Crawlspace (2012) d. Dix, Justin (Australia)
I’ll be honest: I’m not sure why they didn’t just call it “Aliens in the Outback...minus the xenomorphs,” because that’s pretty much what we’re dealing with here, right down to its derivative tagline: “In this space, everyone can hear you scream.” The level of appropriation from James Cameron’s 1986 instant classic borders on outright theft, with design elements and characters lifted nearly wholesale...except in this case, we’re not out among the stars but rather miles underground in one of those top secret research facilities governments are always setting up in which to conduct nefarious unethical goings-on.
Ditch Davey leads a team of interchangeable roughnecks on a search and destroy mission which takes an unexpected turn when he discovers that his supposedly dead wife Amber Clayton is among the targets. But when it becomes apparent that his team may be outmatched by their subterranean nemeses, they take to the air ducts from which the film takes its title. In addition to generic sci-fi action thrills and swiping ideas from a dozen earlier flicks, Dix has an absurd predilection for red/green lighting, reflected by the marketing team in their poster design, which looks at first glance like a Christmas-themed slasher flick. Meh.
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