Summary
- Crawl 2’s New York setting hints at sewer alligators, a popular urban legend ripe for a terrifying film adaptation.
- Sewer alligators offer Crawl 2 a chance to reinvent the franchise and bring a fresh, high-concept horror premise.
- By moving the action from Florida to New York, Crawl 2 sets itself apart and could stand out as a standalone horror hit.
The upcoming sequel Crawl 2 is making the surprising move to the urban setting of New York City – and that surely means it’s adapting a popular urban legend for the big screen. Back in 2019, the alligator-infested thriller Crawl made quite a splash (pardon the pun), both critically and commercially, so it’s no surprise that Paramount is cooking up a sequel (via The Hollywood Reporter). The original movie’s Alexandre Aja is back in the director’s chair for Crawl 2, working from a script by Project Almanac and Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension writers Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan.
Although filming for the sequel is set to take place in Europe, the story will take place in New York City. The first film saw the gators attacking a flooded basement following a devastating storm in Florida. But the sequel is bringing the gator-gnashing action to the concrete jungle of New York. And given the New York setting, it seems likely that the sequel will adapt a popular urban legend that’s tailor-made for the horror film treatment.
Crawl 2’s New York Setting Surely Means Sewer Alligators
Sewer alligators are crying out for the big-screen treatment
The fact that the Crawl sequel is going to New York City surely means that it’s adapting the urban myth of sewer alligators for the big screen. These urban legends date back to the late 1920s and early 1930s and suppose that alligators are lurking in the sewer systems of areas where alligators usually wouldn’t be found, like Paris or, indeed, New York. This myth is likely just a myth, since it would be difficult for alligators to survive long-term in the cold, bacteria-ridden New York sewers.
But it’s also a great concept for a horror film. This urban myth is crying out for the big-screen treatment. Whereas Crawl followed the somewhat plausible premise of Floridian alligators exploring the wreckage of a hurricane, Crawl 2 could go into full-blown high-concept Hollywood blockbuster territory for the Crawl-meets-Mimic premise of New Yorkers getting attacked by sewer alligators.
Sewer Alligators Are A Great Way For Crawl 2 To Reinvent The Franchise
It’s a promising sign that Crawl 2 isn’t just rehashing the first one
It would’ve been easy for Crawl 2 to just rehash the premise of the first Crawl and tell another story about alligators attacking the survivors of a hurricane. But that would’ve been a let-down, because that story was already told perfectly in the original film. By swapping out the alligators + hurricane premise for an alligators + sewers premise, Crawl 2 has the chance to reinvent the franchise and do something totally different. If done well, it can stand alone as a great horror movie in its own right, regardless of its franchise connections.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Crawl
3.5
Crawl is a horror thriller set during a Florida Hurricane. It follows a young woman named Haley who refuses to heed the mandatory evacuation order to search for her father, who went missing at the beginning of the storm. When Haley finds her father seriously injured, they discover the hurricane is the least of their problems. Suddenly, their home is besieged by a group of massive alligators looking for their next meal.
- Director
- Alexandre Aja
- Cast
- George Somner , Morfydd Clark , Anson Boon , Jose Palma , Ross Anderson , Colin McFarlane , Barry Pepper , Ami Metcalf , Kaya Scodelario , Annamaria Serda
