Cellar Dweller (1987) User Reviews

See, kids, a little imagination is a BAD thing!

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 16 November 2013]

One can do worse than this if they're partial to the cheese horror of the 1980s, a decade when the genre really came to life. Not that it's anything special at all, but it IS reasonably amusing and thankfully pretty short in duration (78 minutes all told). A production of Charles Bands' Empire Pictures, it's got a cool, gnarly monster, a decent cast, some gore and some suspense, and lots of impressive horror themed comic book art. It even comes up with some twists along the way. It's one of the directorial efforts of makeup effects expert John Carl Buechler, who'd previously helmed "Troll" for Empire.

Debrah Farentino, acting here under her maiden name Mullowney, stars as Whitney, an aspiring comic book artist whose inspiration was the reclusive Colin Childress (played by Jeffrey Combs in a regrettably brief cameo appearance). In the opening prologue, Colins' creations manage to come to life and commit murder. 30 years later, his house is an art academy, and Whitney is the latest student. She finds that when her imagination is fired, the panels in her strips likewise take on life. So now she and others at the school are in big trouble.

The conclusion isn't altogether satisfying, but getting there, one can still have an agreeable enough time. There are some fun moments, and some hoots to be had. Brian Robbins ('Head of the Class', "C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud") is likable as a fellow student, as is Miranda Wilson as Lisa. Pamela Bellwood ('Dynasty') is effectively bitchy as Whitney's rival. Veterans Vince Edwards ("Return to Horror High") and Yvonne De Carlo ("The Silent Scream") are enjoyable to watch. Robbins's father, actor Floyd Levine, has a bit as a cabbie, and experienced monster performer Michael Deak plays the titular Cellar Dweller.

In the end, "Cellar Dweller" is forgettable but worth a viewing for genre devotees who want to see as much from this decade as possible.

Six out of 10.

Good fun

[andy-bradford3 · 5/10 · 16 May 2005]

Cheap and trashy, this film didn't scare but thrilled me with its sense of camp. Yvonne De Carlo is such an underrated actress and is always worth taking a look at. The film is low budget and apart from De Carlo doesn't have any other well known names. The story is very simple a man writes a story about a scary monster. The monster comes to life and kills him but of course that is not the end of the monster. It waits round for more victims... This film may turn up late at night on TV, if it does turn off the lights curl up on the couch and enjoy the next hour or so. The plot cant be taken seriously so just enjoy the absurdities of it. I saw this film on VCR several years ago and cant wait for it to be released on DVD. Yvonne has made several low budget shockers over the years and this has got to be one of the best.

Pretty good monster flick, but needed more substance

[last_cheese · 6/10 · 4 July 2013]

Ahhh, '80s monster movies. Even if you claim to hate them, deep down you really love them. Every time you look at one of the covers, or read the name, you envision some giant mutant or monster picking people off in gory and grotesque ways. Cellar Dweller is like any '80s monster movies, it has a campy story, way off acting, and loaded with effects. The problem is, there's not much of this in it.

The movie starts off with a comic artist, played by Jeffrey Combs, accidentally unleashing an evil monster upon this earth. The comic book page is destroyed and the monster disappears... but it will return again. We cut forward in time as Cellar Dweller, that comic, is being relaunched. Whitney, whose favorite comic is Cellar Dweller, gets brought on to do the art. She winds up finding a forgotten crypt which contains old, unreleased Cellar Dweller pages, as well as an arcane book of unknown origins (one that gives the monster life.) She takes these and uses them in her artwork, unbeknownst to her that it brings the creature to this world to kill. When Amanda, a rival artist, tries to expose her, she is drawn into the comic, and eaten by the monster (WHO'S NEXT!) When her seedy boss starts spying in on her work, he too is written in the comic, and killed off by the monster. Whitney ends up realizing that the creature has came to life through her drawings and she sets out to destroy them. This ends with the rest of cast catching on fire and dying. I think there were a few fake out endings, but I don't really remember them.

