Movie Review: CRAWLERS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: October 21st, 2026 / 01:43 AM

Rating: R
Stars: Matilda Lutz, Gregg Sulkin, Sam Lucas Smith, Andrea Scott, Melina Mathews, William Miller, Gary Stennette, Elena Stanz
Writer: Jayson Rothwell
Director: Angel Gomez Hernandez
Distributor: Roadside Attractions/Saban Films
Release Date: October 16, 2026

If you suffer from arachnophobia – that is, fear of spiders – not in an “oh, they scare me, so they make good horror movie fodder,” but in an “I’m terrified of them and can’t stand to hear about them,” not only don’t watch CRAWLERS, but don’t read the rest of this review.

Okay, you’ve been warned. CRAWLERS opens with onscreen information: “For every single person, there are more than 3 million spiders. They exist in 100% of our homes. We are never more than 3 feet from one.” It goes on from there to be more hypothetical.

For those who aren’t arachnophobes, you may be thinking, “And despite all this, my life has continued up to the point where I’m reading this review.” (For those who have died from arachnid encounters and are somehow still reading this review, we at ASSIGNMENT X extend our sincere condolences.)

Anyway, we find ourselves at the Paradiso Palms Apartments in Santa Monica, California. It’s a three-story building with a basement and an on-site repair person, Serena (Matilda Lutz), who is well-meaning but not very good at her job. Therefore, the Paradiso’s pipes are leaking in various places.

One of the residents, a UCLA science professor, returns home from a trip abroad, unknowingly bringing an extremely venomous spider with him. He dies from its bite, and the spider proceeds to reproduce.

Meanwhile, the building’s lecherous, insulting landlord (Gregg Sulkin) tells Serena he’ll be away for the weekend. This means she can’t contact him when she finds the professor’s corpse. Reasonably, Serena calls the police.

The police contact the Health Department, which at first thinks the cause of death may be a virus. The building is quarantined on the grounds of possible contagion, leaving everyone unknowingly locked in with the spiders.

There are some ingenious set-ups and encounters, and Lutz is a personable protagonist. It also works that Sulkin as the landlord provides a personality for the main human antagonist, even if he’s playing second fiddle to the spiders.

Part of the challenge for CRAWLERS director Angel Gomez Hernandez and writer Jayson Rothwell is that, without some kind of greater hook, even knowing the spider bites are deadly doesn’t make them especially frightening. It doesn’t aid credibility that the spiders, apparently all from one species, come in a surprising variety of shapes and sizes.

The greater challenge is that the filmmakers can’t settle on a tone. It never quite goes for comedy, and the balance between being simply non-serious and serious shifts in ways that aren’t always effective.

There are some cool shots, effects and confrontations. However, most of CRAWLERS feels like it’s about people having near-misses with really big spiders. If this is what sticks to your entertainment web, go for it. Otherwise, it may be time to seek out Shelob for a bigger jolt

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Somewhat silly but intermittently entertaining spider horror

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Article: Movie Review: CRAWLERS

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