Crawl: Killer gators attack in first trailer for Sam Raimi-produced horror flick

For years, the Lake Placid franchise was the benchmark for alligator-based horror movies. This summer, however, producer Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man 2) is looking to change all that with Crawl an upcoming horror-thriller centering on killer alligators terrorizing a young woman and her father during a Category 5 hurricane in Florida.

If they threw in some Zika-carrying mosquitoes, they'd have hit the Florida trifecta.

Directed by Alexandre Aja (Mirrors), the film stars Kaya Scodelario (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) in the central role as the daughter, Haley Keller, protecting her dad, Dave (played by The Lone Ranger's Barry Pepper).

Watch the first tense trailer now:

Now, there's a "Florida Man" headline we can all get behind: "Florida Man helps daughter kill big ass alligators during Category 5 hurricane." In all seriousness, though, Crawl is all the more terrifying because something like this could maybe happen in the real world. These giant reptiles are basically living dinosaurs that gain the upper hand (or flipper, if you will) when flooding reaches a critical level. When that happens, they go from majestic swamp creatures to literal monsters that must be feared.

That feeling of helplessness, of going from the top of the food chain to the bottom, is underscored when the state governor (played by The Dark Knight's Colin McFarlane) says that the storm is so bad, that no help can be given to anyone stuck in their houses. And if anyone is foolish enough to come, they'll be eaten toot sweet. The only thing you can do is try and blur their senses by banging on basement pipes.

Here's the first teaser poster as well:

Credit: Paramount Pictures

Written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen (The Inhabitants), Crawl swims into theaters everywhere Friday, July 12.