Crawlspace Reviews

Though vaguely similar to the better known BAD RONALD (1974), this uneasy psychological drama, based on a novel by mystery writer Herbert Lieberman, is surprisingly sympathetic towards the disturbed young man who takes refuge in an older couple's crawlspace. Albert and Alice Graves (Arthur Kennedy, Teresa Wright) are an older couple living in an isolated country house. Albert had heart trouble, and Alice's warm, welcoming manner and loving attention to her husband belie a deep, abiding sadness that they were never able to have children. After a young, slightly aloof repairman, Richard Atley (Tom Happer), does some work on their furnace, she impulsively invites him to stay for dinner. Some weeks later, they discover that he's been sneaking into their cellar and sleeping in the crawlspace that runs beneath the kitchen. Unnerved, they padlock the cellar door. But as the weather grows colder they relent, ignoring the implications of the angry scrawl they found on the newly locked door and allowing the skittish, unkempt Richard to hole up in their basement. Sensitive to Alice's palpable maternal neediness, Albert helps her reach out to Richard, whom they gradually persuade to trim his hair and beard, accept gifts of clothing and even join them at meals. In return, he chops wood, shovels snow and generally helps out with heavy chores, though he never sleeps in the house and sometimes disappears for long rambles through the woods. Unfortunately, Albert's well-intentioned effort to slowly reintroduce the reclusive Richard to normal social interactions backfires badly: While on a shopping trip in town, Richard runs afoul of locals who take him for a shiftless hippie, and the stage is set for disaster. Curiously, Buzz Kulik, who later made BAD RONALD, was the original director on this made for TV movie steeped in mainstream hostility towards the counterculture; he was replaced halfway through production by TV veteran John Newland, whose credits range from directing the classic television creep-fest DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) to hosting the early paranormal anthology series One Step Beyond (1959-1961). Stars Kennedy, a five-time Oscar nominee and Tony award winner (for Death of a Salesman), and Wright, who was Oscar nominated for her first three films and won in the supporting actress category for 1942's Mrs. Miniver, give the depth to the Graveses; their calm professionalism helps offset the visible stiffness of newcomer Happer, who had only a handful of appearances on the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows to his credit, but his awkwardness also plays to Richard's social deficiencies. Though slow and indifferently shot, CRAWLSPACE stuck with a generation of TV-movie viewers and there have been rumors of a big screen remake.