for Kinski's performance, but don't expect any extras on the MGM DVD because they're aren't any.

7 out of 10