This movie was pretty bad. First of all, I have to say, the title has really nothing to do with the actual movie. No one ever says, 'Don't look in the basement.' The basement isn't even referred to or gone into until an hour and 20 minutes into the movie. And even then, the basement segment is only about a minute long.

The acting was pretty horrendous. Although there were a few interesting characters, it was more silly than frightening. It reminded me of a cross between 'Spider Baby' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre.' 'Spider Baby' because of all the weird characters, 'TCM' because of all the screaming. Both of those flicks beat this one by a mile.

The music was kind of weird, but not in a good way. It sounded as if it was pulled off of re-runs of 'The Prisoner.' And maybe it was just my DVD, but there was an annoying trail coming off of things when they moved that made the movie almost painful to watch.

As for the story, like I said, there were some interesting characters but the basic plot seemed to be written by some sort of crazy person that should've been in the film. Very rarely did it seem to be going in any coherent direction and when the story finally got around to making some sort of sense, it was very predictable.

'Don't Look in the Basement' is a painful movie to watch with no real rewards afterwards. I wouldn't recommend it.

Spoilers

This is an ingenious film. Don't be fooled by the negative comments from people who probably were bored because they expected this movie to be a bloodbath. You can't really blame them, because it is marketed as such on the box art for most of the releases I have seen, but the violence is actually quite tame and the emphasis is on characterization and mood.

There really is very little plot going on here, the film is more like a series of vignettes. It concerns a naive nurse, Charlotte Beale, who comes to a secluded mental hospital and is completely unaware that the only sane people have been murdered, even though several of the patients try to tell her this. The lack of a decent budget really gives the filmmakers little more to go on than wacky characters and off-the-wall situations, and there are plenty.

First we have the delusional woman who thinks her baby doll is real. Then there's the weird judge who has quite a way with an axe. A man called "The Sarge" thinks the enemy is always just on the horizon, and old Mrs. Callahan is like everybody's daffy elderly grandmother gone amok. Then there is Allyson, who gives the term "nymphomaniac" new meaning. Sam is a gentle giant with the mind of a child and a penchant for popsicles, and Jennifer vaults suddenly between catatonia and violent outbursts. Presiding over the crazies is Dr. Masters, who may not really be a doctor at all.

"Don't Look in the Basement" is a brilliant low-budget film. Well actually it seems more like a no-budget film, and yet there is a feel to this movie that transcends that grainy film stock. The cast of characters is truly bizarre, and the actors are quite competent at carrying this off with very little plot going on. Several cast members actually turn in wonderful performances, particularly Betty Chandler and Annabelle Weenick, and the way the director adds little weird details to the movie can really stick with you.

The scene between Allyson and "the telephone man" is a classic for all time, and especially delicious are the facial expressions of Dr. Masters when she begins to go over the edge near the finale of the movie. Brownrigg also makes great use of the cheap soundtrack, with several musical cues really evoking the characters that they accompany. My favorite cue is the "crazy" cue, whenever one of the patients does something pathological. This is just one of the artful qualities that demonstrates how well-made this movie really is, even for how cheap it looks.

Also wonderful is the way that Charlotte herself plunges into hysteria at the climax, with the patients revealing that Dr. Masters is simply another inmate, and then suggesting that CHARLOTTE is also a patient who is being allowed to act out her delusions (she certainly has a tenuous grip on reality...why else would she not question the ominous lack of phone service or outside contact?). The scene where Charlotte manages to finish off the barely-alive Dr. Stephens with a toy boat has to be one of the greatest moments in low-budget horror.

Yes, "Don't Look in the Basement" could very well be the "American Beauty" of Grade Z trash, and anybody who can't deal with the long passages that are lacking violence should really be watching one of the "Friday the 13th" films instead of this one.

PS: What I would love to know is, what was the original title of this film? Every print I have seen has a cheap title card inserted over top of the introductory shots, which suggests that the film was retitled for television and video. Could they have filmed it as something else?