Basement Jack

A boy is abused by his cruel mother (well played by Scream Queen Lynn Lowry). 11 years on, released from a mental institution, he becomes known as Basement Jack, slaughtering families during thunderstorms! Yeap! Thunderstorms. And there are a lot of them throughout this movie, to the point where the rolling sound of thunder and flashes of lightning becomes rather tedious. This is the directional debut of Michael Shelton and so when reviewing this movie has to be taken into account. He's not directed another movie since. The film makers are obviously horror fans and have tried to make a slasher movie with all of the ingredients that we know and love (sex, gore, brutality, creepy killer, atmosphere, jump shocks, etc), so I give them credit for that. However the end product is really rather mediocre at best. But trust me, there are MUCH worse slasher movies out there. We do get two Scream Queens here, Lynn Lowry and Tiffany Shepsis, so credit for that also, Sadly the bad outweighs the good: plenty of gore, but the CGI is very cheap and fake looking; during one of the kills the knife clearly misses its victim; the police are very inept, despite many of their number getting killed there is a lack of seriousness amongst the survivors; acting varies from acceptable to wooden; dull script; the film was a bit of a drag at 94 minutes. And then there's Jack, looks more like a Goth on heroin than a serious mass murderer. If you love slasher movies, or you are a fan of Scream Queens, then Basement Jack does have a little something to offer. But I for one will not be giving it a repeat viewing.

Being a slasher movie fan, I was thinking, well, it can't be all that bad. I mean, even the worst films have some good thing about them.

Let me tell you right now.

THIS ONE HAS NONE!

The movie is just terrible, and the worst part is that they took it seriously. Acting is truly bad. Even for a slasher movie... At most points the stabbing scenes are made badly and you can see how they miss the person. Even at a moment when a person is stabbed through, falls to the floor and then... No blood on their back when the knife just came out.

If you are thinking about watching this movie, I can only tell you one thing: DON'T!

There is a whole list of things you can do instead that are much more entertaining: - Starring a white wall for a couple of hours - Counting Flakes in you cornflake box - Going to sleep

and much much more.

I watched Basement Jack on a friends recommendation and it has some classic shots from a director who is clearly influenced by western flicks. Combined with Alan Howarth's score, you've got a low budget movie that frequently outshines it's funding. I see a few reviews here panning the movie, and while it's not Gone with the Wind, the shot selection, score, and strong performances from star Michele Morrow as well as several supporting cast give a flawed script it's fair share of very satisfying moments.

Michele Morrow (hottie alert) turns out a visceral performance as outlaw/hero Karen Cook, and while i understand the many "Sarah Connor" comparisons, i sense more of Sigourney Weaver's "Ripley" in her smoldering delivery. Lynn Lowry delivers another chillingly unhinged performance and Nathan Bexton as the manager is extremely fun to watch.

I was a little surprised to learn "Basement Jack" is director Michael Shelton's first turn at the helm, as he's delivered a solid film from start to finish - looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Young man is tortured with a 9 volt battery by mother as a kid and turns into a killer only during thunderstorms.

If you buy into that premise, you might also like the bad acting, horrible script, the dead victims whose eyes are literally blinking and moving on screen, and storms without rain.

I didn't.

Characters actions simply don't make sense. Not sure if you've ever licked a 9 volt battery. I have. It doesn't hurt in the slightest. You feel a dull tingle. That's how we'd test to see if they were good as kids. None of us turned into serial killers.

And why do so many of the corpses move when they're supposed to be dead?

Didn't anyone see this during the editing?

IMDD says this movie had a million dollar budget.

Where did the money go?

I picked up this movie at Blockbuster a while ago and I wrote it on a list to come home and look up on IMDb. Reading the reviews and ratings, I was a little put off, because it only had a 3.4 star rating. After much deliberation in the movie aisle, I decided to pick it up, and I am glad I did.

Not only did I get an excellent stalk and slash film, but the characters were played with an excellent degree of scare. The character of Basement Jack is one of the creepiest horror movie psycho's out there. I think what drew me to him the most is that he wasn't some half-brained zombie stalking after people like most horror movies are nowadays. Basement Jack was just a child that was horrendously abused as a child in sick, sick ways, so he was just mentally unstable, but not stupid. There was a certain level of elegance in his stalk and slash, not just stalk, stalk, stalk, kill.

On the negative side, some of the characters were a little lacking in the acting department, but at the same time, it made them seem like actual people and not actors trying to portray people. Also there are a few small plot holes that don't really ever get summed up.

But overall, I really enjoyed this film and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys to cuddle up with their most jumpy friends and watch someone slash up a bunch of towns people.

I rate this: Definite Watch.