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Cellar Dweller

From the creative minds of writer Don Manchini (‘Child’s Play’) and director John Carl Beuchler (‘Troll’) comes the 80’s horror that you wished you’d seen. Starring Jeffrey Combs (‘Re-Animator’) and Yvonne Di Carlo (‘The Munsters’) amongst a cast of fresh (for the 80’s) faced youngsters as they come against the beast in the cellar who will not leave without their blood.

 

Part vampire, werewolf, ghost and demon, the cellar dweller is more than your average creature in the basement and after blending witchcraft and the art of comic book drawing brings the monster from the abyss and one by one the housemates meet their vicious ends.

 

‘Cellar Dweller’ captures everything that is so perfect about a time when horror films were creepy fun. Back in 1988 I can see this tanking and being dusted under the carpets as a cast of relatively unknowns and a plot that has been seen and done before would leave this forgotten by many. Now, thanks to 101 Films cult horror collection, many lost gems are resurfacing and luckily, ‘Cellar Dweller’ has made that list.

 

It’s to a surprise that most of the actors have never been in another genre film where so many others have had repeated success in the genre. The squabbling rival between Whitney (Deborah Mullowney) and Amanda (Pamela Bellwood) is something akin to the characters from ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ and when Amanda meet her gruesome end it’s ever more satisfying.

 

All of the cheese from the era and a star turn from Combs make this a must for any horror fan and the deaths are both gory and plenty. Films such as ‘Creepshow’ and ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ made comic tie ins relevant and in a time where the comic book market is as popular as ever, the subject is ever more relevant to an audience who deserve this movie.

Director: John Carl Beuchler

Year: 1988

Running Time: 77 minutes

Age Rating: 18

RATING


Plot: 3
Fear: 3
Gore: 4


R4/5​

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