Creepy Crawly Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Creepy Crawly Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 2, 2023

Considering the vast array of threats that have faced Man for untold millennia, including everything from dinosaurs to pandemics, it's kind of weird that it's little insects that provoke an almost atavistic fear in people. If you're like many, maybe even most, the sudden unexpected scurrying of a previously unnoticed little multi-legged creature is enough to cause a startle response, and perhaps even a scream or two. Centipedes, or at least something like them, are the monsters in Creepy Crawly, and for anyone who does harbor an atavistic fear of such creatures, this is probably not the film for you. This is kind of weirdly the second "horror" movie in a row from Well Go USA that overtly places its story within the confines of a response to Covid 19 (the other one was Gangnam Zombie), and in fact Creepy Crawly relies on the plot conceit of a bunch of visitors to Bangkok being confined in a so-called "quarantine hotel" for two weeks as they enter the city. The hotel turns out to be housing more than a potential virus, of course.

And in fact the basic premise of Creepy Crawly is rather interesting, and the centipede effects as well as the "boss monster" effects are generally surprisingly well done, but the film bogs down repeatedly in trying to provide actual character beats throughout its tale, including what I found to be increasingly annoying detours into quasi-backstories, as if anyone watching this is going to care about family dysfunctions, "vlog" stars or anything else other than what character is going to be taken out next by slimy fast moving predatory arthropods. Some of what might be called this "background noise" is almost cartoonish at times, but the film does better as it builds to its expected chaotic climax, which of course ends with a little sting suggesting the infestation isn't quite over yet. I will also add in passing that some may find the prevalent use of masks by characters a hindrance at times to figuring out who exactly is whom in various scenes.

Creepy Crawly Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Creepy Crawly is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb is silent on technical aspects and while the closing credits roll has both Thai and English spellings, I didn't notice any camera information, but this is a sharp digital capture that I assume had a 2K DI. The claustrophobic setting of the hotel, which is ultimately cast in darkness due to the chaos, does tend to mask fine detail levels at times, but in the more brightly lit moments, the palette pops rather nicely and fine detail levels remain secure. The "littler" centipedes are often so fast that any deficits in CGI are probably ignorable, and in the good news department, the very few fleeting glimpses of a much bigger centipede are effective from the all important "gross out" perspective.

Creepy Crawly Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Creepy Crawly has a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Thai, and it springs into action as the swarm of insects begins to take over the hotel, with some fun panning effects and even a couple of bursts of LFE along the way. A lot of the film is rather talky, however, and those moments tend to revert to the front and center channels exclusively. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available. I'm no Asian language expert, but even when turned off, subtitles appear at various moments, and I'm assuming perhaps those characters aren't always speaking Thai. As usual with Well Go USA releases, there's also a Dolby Digital 2.0 track available.

Creepy Crawly Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 2:07)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Creepy Crawly Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's maybe just slightly hilarious that this film was evidently released under the title The One Hundred, and yet its logo, which replaced the "1" with a glyph of an insect, ends up making the film look like it's called 900, which I guess otherwise might be the third sequel to 300. That passing weirdness may indicate a certain lack of focus which the film itself also has as it tries fitfully to blend some admittedly effective "monster movie" moments with what might be called the 21st century version of "kitchen sink drama". It's an ungainly combo platter, but technical merits are generally solid for anyone considering making a purchase.