This movie had a lot going for it, the drawings coming to life is a great concept, and the altering of reality through the drawing (e.g. the banana peel), could have worked real well. However, it is under utilized in this, and it kinda bums me out. The effects are pretty good, the monster look pretty cool, and the face movements are awesome. It's not that intimidating though, and that kinda hurts the movie. There's a good amount of gore effect, like a sweet head rip. Unfortunately there is a lot of off screen kills. The acting is pretty good, Combs obviously being the best (he's under utilized as well.) The worst part though, is that this movie is too short for anything to get really rolling. There's too little plot or character development and there's interesting ideas that aren't fully developed or fleshed out. 6/10, for fans of the classic monster movie, or pure '80s cheese.

"To contemplate evil is to ask evil home."

[Backlash007 · 13 January 2003]

Cellar Dweller is quite an original horror offering as well as my first Jeffrey Comb's flick. Of course I didn't know it was a Jeffrey Combs movie back then, I didn't even know who Jeffrey Combs was. But, being the huge Tales From the Crypt (if you see the movie you'll know what I'm babbling about) fan that I am, the movie had an impact on me. Cellar Dweller is a very loving tribute to the EC comics that are cherished by many a horror fan. It's also a John Carl Buechler film and he created the Ghoulies. That explains why the Cellar Dweller is simply an oversized Ghoulie (some people even say that he's cute). I spent quite some time looking for this movie and gave up. It's one of those movies you see when you're a kid watching Showtime after midnight and you never expect to see it again (especially since you don't remember the title). Then you run across it in a ghetto Blockbuster years later and you realize that this is the movie you've been looking for, and, indeed, one of your heroes is in it. Great gore effects, gratuitous chewing, and Lily Munster (Yvonne De Carlo) make Cellar Dweller a classic in my book, no matter how many people disagree. "Whenever there is imagination, I will dwell."

Note for genre buffs: Look for a Troll and a Ghost Town poster on the walls of the colony. John Carl Buechler did the effects for both of those films.

Very poorly thought-out horror film.

[gridoon · 3/10 · 26 January 2003]

John Buechler proves again, two years after "Troll", that having good special effects in your film DOES NOT automatically mean you have a good film. He may be very good at his main craft (makeup effects for horror pictures), but his storytelling abilities are limited, to say the least. Actually, most of the blame here should go to the bad script, which has no consistency or logic; for example, at first the monster (which looks mostly like a werewolf) is brought to life by the drawings of a cartoonist and can do only what is depicted in her pictures, but later it can move and kill freely and the comic book pages are drawn by themselves! At another point, the old lady that runs the mansion inexplicably turns into the monster! The mansion itself is supposed to be a place for young aspiring artists, yet a would-be private detective also lives there! Ah, forget it. (*1/2)

Cellar Dweller

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 15 March 2008]

Where there is imagination, I will dwell."

A horror artist, Colin Childress(Jeffrey Combs in an opening cameo appearance) unleashes a werewolf-type monster thanks to his creations for a new comic, because he uses encryptions from a demonic book titled "Curses of the Ancient Dead"(..sounds a lot like the one used in THE EVIL DEAD). Anytime, you create something on paper with the monster and pentagram star on it's chest, adding a specific written spell on the demonic book, then whatever is printed happens in reality. Dying during a fire after he tries to destroy the beast who has just murdered a girl the artist put to paper, the house is now in present day a commune for various talents trying to hone their craft with each other providing critical views. The commune is ran by Mrs. Briggs(Yvonne De Carlo)who is repelled by newcomer Whitney Taylor(Debra Farentino)because of her brand of art..Whitney is a disciple of Childress' horror comics and wishes to create her own work right in the very place her idol once brought to life monsters. Taylor herself unknowingly makes the same mistake as her idol, finding the evil book, drawing the same damn wolf-beast which murdered the girl many years ago, and unleashes terror on her accompaniment of eccentrics, in particular the ones who disapprove of her work. Rubber-faced Brian Robbins is the kid painter, Phillip, whose work yields different results from different folks. Pamela Bellwood is Whitney's arch-rival, Amanda..they have a history where Amanda always tried to ruin any potential at success Whitney ever hoped for due to jealousy. Miranda Wilson is the bubbly "performance artist" Lisa, and provides the viewer with plenty of tits, especially her time in and out of a shower. Through her acts of anger towards Amanda, Whitney gives birth to the beast by having it murder her rival on paper..we watch the beast stalk after Amanda as she develops an expose on how Whitney plagiarizes Childress' work. A domino effect ensues with everyone being knocked off one by one. Can Whitney kill the beast she gave birth to, or become a victim of her own creation?

