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Crawlspace
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - 88 Films Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (19th September 2024). |
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The Film
 The son of a S.S. concentration camp scientist, Karl Gunther (Fitzcarraldo's Klaus Kinski) was sent to Buenos Aires before the end of the war where he studied medicine and became addicted to killing via euthanasia. After a mistake, Gunther fled to the United States where his interests took on a more sadistic edge. Now he rents rooms in his New York apartment building solely to beautiful young women. After his previous favorite tenant (Doctor Butcher, M.D.'s Sherry Buchanan) discovers his attic lair and his caged, tongue-less companion Martha (Sally Brown), he has a room to let and that is just what college student Lori Bancroft (The Kindred's Talia Balsam) needs. Like her neighbors ditzy soap actress Jessica (Fingers' Carole Francis), flirt Harriet (Hamburger: The Motion Picture's Barbara Whinnery), and sultry singer Sophie (Death Spa's Tanι McClure) Lori unknowingly puts on a show for Gunther who watches from the building's network of air vents which they and their gentleman callers believe are only a conduit for rats. Gunther, however, has darker interests than cheap thrills, and soon Lori is a rat in a maze fighting for her life. Shot in Italy at producer Charles Band's Empire Studios (the former studios of Dino de Laurentiis) on redressed apartment building sets from the relatively higher-budgeted Troll designed and further augmented by Giovanni Natalucci (Dolls), Crawlspace was written and directed by David Schmoeller who had previously directed the creepy Tourist Trap and would be a major influence on the direction of Band's subsequent company Full Moon Entertainment with the franchise starter Puppet Master. Handsomely photographed by Lucio Fulci's regular cinematographer Sergio Salvati (Zombie) and scored with a contrasting Bernard Herrmann-esque strings and a Jewish lament by Pino Donaggio (Carrie), the film's strongest element whether anyone likes it or not is Kinski. He is the compelling focal point of the film, making the audience and the other characters uncomfortable (particularly the female characters which is more disturbing knowing what we do about his treatment of actresses). He managing to convey non-verbally the character's breaking point more effectively than Schmoeller's script contrary to some reviews and viewer expectation, Kenneth Robert Shippy's character "Josef Steiner" is not a Nazi hunter which abruptly goes from slow buildup to body count bewildering the audience as much as Balsam's final girl. After each murder, the film cuts to Gunther in a white room with a checkered floor engaging in Russian Roulette, and the final cutaway subtly suggests that some or all of the film is taking place in his mind as much as the "insular" nature of the film with no establishing shots of the apartment building exterior not even recycled shots from Troll and the only actual exterior being a sound stage patio that provides ingress to Sophie's apartment by visitors (welcome or otherwise). Between Crawlspace and Puppet Master, Schmoeller helmed the more restrained Catacombs which was released in 1988 in some territories but not until 1993 in the United States direct to VHS and laserdisc as "Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice" due to the bankruptcy of Empire's regular distributor Trans World Entertainment. 
Video
Released directly to video in the U.K. from Vestron Video International with slight cuts, the film came to DVD with cuts restored in 2015 from Final Cut Entertainment utilizing MGM's HD master which appeared stateside in a double feature DVD with The Attic. The transfer was also repurposed for Scream Factory's stateside Blu-ray and 88 Films' 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray under review. Although an older master, the transfer looks quite respectable apart from the credits opticals thanks to Salvati's bright studio lighting and high key gobo shadows. Buechler's make-up effects and prosthetic body parts look a bit rubbery - particularly Kinski's "hand" held over a flame - but the bodies discovered later in the film are more disturbing in concept than execution. A newer scan might have better resolved detail in the darker scenes but a newer transfer seems unlikely. 
Audio
The sole audio option is the original mono mix in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Dialogue is always clear - although some hiss during the awkward kitchen exchange early on suggests that level might have been boosted in post even though this was recorded in controlled settings - while both Donaggio's scoring and the sound design are particularly striking that one wishes that Empire had sprung for a Dolby Stereo or Ultra Stereo mix what with the vent echoes, the luring sounds of a Newton's cradle, and the high-tech death traps. Optional English HoH subtitles are also included. 
Extras
88 Films was not able to include the Scream Factory commentary with Schmoeller possibly due to rights owner MGM's guarded stance towards litigation that gutted Vinegar Syndrome's release of Cannon slasher Schizoid of Kinski anecdotes that had been hinted in the earlier Scream Factory and detailed in 88 Films' Blu-ray but they have recorded a new audio commentary by film journalists Matty Budrewicz and Dave Wain who acknowledge that Kinski was a brilliant actor but horrible person, discussing Kinski's "antics" on the set and noting that they cannot gloss over them while gloating about his performance (as well as Schmoeller's and executive producer Roberto Bessi's awkward solution of asking McClure to stay on the set since Kinski had a crush on her and was on his best behavior when she was around). They discuss Schmoeller's work for and away from Band, making the case that he is as much an auteur as Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) while acknowledging his shortcomings as far as character arcs (evident in this film). They also discuss Empire's productions in Italy and the overlap of crew with Italian exploitation while also noting that the insular nature of the casting with Schmoeller drawing from a Hollywood acting class he was taking and none of the cast appearing in any other concurrent or subsequent Empire productions. "Mind Trap: Inside Crawlspace" (17:00) is a new interview with director Schmoeller in which he reveals that he had sold another story involving crawlspace voyeurism when Band asked him for an idea to take advantage of the Troll apartment set. Band like the crawlspace concept so Schmoeller wrote a new script (the company that bought the other script sued even though it only shared the use of crawlspaces). He reveals that even Kinski's agent warned him when he asked about meeting him Kinski might have been involved before Schmoeller as he admits to writing the role with him in mind and he recalls another director who had worked with him lying to him about Kinski being professional (he does not name the director but Budrewicz and Wain ponder on the commentary whether it was Ulli Lommelwho directed Kinksi in Revenge of the Stolen Stars or William Malone who directed him in Creature, both of which had records of Kinski's outrageous behavior). He goes on to detail Kinski's behavior and his attempts to adapt before revealing that Bessi confided in him a plan to kill Kinski, collect the insurance, and then restart production with a new actor (Band's only response was "Bummer" but Trans World insisted on keeping Kinski for marquee value). He is still pretty consumed by the experience of handling Kinski on the film but concedes what the actor brought to the film.  The 2013 Austrian and German Blu-rays did not port over the Scream Factory extras but they did debut the 1986 "The Making of Crawlspace" (47:09) which consists of a few minutes of behind the scenes footage bearing out Schmoeller's account including an argument with the crew and visible annoyance at the rapid Italian spoken around him (which he might have understood) along with some not-entirely-unreasonable objections to the intended framing of a shot. The rest is a freewheeling interview with Kinski who agreed to it only if he did not see the camera. He discusses his dislike of directors and studios as well as his views on America where he had been living including his admiration for the youth of the day and the "Just Do It!" spirit. Also ported from the German and Austrian editions are "Please Kill Mr Kinski" (9:05), a 1999 short film in which Schmoeller covers the debacle with Kinski and his feelings about being quoted about it following the actor's death. The short features excerpts from the Kinski interview which is also excerpted in the 1986 promotional featurette (3:45) for the film. Extras close out with the film's theatrical trailer (1:20), a VHS promo (1:09), two TV spots (1:05), and a stills gallery (2:22). 
Packaging
The disc comes with a reversible cover featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys and original poster art while the first pressing includes a poster and slipcover.
Overall
Klaus Kinski is unforgettable in his only Empire Pictures production Crawlspace despite leaving permanent scars on everyone else involved.
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