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Crawl Space (2007)

Crawl Space

This 11 minute short film Written and Directed by Michael Tiddes is very well made.  Most of the films that I review here have quality issues that arise from a lack of budget and a lack of experience in movie making.  Although the no-budget movie fan can appreciate those films, it's often tough for the average film viewer to get past the bad audio, inexperienced acting or poor video quality.  Crawl Space is different in that it looks completely professional.  In fact, if this film were included in almost any DVD compilation of short films it would most likely be the best one on there.  In spite of being a low budget production, Crawl Space delivers in every way.

The story begins with a chick (played by Erin Ross) waking up trapped in a crawl space.  She does an excellent job acting throughout the film.  Because of the nature of the story and the brevity of the film, I really can't say much without ruining it for anyone who would want to watch it, but I will say that the movie does not go in any direction that you might expect.  As for the production quality; the set design for the crawl space itself is extremely well put together.  The camera work is excellent.  Everything right down to the audio and music is done perfectly.  I was surprised to see the quality of the film, but then read that director Michael Tiddes has worked on several big budget productions and all of the actors have quite an impressive resume.  It makes me wonder just how much of a budget this film had.

Even when compared to major budget short films Crawl Space is one of the best shorts that I've ever seen.  I would love to see what Tiddes could do with a full length film.

Gore-o-meter rating: 2.5 out of 5 (The film is only 11 minutes, but there is some gore.)

Skin-o-meter: 0.5 out of 5 (Almost, but no.)