I felt that such a fun premise is undermined by such a minor budget, and poor storytelling. The art work is magnificent, and the idea of juxtaposing the creation of scenarios on paper, and seeing those scenarios take shape as they are being drawn quite nifty. Down the road, the film makes a startling mistake which opens a crater-sized plot hole..somehow the monster itself can kill on it's own as those being hunted down, ripped apart, and eaten are created on paper without an artist pinning these scenarios. Who brings these scenarios to life on paper is never established and there's one scene where an important character in the plot transforms into the beast herself. These occurrences make no sense whatsoever and the film just continues losing steam until it's conclusion because the protagonist, Whitney Taylor,tries to right the wrongs of the ghost-artist resulting in a final twist which leaves you scratching your head. There are a choice few death sequences, with director John Carl Buechler opting instead(..due to funding, I guess)to show the demise of certain characters on paper through comic artistry, while they are being pursued by the monster. You do get a nice beheading and some arm chewing from the beast with a look of glee on it's face. Director Buechler often shoots the monster from the pentagrammed chest up so that he can hide the fact that it's a rather immobile suit with a stuntman inside. I'm not a fan of Buechler's, to be honest, but I think an ideal opening premise deserves a more talented director and polished screenplay which, at the very least, coats over the plot holes which are so distracting.

Great @3 A.M.

[XFA · 4/10 · 1 September 2003]

This is a cheap horror flick with TONS of gore. I seen this one on @ 3 AM again - had to see it only because the title itself drew me in. Actually , I wasnt too disappointed. I love all horror flicks. Has a totally late-80s horror genre feel to it. I wish I could find this VHS also. Rare stuff. PEACE

Okay horror film.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 27 December 2001]

This is a fun little horror film about a comic-book artist played by Jeffrey Combs("Re-Animator","Castle Freak")whose creation comes to life and kills him in 1950's.Now,the monster still hides in the basement of his house,which is a home to a group of artists."Cellar Dweller" is a decent horror film from special effects wizard John Carl Buechler.It's very entertaining and it features some cool gore scenes and funny-looking monster.Check it out,if you like this genre.Nothing special,but it will entertain you!

Enjoyable, although cheesy, late 1980s creature feature...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 20 April 2023]

I sat down here in 2023 to watch the 1987 movie "Cellar Dweller", which actually made it the second time that I have seen the movie. I had, however, forgotten about the storyline, and thus I opted to watch it again.

Even more impressively, then I had also forgotten that Jeffrey Combs was in the movie. Sure, it was in a minor role and not all that long on the screen, but he was there, and that was a nice addition to the movie. And even more so, it was funny to see that there was a poster from the movie "Re-Animator" hanging in the room of Whitney Taylor.

"Cellar Dweller", from writer Don Mancini and director John Carl Buechler, is an archetypical 1980s cheese-fest. And I mean that in a good way, because you know what you are getting into here, provided that you have watched late 1980s horror movies, which I have in an abundance.

