There was some promise here in 'The Basement'. It had a cool poster/cover, a somewhat intriguing if very derivative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre it fits under. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there (though there are decent to good ones as well), made me though apprehensive.
It is sad though that any potential it had is completely squandered, with every flaw in the book made and everything that annoys me watching a film present. 'The Basement' is really bad, with so many huge flaws, any potential that it had completely disappears in translation. There is little good here in 'The Basement', it is not irredeemable but goodness doesn't it come dangerously close to being.
The only redeeming merits being the spooky setting and the creepy acting for the killer.
Going further on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and the more it progresses the film became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. All the characters are too sketchy, even the killer and with cardboard thin and colourless personalities and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them, all of them coming over as incredibly irritating to the extent you don't want them alive. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates. The chemistry is bland and unfocused.
The sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions), and the rest of the acting is lacking severely on the whole, that's actually an understatement as the worst of it is horrendous. Despite being top-billed Mischa Barton is not in it much, barely in it, and one doesn't miss her much. There is no sense of horror or engagement with the awful predicament they're in, and no connecting with the character, it just reeks of indifference which makes the viewer not care less too.
Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, apparent from the very start, which is so bad that one seriously considers not continuing. Only did it myself for fairness sake, being a person who never judges a film without watching the whole thing and never bails on a film regardless of any temptation. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, too many confused moments and explanations and the complete lack of tension and suspense. Thrills are none, thanks to stodginess and excessive over-familiarity, and found myself never invested in what was going on, due to it being so dull and static.
A lot of 'The Basement' has really dull and going nowhere plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling. Any attempts at twists fail to surprise.
Nothing frightens, there is no development and it's very predictable, while everything is unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of dread. There is nothing interesting or illuminating. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting. 'The Basement' is very amateurish visually, too drearily lit and shows no care in the way it's shot, severely compromising any coherence. The editing is all over the place.
Altogether, very, very bad. 2/10 Bethany Cox
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