Starring Kaya Scodelario, Barry Pepper

Directed by Alexandre Aja

Paramount, out now

 

Haley tries to track down her estranged father in hurricane-struck Florida, unaware that some of the local carnivorous reptiles are on the loose and hungry.

You have to admire the simplicity of Alexandre Aja’s (Switchblade Romance) monster movie, which in three words is ‘Jaws with alligators’ but demonstrates such mastery of the genre that it’s leagues above the other rip-offs and wannabes that followed in the Orca’s wake.

There’s no shortage of alligator movies as it is, from Lewis Teague’s Alligator to the Lake Placid series, but the difference here is that we’re not looking at mutated or super beasts, just gators as nature intended them.

The Maze Runner series’ Kaya Scodelario is great as Haley, though you might initially roll your eyes when the opening scene reveals that she’s a university class swimmer. It feels like a fortuitous advantage, but our lead needs some underwater breathing skills to prevent her from becoming alligator chow to soon. Barry Pepper (The Green Mile) as father Dave is also great support, teaming up with his daughter against the beasts.

Of course, it’s all very contrived and people do things they shouldn’t, but that’s part of fun. It’s relentless and the visual effects (presumably a mix of CGI and practical) are blended well enough to not pull you out of the adventure. Oh, and there’s an inspired choice of song over the closing titles – you can discover that one yourselves.

Verdict: A lean, mean tense 87 minutes packed with peril and jumps that proudly wears its genre badge in its sleeve and delivers on all fronts. Now get me a Crawl sequel… and make it snappy! 9/10

Nick Joy