The storyline in "Cellar Dweller" proves entertaining enough. It isn't a horror cinema masterpiece, but it is definitely watchable for what it turned out to be. And actually I will say that "Cellar Dweller" is among one of the more prominent of late 1980s horror movies or creature features, if you will.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and they had a good cast ensemble together for bringing the different characters to life on the screen. Just a shame that Jeffrey Combs wasn't given more on-screen time.

The creature effects in "Cellar Dweller" were fairly good, and still are passable when you sit down and watch it today, whereas many other late 1980s creature features had far inferior effects. And that makes "Cellar Dweller" all the more watchable.

If you enjoy some late 1980s cheesy horror, then "Cellar Dweller" is well-worth watching. I was adequately entertained by director John Carl Buechler's 1987 movie.

My rating of "Cellar Dweller" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Entertaining

[Tikkin · 7/10 · 18 November 2006]

Cellar Dweller is a nice surprise for horror fans because it has a mixture of winning elements. The only thing it lacked for me was gore - but it does have a funny severed head scene. The storyline is quite interesting and keeps you watching, and the acting is decent enough to carry it. I quite liked Yvonne De Carlo, but then I've been a fan of her since watching American Gothic.

I do however feel it lacked a little "something" to make it a great b-movie, and that something is gore. The severed head scene is good, but not enough. I also felt that the ending wasn't a good enough conclusion, and this is because the producers obviously wanted to leave room for a sequel.

Overall, Cellar Dweller is an above average b-movie that is not perfect but definitely worth a watch.

8 minutes of Jeffrey Combs and that's it !

[Coventry · 2/10 · 31 August 2003]

Small spoilers ahead ! Be warned :)

Jeffrey Combs...we all know him for playing that memorable Dr. Herbert West in Re-Animator. A true horror classic, to say the least. Ever since I saw that film, I became a huge fan of Jeffrey and try to get my hands on as much movies in wich he starred. I'll tell you...that's not always a good idea. As good as he is, he certainly can't help saving this film from being a complete failure. Although I must admit that the basic plot idea of Cellar Dweller has potential, it sucks on every possible level. The whole finished product looks like amateur video. Sometimes that can have its own charme, but not in this case. The "horrifying" monster looks like a big version of Lassie with its sad puppy-eyes and provides the viewers with laughs instead of scary faces. The few scenes were "evil" enters the house are a bit too obviously stolen from the Evil Dead. You wouldn't say so, but this movie handles about the different forms of art! The whole basic idea is to bring artists together in one house and they let their collegues judge over their work. So you've got a washed up detective who now tries to write about his unsolved crimes, an actress without any talent what so ever and a painter who looks like a 16 year old boy. The main character, Whitney, draws comics in the honor of the deceased artist Colin Childress ( the great Jeffrey Combs ). I'm sure not too many people know this title. It got forgotten somewhere right after its release and maybe it's for the better. Don't spend money on this thing. Catch it on TV...if it's ever on. And even then...if you make sure you watch the first 10 minutes, you've seen it all.

NOT RECOMMENDED !!

Fear the cellar!

[roy-nicholas33 · 10/10 · 26 October 2004]

I know, your thinking Cellar dweller? That sounds like a poor sad excuse of a horror film with camp acting and a low budget monster, I don't think i'll bother with that, Well more fool you! Yes it has camp acting and yes it has a low budget monster, but what do you want from a horror movie? Blood, Gore? You sick people! Why not instead get your hands on this comedy horror, Switch your brain off for 85 mins and enjoy this ace movie. I think more people should remember the roots of the 80's horror generation, Its movies like this that made my teens so memorable, along with other stuff too of course but that has nothing to do with movies!

Anyway fool as ba from the a-team would say (keeping with the 80's theme) get off your bum and go get a copy of this film, watch it and fear the cellar dweller! Then join my crusade to bring these gems back to life and give this film the top rating it deserves...What you waiting for? Go, Go get it now..

Below average late era Empire Pictures flick.

