They Crawl (2001)

User Rating:

3.4/10   

Director:

John Allardice

Writers:

Curtis Joseph (writer)
David Mason (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Insect | Mutant | Cockroach

Cast

Daniel Cosgrove	...	Ted Gage
Tamara Davies	...	Det. Gina O'Bannon
Dennis Boutsikaris	...	Prof. Jurgen
Ken Lerner	...	Coroner Glen
William Keane	...	Det. Hardy
Scott Rinker	...	Shane Torian
Brandon Karrer	...	Lazarus
Bennet Guillory	...	Capt. Righetti
Tim Thomerson	...	Exterminator
Tone Loc	...	Clarence
Mickey Rourke	...	Tiny Frakes
Grace Zabriskie	...	Mrs. Gage
Andi Eystad	...	Mia Gage
Chasen Hampton	...	Brian 'Bean' Gage
Adam Lieberman	...	2nd Uniformed Cop (as Adam Gordon)

Also Known As:

Crawlers (USA) (alternative title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Germany:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Trivia:

The cockroaches used were Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

Goofs:

Continuity: The bus in the opening sequence has its destination displayed as St. Louis in some shots, and Montreal in others.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Last Action Hero (1993)

They crawl: you laugh

Another hokey Sci-Fi channel offering, this time the monsters on the loose are smart cockroaches that swarm around a lot. The cucarachas croak a bus driver who likes to smash his bus through office building lobbies, then somebody gets killed in a bombing. You guessed it: a government conspiracy is behind it all.

Our heroes include a Jordache Jeans commercial guy (brother of the bombing victim), and a lady cop who shoots anything she sees: roach swarms, boxes, trucks, cars, buildings, into mid-air, and occasionally even a bad guy. When Officer Ripley runs out of ammunition with one weapon, she grabs another gun and resumes firing. As for Jordache, he just sticks his nose everywhere, while bodies pile up. The cop captain is the usual skeptic who does nothing, and the head honcho nasty guy is a comical stereotype, who snarls when he talks. They even had the nerve to use the ridiculous "bad guy pauses to explain the evil plot to the good guys before shooting them" routine. The obvious poetic justice is served, of course.

But stay tuned for the grand finale. The debut of one of the most hilariously inept monster creatures ever spawned still awaits you. He was about as intimidating as a Teletubby, and the final scene had me laughing until I could hardly breathe.

A hilariously stupid movie.