Bug Crawls (2008) User Reviews

Mildly successful

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 17 August 2017]

"Bug Crawls" is a 4.5-minute black-and-white short film from 2008, so this one will have its 10th anniversary next year and for writer and director David Lynch, it is a bit of a return to his roots as (b&w) short films are how it all began for him decades ago before he became the shooting star he still is today. In this one here we have exactly what the title says, namely a bug crawling over the screen that is filled by landscape and a house. I would say that the sound effects early on are perhaps the best aspect about this really short movie. It fits the general weirdness of Lynch's approach to filmmaking I guess, but lets be honest: There is a reason why this is a contender for the man's least known work. It is just nothing special at all really and I am sure without the big name attached to this project, it may be almost completely forgotten by now. It's famous (if you can even say that) because of Lynch, not the other way around. And I have to give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

something slow and surreal to give you the creeps

[framptonhollis · 6/10 · 2 September 2017]

David Lynch has dabbled in the realms of many artistic mediums; as a matter of fact, he originally didn't intend to be a filmmaker and was instead mostly focused on being a painter, but one day I suppose he wanted to see his paintings move which led to his early "classic" horror animation "Six Figures Getting Sick Six Times" a semi disturbing avant- garde piece that reminds me quite a bit of his much later short "Bug Crawls". "Crawls" feels to me like a melding of Lynch's earliest and latest work, in particular his cryptic first shorts (ex: the aforementioned "Six Figures..." as well as parts of "The Alphabet" and "The Grandmother") and his equally, if not more cryptic recent works (ex: sections of "Inland Empire", practically anything else from Davidlynch.com, and "Twin Peaks" 2017, episode eight in particular, as well as anything featuring The Convenience Store). Lynch himself has said that this film is nothing more than a mood, and, admittedly, it's more of an art piece than a film. Like, I can imagine seeing this at the MoMA (in which case it'd be among it's better pieces I'm sure, and don't get me wrong I love going there but there's just some modern art that is really pathetic) more than I can a film festival. Either way, it's still creepy as Hell and a brilliantly haunting, atmospheric short that will appeal mostly to Lynch fans and anyone deeply interested in experimental art and cinema.

Very basic and limited short film from David Lynch

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 8 March 2018]

David Lynch has unfortunately only really been making short films for most of the latter part of his career, which has deprived us of the man's knack for fantastically weird feature films. This one, like many of his shorts from this period is no more than a dark tone. In it, a large bug slowly approaches an ominous looking house set in a dark, bleak landscape. It crawls over the building and then enters it. There is truthfully little to this one other than a snippet of something strange. It is very reminiscent of Lynch's other recent experimental shorts. I can't say I am a huge fan of those or this one, although it is short enough to be an interesting enough watch, with its odd feel and ominous sound design. Essentially though, there isn't much to see here quite honestly.

Worth Watching for Lynch Fans

[Michael_Elliott · 4 June 2015]

Bug Crawls (2008)

*** (out of 4)

For whatever reasons, filmmaker David Lynch has mostly been making shorts over the past decade and this one here certainly has his dark style written all over it. Basically we see a small house. We also see a bug. We see the bug slowly walk up to the house, walk over it and then fall off. That's basically everything that happens in this four minute short but if you're a fan of Lynch then you're probably going to enjoy the madness that is here. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but I enjoyed the dark nature of the film and the fact that you keep waiting for something "more" to happen and it actually never does. I'm sure many people would view this and ask what the point was but I think fans of Lynch are going to enjoy anything he's done and the people who will be most entertained by this are his fans and especially those who enjoyed his earliest short films.

A little eerie animation by Lynch

[Rectangular_businessman · 6/10 · 20 October 2023]

A little experimental animation by David Lynch, a bit reminiscent of some of his early work (such as Six Men Getting Sick).

There isn't any real plot here. Its effect is similar of a painting or sculpture in motion.

A giant bug crawls over a house in a deserted landscape, while a fish (?) slowly flies/swims through the sky.

It honestly reminded me of the bumpers some cable channels like MTV used to have back then in the nineties and the early 2000s.

The atmosphere is pretty great, I won't discuss that. The same mystery and eerieness present in most of Lynch's work is also present here.

But at the same time, it feel kinda pointless, the kind of stuff only unconditional fans of this director would appreciate. Most viewers probably would be bored by this.