[b_kite · 4/10 · 17 August 2022]

Looks like all the budget this late era direct-to-video Empire Pictures release could muster was 10 minutes of Jeffrey Combs and a damn good solid head rip decapitation. That a side there's not much else here of note besides an alright bummer ending.

Good, but not groundbreaking

[JasonVoorhees-3 · 27 June 2004]

I remember watching this movie on TV when I was like.... 8 years old and thinking it was really cool. Naturally being that it was regular TV, all the gore and nudity was cut out, so when I came across it in a blockbuster used videos for sale basket for $5.99, I snatched it up. That was almost 3 years ago and I still watch it on a regular basis. For the time it was made in, the effect were pretty decently done. The monster was kinda cheesy, I have even heard some people call it "cute" but his methods sure as hell weren't cute and thats what made the movie better. The appearance of Jeffery-Herbert West-Combs was a treat for me when I got the video home, because as a child, I always somehow managed to miss the beginning of the film. When I watched it from the start and saw him in in, I already had a smile on my face going into the movie. It doesn't have a deep, life enriching story, its not gonna educate the youth of America, but its a cool flick and I think most horror movie buffs will side with me on that. As I said, the effects are pretty decent- that decapitation was one for the record books.

This movie only had one thing that I really find to be a downer in horror films and that was off-screen kills. I hate it when horror movies cheap out like that, its like they are cheating the viewer. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the point of watching 9 out of every 7 horror movies is to watch people die in unique and gory ways? So when it happens off screen, the point is disabled.

SPOILERS AHEAD: There are only 2 off-screen kills in this movie. The one in the end, the death of Lisa, I might be able to attribute to them running low on the budget being that it was near the end of the movie. However, Amanda's off-screen death is the monsters first kill and if Lisa's death was off screen because of lack of funds, what was the reason for Amanda being killed off screen? Yes, I know, there was blood splashing on the walls, but that only gets you so far. There are people who are gonna read this and say "those 2 kills were off screen because you can't show people being ripped into pieces on screen" And as it happens, both Amanda and Lisa were ripped apart, and if I may go so far as to mention, the only nudity in the film, aside from the girl in the very start of the movie, is Lisa walking around in her room after getting out of the shower and finding her towel missing. She thinks the young guy (I don't remember his name off hand)took it and so she walks out into her room totally naked. It only shows her from the waist up, but her death is in that scene, which means the monster caught her, ripped her apart and ate her while she was naked. This could be another reason for the off-screen kill for that character. Some people would probably object enough to a woman being torn into pieces and eaten, and being that she was naked would have only made it worse. I don't know. But if thats the reason for the off screen kill, then again, why was Amanda's death off screen? Couldn't have been the budget, she was the monsters first victim and it couldn't have been the nudity, as in Lisa's case, because Amanda wasn't naked at the time of her death. As for it being because you can't show people being torn apart on screen, I'd say, why the hell not? The guys that made this movie should watch The Dead Alive sometime! I know, I know, Dead Alive was made in 1994 and all the gore happens to be in the Unrated version. OK, so why didn't they make an unrated version of this movie? If John Carpenter can show a guy getting vertically split in half (watch John Carpenters Vampire, you'll understand) then why the hell did what WOULD have and COULD have been this movies best 2 kill scenes get cut or not filmed at all? Anyway, if your looking for a culture enriching film, don't bother. But if you wanna sit down with a pizza and six pack of beer and watch a cool, but majorly under-rated 80's horror flick, then give this one a rent of you can find it, or pull it off of a cheap site like Half.Com for 2 or 3 bucks and give it a go. Overall, I'd give a 7 out of 10.

