Some movies offer disaster tales while others offer horror. With 2022’s They Crawl Beneath, we find a combination of those genres.

To get over his split with girlfriend Gwen (Karlee Eldridge), police officer Danny (Joseph Almani) spends Thanksgiving at his Uncle Bill’s (Michael Paré) ranch in the remote California desert. While Danny fixes up a classic car, a massive earthquake hits.

This finds Danny stuck underneath the automobile. Alone on the ranch, he encounters another problem with a mysterious force emerges from the ground to threaten him.

As noted at the start, Crawl provides a hybrid of sort. Specifically, it comes across as an attempted mix of 127 Hours and Tremors.

On the surface, that sounds intriguing. As executed, though, Crawl offers a clumsy and dull experience.

From the very start, we find ample evidence that the filmmakers lacked much confidence. The opening telegraphs plot points, and music “stings” us to attempt emotion.

There’s a logical reason the filmmakers seem to lack confidence in Crawl: it’s not a good movie. Slow and without real drama, the movie can’t fulfill any of its basic goals.

At its heart, this really should become a basic survival story with the twist that killer critters come after the protagonist. However, probably due to that aforementioned lack of confidence, Crawl feels the need to gussy up the material with unneeded plot points.

Hoo boy, does Crawl ladle out melodrama! To avoid spoilers, I won’t delve into details, but it wastes time with soap opera elements connected to the various supporting characters.

These seem wholly unnecessary – and a distraction, honestly. As Crawl dilly-dallies with cheesy moments, it takes away from the basic tension it should deliver.

Not that it manages to provoke much anxiety or interest in the viewer. Danny’s plight may come packed with fraught potential, but as depicted, we find ourselves in a slow journey to nowhere.

Paré offers some sordid charm as semi-sleazy Uncle Bill, but no one else in the cast can act. Given how much time we spend with Almani, this becomes a problem, and his wooden performance harms the film.

Maybe Crawl would overcome some of these issues as a short film. Not that 88 minutes offers an extended running time, but the movie can’t fill that space in a satisfactory manner.

That said, given the unfulfilling nature of most aspects on display here, I can’t feel confident a 20-minute Crawl would fare any better. Despite a decent premise, this becomes a forgettable product.

They Crawl Beneath appears in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect generally positive visuals here.

For the most part, sharpness appeared good. While the image occasionally felt a bit on the soft side during interiors or wider shots, the majority of the movie came across with acceptable to good delineation.

Jagged edges and moiré effects failed to appear. I also noticed no edge haloes nor print flaws.

In terms of palette, Night favored a light teal much of the time, with some orange/amber as well. These hues lacked much pep but they seemed more than adequate.

Blacks appeared full and dense, while low-light shots gave us good clarity. This didn’t become a great image, but it worked fine most of the time,

Though not packed with action, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack accentuated the story. Most of the livelier moments related to “scare elements”, but even those didn’t manage to use the spectrum in an especially vivid manner.

The film emphasized ambience and not much more. Earthquakes added some punch but not enough to make a real difference in the track’s overall impact.

Within those gentle confines, sound quality satisfied. Music was full and rich, while effects demonstrated nice clarity and accuracy. Those elements boasted deep bass to accentuate the movie’s thrills.

Speech came across as crisp and natural. The mix didn’t do much but it seemed acceptable.

The disc opens with ads for Death Knot, Unwelcome and Emergency Declaration. We get the movie’s trailer as well but find no other extras.

As a mix of survival drama and horror, They Crawl Beneath shows real possibilities. However, the final product seems too melodramatic and devoid of real tension. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio but it lacks bonus materials. Don’t expect much from this forgettable affair.