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Good concept, poorly executed.

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Based on the novel by Herbert Lieberman, Crawlspace is what happens when Albert (Arthur Kennedy, The Sentinel, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue) and Alice (Teresa Wright, Best Supporting Actress for the film Mrs. Miniver, as well as The Little Foxes and The Pride of the Yankees) Graves take in Richard Atlee as their adopted son.Well, let's hold on a second. The Graves have moved to a small town to help Albert recuperate from his heart attack. And when their furnace goes, the repair company sends Richard to fix it. They invite him over for dinner and the furnace goes bad a few days later. When the new repairman shows up, he tells them that Richard disappeared.Strange sounds come from the crawlspace. Turns out Richard has been living there. And even when the Graves adopt him and try to care for him, he refuses to sleep anywhere but the crawlspace.Even after Sherriff Birge warns the couple about the boy, they keep him in their home. But then, Richard starts acting out. His violent outbursts toward the Graves and the entire town (particularly a general store) increase in intensity and menace.Directed by John Newland and Buzz Kulik (who also did Bad Ronald), this February 11, 1972 TV movie is slow, haunted and pretty effective. You can see why the couple wanted Richard in their lives, as he becomes the only topic of their conversations. And as he begins to fix things around the house, he becomes oddly necessary."What the hell are we doing with a boy in the hole in our cellar?" You'll wonder this same question! This is a real actor movie, with Arthur Kennedy really shining here, his anger toward what he perceives as Richard's rudeness balanced by Teresa Wright's need for someone to care for. The scene where she asks if she should add Richard's name to Christmas cards is heartbreaking.The police finally give up on trying to convince Albert and Alice to give up Richard and refuse their calls when a gang of boys he's feuding with attack their house. Despite pleas for Richard to leave, despite offering him money, despite all attempt at sanity, Richard will not leave.An attack from the gang of boys leads to Richard killing one of the men and Albert covers for Richard one last time. Alice loses her civility and screams that she wants Richard to leave. He attacks her, leading to Richard shooting him and dying for a stress-related heart attack. Only Alice is left behind in the crawlspace.Crawlspace is filled with sadness. A couple that could never find a child. A man who can never find his place in the world. And even in the brief moments of happiness they find together, there is always the chance that it could fall apart at any moment. You can see the ending before the characters do, but that doesn't lessen its impact.

Like the reviewer above me, I saw this when I was young and it returns to my thoughts often...it has a certain haunting quality to it that is hard to define. Powerful and evocative and yet very understated. There is an air of reconciliation for the generations here, after the turbulent and impassioned separation of the 1960s, just passed.No performances stand out in my mind...Matthew Cowles is believable as the small-town heavy, and Arthur Kennedy turns in a memorable performance in the twilight of his career.It's the eerie and unexplained presence of the young man...almost like a lost child, how the old couple summons him up from the crawlspace and just accept him as their surrogate child, that's always stuck with me and made this movie return to my thoughts again and again, after all of these years.

Crawlspace (1972) ** (out of 4) Made-for-TV film has an elderly couple (Arthur Kennedy, Teresa Wright) finding out that a strange young man (Tom Happer) has been living in the crawlspace in their basement. The couple never had their own children so they decide to let the man stay there and try to teach him right and wrong but slowly things start to go bad. CRAWLSPACE has a lot of interesting ideas but sadly none of them have much done with them and in the end we're left with a very talky and long feeling movie. The film actually runs just 74-minutes so it's certainly not long in any way but while watching it the thing feels to go on and on. A lot of this is due to the fact that not much happens in the picture outside of the characters constantly talking about everything that's happening. This is one of those films were the people talk more about something that happened rather than us actually seeing what happened. I say this because there are so many conversations between the husband and wife yet they never seem overly worried about everything that's happening. I mean, I had an extremely hard time believing that anyone could find someone living in their crawlspace and being okay with it. I never believed the story being told and I think had they simply had a reasonable discussion about it then I could have bought into it more. The film does contain some very good performances with both Kennedy and Wright coming off extremely good as the couple. Happer is also good in his role, although he isn't given too much to do since most of his time is unseen in his crawlspace. The film really doesn't turn to the horror elements until the very end so for the majority of the running time we're watching a drama that just never connects.