The film is good enough that its score isn't in the cellar

[Aaron1375 · 5/10 · 5 October 2015]

This horror film suffers from something that is common in a lot of horror films. The story has something good going for it, but it is executed in such a way that the film suffers. This film was not bad, but it could have been really good had they done a couple of things differently. The premise of the story had enough going for it that it could have easily taken an hour and a half and seemed like a complete film, but thanks to where they went the movie was filled with padding and had a very short running time. The setting had a lot to do with this problem. The cellar and house were fine, it was making the focus of the film the house and then making the house an art colony that kind of doomed this one to being kind of good and kind of bad. Some all right kills and nudity, but it took a bit too long for the killing to begin as they kept establishing all these unnecessary plot points thanks to the whole art colony setting. It was also kind of annoying to see Jeffery Combs at the beginning and then he is absent for the rest of the movie. I figured since he made his way into the credits he would be seen somewhere in the main portion of the film, but alas he is only in the pre-credit sequence.

The story has an artist killed by his own creation and a curse some 30 years prior. A young woman who idolized this man who wrote a horror type comic comes to the house where he drew his work to join an art colony where she is less than wanted by the head of the house. She also does not get along with another who lives there and the head of the house and this other woman scheme to get the woman out because they do not look very highly upon her comic book type art. Well, the lady finds a book in the basement or cellar and reads about a monster and proceeds to draw said monster. Unfortunately, as before, the monster is given life due to the curse in the book and it begins to feast upon the artists within the house. At first the young lady draws the monster feasting upon the woman she doesn't like and what she draws occurs, but soon the monster seems to be the one dictating the action.

I think the film would have been better had they kept the monster more under the control of the artist rather than having it simply do what it wanted. Add a nearby town and have the artist literally take revenge upon the unsuspecting dupes who crossed her. Instead, we have a limited cast for the monster to feed on and I would have liked to have seen more monster munching. Too often here the killing was shown in comic panels rather than getting to see it happen. Good amount of nudity in this one which I enjoyed as well as a fairly decent monster. I find it kind of funny that a monster in a 1988 low budget film looks better than a lot of the stuff they do now. If they added more kills and less padding and changed up the story this one could have been really good. As is, it is short and watchable as it does not bore anyway...it does not really last long enough to be boring.

Cheesy low budget 80's creature feature

[dworldeater · 5/10 · 18 July 2019]

I got this on blu ray as a double feature of obscure 80's horror movies. The other movie on the disc, Catacombs is the more serious and better crafted of the two films. However, Cellar Dweller is still decent and passable , very campy entertainment. Cellar Dweller is very cheaply made and very dated. This pretty much could only have been made in the 80's(or early 90's). For horror fans, there are some familiar faces here with a supporting role for Yvonee De Carlo(Lilly Munster herself) and gets the story set up with Jeffrey Combs(of Re Animator fame)as a comic artist, who's comic demon comes to life. The very attractive Debrah Farantino takes over as the lead of the film as comic artist and super fan of Jeffrey Combs. History repeats itself and the comic demon comes to life and starts to snuff out most of the cheeseball cast. To say the film is cheesy is an understatement with our demon looking a lot like the poop demon in Kevin Smith's comedy classic Dogma. Besides Jeffrey Combs and Yvonne De Carlo, the rest of the support cast is unremarkable with really predictable and hammy performances. I think Debrah Farantino did a decent job in a mostly unimpressive bargain basement horror film. Having said that, this is not the best movie by a longshot, I still thought it had its moments and was not a hard movie to sit through.

Generally liked it... but,

[dracforever · 5/10 · 14 September 2021]

It is a bit dated. I certainly am not against liking a B-grade flick, although, I feel this one fell a tad flat. My biggest complaint is not knowing whether it's the drawing of the creature, the reciting of the book passage, or the two together that brings the monster to life. Everything else is pretty run of the mill for a low budget production yet, despite that it was an amusing watch. Therefore, I only recommend this to cheezy B-movie fans who, imho, will be entertained although not in any way frightened.

A decent monster film with amazing effects but zero atmosphere n zero scare factor.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 17 March 2016]

John Carl Buechler in my opinion is one of the best special effects artist.

