Crawlspace Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Crawlspace Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 17, 2013

Klaus Kinski was one of the most intrinsically creepy actors of his generation, and that creepiness is put to more than good use in the little remembered 1986 horror film Crawlspace. The film plays like a bizarre mash up of elements of Michael Powell’s infamous Peeping Tom (yet to be released on Blu-ray) and 2000’s The Cell. Kinski plays Karl Guenther, the scion of a former Nazi surgeon who used to experiment on his patients a la Josef Mengele. Like father, like son, as they say, and Karl, who has integrated into domestic life as the landlord at a boarding house which seems to cater to beautiful young women—by Karl’s design.

Crawlspace is intentionally graphic and claustrophobic, detailing Karl’s stalking of his various tenants via the HVAC system in the boarding house, which is large enough for him to crawl around in (hence the title of the film), spy on them, and ultimately arrange for their gruesome murders. There’s a long held captive in Karl’s lair, but things get decidedly more interesting when a young woman named Lori (Talia Balsam) moves in and proves to be a bit more than Karl ever bargained for. This is fairly low rent horror fare, but it’s quite effective and offers a number of well done scares for those who like this sort of thing.

Crawlspace Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Crawlspace is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The elements here, while looking perhaps just slightly faded, are in remarkably good condition (one doubts any real restoration has been done to them), with only very minor white flecks and the like occasionally offering up a distraction. Detail is solid if not especially overwhelming. The film is quite dark at times and there are noticeable compression artifacts which tend to crop up during these scenes, especially at the bottom of the frame. Otherwise, though, this is a decent if not fantastic looking high definition presentation.

Crawlspace Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Crawlspace's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track (delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0) is quite good, all things considered, offering both dialogue and Pino Donaggio's evocative score with very good fidelity. There's nothing very showy about this track or the film's sound design in general, but what's here has no damage or any problems whatsoever to report.

Crawlspace Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director David Schmoeller


• Interview with Make Up Effects Artist John Vulich (1080p; 8:33)


• Please Kill Mr. Kinski (480i; 9:05)


• Theatrical Trailer/TV Spots (480i; 2:29)

Crawlspace Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Crawlspace is another nice showcase for Kinski's patented brand of weirdness. The film is quite disturbing and not for the faint of heart, but for those who like twisted scares, Crawlspace offers quite a few. But, seriously: would you ever rent from a guy who looks like Klaus Kinski? For horror fans, Crawlspace comes Recommended.