Older couple Arthur Kennedy and Teresa Wright (as Albert and Alice Graves) are in their New England retirement home when handsome young Tom Happer (as Richard Atlee) emerges from their basement, where he has "put in a new coil". Strangely attracted to Mr. Happer, Ms. Wright asks him to stay for supper, and Mr. Kennedy lets him borrow a rare addition of Blake from his library. Happer enjoys his stay, and drives off with the book of poetry. Later, Kennedy goes into the basement to investigate an electoral problem and discovers some of Happer's belongings in the "Crawlspace" under his house, including the borrowed book.Sometime later, Kennedy and Wright realize the young man is living in the "Crawlspace" under their house. They decide to feed him, and try to get him to move into the spare bedroom. Kennedy wants to find him a job and Wright adds his name to her sister's Christmas card, "Love from Albert, Alice and Richard." The childless couple has obviously "adopted" their intruder has a surrogate son. But, Happer is weird - he carves "GOD" in the garage door, and refuses to come out of the basement for almost two months. Finally, at Christmas, he emerges from the "Crawlspace".Now nearly mute, Happer helps around the house and yard; and, the three are happy. Still, Happer refuses to sleep in his bedroom, and retires to the "Crawlspace" at night. One day, chief of police Eugene Roche (as Emil Birge) drops by to warn Kennedy and Wright about long-haired Happer, who he believes might be a college drop-out involved with drugs. Happer reveals, when quizzed, that he formerly lived in a cave, and moved to the "Crawlspace" for the winter. Kennedy learns he is actually from Wyoming. All goes well, until Happer begins to interact with the small town's intolerant citizens… Perhaps because it sticks to Herbert Lieberman's 1967 novel (until the ending), this is an above average edition of the "New CBS Friday Night Movies". Probably, because it was not part of ABC's top-rated Tuesday line-up, "Crawlspace" fell through the cracks. Veterans Kennedy and Wright are terrific as the lonely, unfulfilled couple. And, Happer is extraordinary as the personification of troubled youth - in an extremely difficult role, he manages to make his character both scary and sympathetic - and, he never succumbs to the temptation to overact the part.If it had aired earlier in the season, the three might have been considered for Emmy Awards. Interestingly, acclaimed director Buzz Kulik did win an "Emmy" during the 1971-72 eligibility period for "Brian's Song" - the movie which dominated the awards that year. Mr. Kulik was replaced on "Crawlspace" by director John Newland, but would return to the creepy loner guy fold with ABC's "Bad Ronald" (1974). But, for the truest version of the alienated, isolated, and/or insane 1970s counterculture outcast youth, Happer's "Richard" shouldn't be missed.Happer looks like he should have become a much more successful actor. He was one of the many "Dark Shadows" stars awarded parts in TV and theatrical movies during the early 1970s - he played a "Romeo"-type role on "Shadows", and would have continued on the show, had it been renewed for Spring 1971 season. Undoubtedly, Happer was one of the many "Dark Shadows" cast believing "DS" was a small part of a larger career; but, with a few exceptions, fans wanted them to remain in the "Shadows" eternally.A more successful soap opera career was had by Matthew Cowles (as Dave Freeman), who plays a villainous townie. Jerry Goldsmith's score is also worth noting. "Crawlspace" was released on DVD in unfortunately "un-restored" condition (it's worth looking to see if CBS had a different edit, in some warehouse or vault). Until (if ever!) it's restored, the good folks at "Wild Eye" should receive "Dark Shadows" thanks for making Tom Happer's "Crawlspace" and Jonathan Frid's "The Devil's Daughter" the first two movies in their "TV Movie Terror Collection".******** Crawlspace (2/11/72) Buzz Kulik, John Newland ~ Arthur Kennedy, Teresa Wright, Tom Happer