John is the original creator of Harry Potter.

Check out the cult classic Troll.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a rented vhs.

Revisited it recently.

Found it to be a good horror/creature flick then.

The movie is very cheesy n in no way bearable by today's standards.

Most of the blame here should go to the bad script, which has no consistency or logic.

It has a good decapitation scene n has a bit of nudity.

The writer is Don Mancini of Child's Play fame n there is Jeffrey Combs in a tiny role.

A big goof - Amanda does the reaction of slipping n says ooh before her foot lands on the banana peel.

A comic book demon is summoned by a curse.

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 25 October 2000]

A dead cartoonist's demon creature materializes and quickly begins to terrorize after being brought to life by another illustrator. The creature is known as the 'Cellar Dweller' and is a multi-faceted demon. As far as demons go, he is pretty neat looking.

Cast includes: Brian Robbins, Debrah Farentino, Yvonne DeCarlo, Vince Edwards and Michael Deak.

Entertaining, harmless cheesy creature feature

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 29 June 2023]

Arriving at an isolated writers' house, a woman looking to relaunch a famous comic book at the place meets the other cadre of artists there who all warn her away from the basement, but after going there realize that her drawings of a ravenous creature are coming to life and try to stop it.

This one here does have some good parts to it. Among the better features here is the fact that the film contains a rather unique and creative storyline taking the literal world of the comic books and turning them into actual scenes. The backstory here, involving the creation of the original comic that spawned the creature to life and the effects of it coming back to life, is quite nice making this one feel really clever and creative using a rather complicated but still understandable backstory goes a long way towards making this one fun. This is all enhanced by the idea of the creature getting reborn and recreated through her work renovating the basement and its cursed history involving how it gets brought back to life and the different rules surrounding how to fight it making for an overall fun time here. The film also has a nice amount of cheese, which is really helpful and makes the film feel really good. The creature attacks in here aren't that bad with the action also seen through the eyes of the comic scene that it's emulating and they do result in some nice gore scenes as well. The opening attack that sets everything up has a lot to like taking place without much context but providing much of it for the rest of the film going forward, and the other attacks on snooping victims results in several deaths that are gory enough to satisfy. The last big plus is the monster in here which is a fantastically-designed creature, making it an imposing threat while also using its werewolf-ish look to be both unique and quite threatening. Combined, these here are the film's good points although this one does have a few flaws to it that are pretty hard to overcome. The main issue is that for as impressive as it looks the main creature itself also has a few flaws associated with it. The fact that it's never explained how it manages to get around to delivering its kills when it's drawing powers from the animation, yet it does so by animating itself going after them instead with supernatural powers, is wholly confusing and doesn't make the least bit of sense especially since it does them even after it's secret has been revealed. Then a later scene has it completely harmless when it lets a victim come back to rejoice with the heroine, then is talked down to and manages to let them celebrate, despite the evidence drawn in front of them which points elsewhere to other matters. This is also part of the other issue here as there's an unmistakable scent of the 80s, which gives it a cheap feeling and that enhances the cheese levels to a much greater emphasis. From the ability to find faults in the monster costume to the comic book-like scenes that play out in the middle in substitute for the actual action and some of the special effects here, it contains enough sequences in this style to make it apparent, and that can be something that few could avoid if not really interested in this sort of film. The short running time could also be seen as a weak flaw, barely getting over an hour, but compared to the one before it, it pales in comparison but still manages to knock it down a little.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language, and Nudity.

Uhm, no...

[paulclaassen · 2/10 · 24 December 2020]

Allow me to stop laughing (and shaking my head in disbelief) before writing this review...

...and I'm not laughing because its funny. 'Cellar Dweller' is a very cheaply made film with really bad creature effects. 1988 saw some incredible creature features. This is not one of them. The only reason I wanted to see this, was because it stars Jeffrey Combs. Unfortunately, he has a relatively small role and doesn't actually contribute much to the film.

