Like the non-linear structure of “Pulp Fiction,” the revisionist history of “Inglourious Basterds,” Quentin Tarantino zagged on all of us when he said his favorite movie of 2019 may be the alligators-in-a-hurricane horror movie “Crawl.”
That’s right folks. Forget about “The Irishman” “Joker” or any other prestige drama out there. There’s a new entry in the awards race, the Alexandre Aja-directed, Ram Raimi-produced horror movie “Crawl.” According to Deadline awards writer Pete Hammond, the director of “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” named the alligator movie as his favorite of the year. “Tarantino says it impressed him in every way, in terms of pure filmmaking,” Hammond wrote.
“Crawl” stars Kaya Scodelario as a woman trapped in a house during a Florida hurricane with a bunch of hungry alligators, her injured father, and a dog. It is quite easy to see why Tarantino would favor this movie, which is a wild roller-coaster ride of thrills and excitement. For one, aquatic horror is a vastly underappreciated sub-genre of horror, and Sam Raimi is behind the film, and he has given us plenty of genre gems. Of course, there’s also Tarantino’s history of naming an out-of-the-box movie as his favorite of the year, as the director has a famed love for genre cinema.
Sadly, no matter if an Academy Award-winning filmmaker endorses “Crawl,” it is hard to see Paramount start an awards campaign for the horror movie. But then again, maybe Tarantino will spark the new big conversation in Hollywood. Forget about the Snyder Cut, forget about Scorsese versus Marvel (which is still collecting fighters for both sides), whether “Crawl” can get award nominations is the debate worth fighting over. Now, when will Tarantino make a straight-up horror movie?