The film's protagonist is Whitney (Debrah Mullowney). I didn't find the character strong enough to carry the film, and also didn't find Mullowney believable as Whitney. The film also makes it difficult to distinguish between reality and dreams or imagination. There were moments when I couldn't decide whether this was actually intended to be a comedy, or just a horror with really bad humorist elements. Either way, it wasn't good as a comedy or a horror.

Note in one scene movie posters against the wall to classic movies 'Ghost Town', 'Re-Animator' and 'Troll' (ok, I hated 'Troll'). 'Cellar Dweller' in general was quite laughable - and not in a good way! This is a forgettable 80's horror entry.

Would I watch it again? No.

Good old Cellar Dweller............ down in the pit......... there's IT!!!

[cool_cool_1 · 8/10 · 19 December 2006]

Cellar Dweller (1988) was an 80's horror classic in my book.

It was good fun, it had an interesting plot and it's short running time meant that it never outstayed it's welcome, i love 80's horrors and this was one of the memorable ones, for it had a really cool monster, and it starred Jeffrey Combs, and thats a big plus indeed!!! If you like cool low budget monster movies then i highly recommend this fun classic from the late 80's, so if you haven't seen it then i suggest you get on ebay and see if there's any copies on there, if so then go for it!!!! I also recommend Monster in the Closet, that was another fun 80's horror with a cool monster.

My score for the Cellar Dweller: 8/10

Cheap, pointless, shallow drivel

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 26 December 2015]

A mildly amusing title and a cameo appearance from Jeffrey Combs (dressed in his RE-ANIMATOR coat, apparently, and appearing for ten minutes at the beginning before going off to cash his pay cheque) are the best thing about this otherwise appalling movie from Empire - so at least with that company making it, you can't say you were surprised. Once again the director turns out to be John Carl Buechler, who is quickly becoming one of my most hated directors of all time - sure, the man makes good special effects, but must all effects men try directing too? It's obvious he has no talent yet still he churns these movies out.

The plot is a non-existent excuse to throw a few bad actors together and have them get picked off one by one by a huge slimy demon that somehow lives in the cellar due to a comic book - childish isn't the word for it. As usual for the genre, there's plenty of poor humour, false scares and naked women being menaced by big monsters. The demon is actually quite an effective-looking monster so it's a shame that its not appearing in a better movie, and it just gets relegated to lurking around in the cellar, roaring. The violence is surprisingly kept to a minimum, and I think limited to a singular bloody decapitation scene and some severed body parts. Meanwhile, the cast is made up of boring unknowns, aside from the presence of Yvonne De Carlo who enjoys hamming it up as an unpleasant landlady - whatever happened to her career?

The biggest enjoyment I had from watching this movie came when I realised that it only ran for seventy-something minutes and it was nearly over. It's one of those films which you get the feeling was only created in order to make money - neither the cast nor the crew seem to have any interest in it whatsoever, instead going through the motions and picking up their pay cheque at the end of it all. This makes it nigh on impossible for the viewer to be interested in it either. A cheap, pointless, shallow piece of drivel.

Artistic Horror

[Catleo_99 · 24 January 2002]

An Interesting film, beginning in the 1950's. A Cartoonist (Colin Childress) finds inspiration from a book of magic spells. Whilst creating his latest comic he accidentally unleashes a creature of pure evil created by his own imagination. Luckily the creature is slain but only at the cost of its creator.

30 years later a fan of the cartoonist (and his series Cellar Dweller) arrives at her idols cottage in the woods, to become part of a remote art community. She soon sets up a room in the basement. Later finding the same book Colin drew inspiration from, only to release the creature for the second time.

An awe-inspiring movie that can drag at times, most would lose interest. But at the end it does make one think. Ok graphics for the time and a wonderful performance enacted by Jeffrey Combs.