The Forgotten

S.F. Brownrigg is surely one of the most overlooked directors in the slasher genre with Basement being his masterwork. The plot concerns a young nurse (Playboy covergirl Rosie Holotik) who takes a job at a secluded mental hospital. Upon her arrival, it transpires that her employer has been killed by one of the patients and the place is now being run by strict disciplinarian, Dr Masters. Make no mistake, this is a horribly under-staffed operation. The lunatics truly are taking over the asylum and you really have to feel for the young nurse. Tough first gig. The basement figures only very briefly and towards the end of film. It is, in fact, the safest place in the house because the rest of the place is pure madness. I can only assume that Don't Look in the Basement was perhaps an afterthought as a title, possibly forced on the film by the backers to make it sound more scary as the title card appears to have been dropped in arbitrarily and does not match the other titles. Scenes worth watching for are the Judge attacking the doctor with an axe and a broken rubber knife in the final bloodbath. Forget One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. This is the stuff.

Take an ensemble cast of good B grade actors, give them a good script, a somewhat original premise, and unobtrusive directing, and you may end up with a film that over-achieves as much as "Don't Look in the Basement" did.

The film takes place in a large house which is home to several psychotic individuals. Before the plot even begins, the head of the hospital is chopped up by one of the patients with an axe. Then Rosie Holotik enters the hospital looking for the axe victim and finds that the hospital has a new head who is not at first willing to honor her agreement with the deceased Dr. Stephens. Soon, however, Dr. Masters reconsiders and Nurse Beale (Holotik) is hired. The rest of the film builds tension and successfully develops the individual psychoses of the in-mates. After a while it becomes very unclear who is a patient and who is a doctor.

In the end, Don't Look in the Basement is a cleverly plotted film which benefits from generally good acting and directing and not-overly-ambitious camera work. A must-see for B horror fans, and an interesting diversion for those interested in psycho-dramas and psychological thrillers. Be warned, however, this film is slightly more gory and sexy than the average horror film of its time.

Super sexy Rosie Holotik plays Charlotte Beale, a psychiatric nurse who goes to work at the isolated Stephens Sanitarium. She gets there to find that the Dr. Stephens who (loosely) ran the place was murdered by one of the patients. Geraldine Masters (Annabelle Weenick), who seems to have inherited the supervisory position, has her misgivings about Charlottes' presence, but agrees to take her on as an employee anyway. Among the unbalanced people Charlotte meets are the gentle giant Sam (Bill McGhee), the desperate-for-love Allyson (Betty Chandler), former military man Sgt. Jaffee (Hugh Feagin), and possessive "mother" Harriet (Camilla Carr).

This is actually a pretty good, if overly talky, effort from regional filmmaker S.F. Brownrigg. The low, low budget merely enhances the overall atmosphere. This is a grim, gritty film that goes far based on the personalities of the characters and the performances. Holotik is appealing, but it's Ms. Weenick who takes the acting honours. Things get appropriately gory, especially in the disturbing ending. One great scene takes place between Dr. Masters and the Sargeant, as she insists on asserting her authority.

We know early on that we're going to be in for something amusing. Dr. Stephens, who had an unorthodox way of treating mental illness, is just foolish enough to give Judge Oliver W. Cameron (Gene Ross) an axe in order to work through his aggressions. People who saw this film back in the 70s must have gotten a real sense of deja vu if they ended up seeing "Friday the 13th: A New Beginning". One of the major delights is the refrain spoken by the cackling old lady Mrs. Callingham (Rhea MacAdams).

Deliberately paced and very moody, "Don't Look in the Basement" (a.k.a. "The Forgotten") is an affecting exploitation-horror flick.

Seven out of 10.

Considering budget, time and talent put into making this movie, it actually isn't so bad, but don't go into it expecting much. It's a work of passion and is probably only interesting to fans of the horror movie genre who aren't picky about their poison. Everybody rest has absolutely nothing to look forward to from this movie. I give it 6/10 and recommend it to fellow hardcore horror movie fans. The rest, avoid it...

"Don't Look in the Basement" is a very, very cheaply made film. Nothing about it seems very professional….yet, oddly, the film is quite entertaining. Is it really good? Nah—but very entertaining providing you are the type person who can appreciate such an odd film!

This movie is set in some sort of sanitarium for the mentally ill—the very, very, VERY mentally ill. No attempt is made to make these folks seem real and it has about the same level of insensitivity you'd find in "Birth of a Nation". I have worked in a psychiatric hospital many years ago, and it was NOTHING like this place! It's pretty obvious they did not film it in a real hospital and just looks like an old house was used. And, for the parts, the 'patients' were told to act very stereotypically insane—like you might expect folks to do on "Whose Line is it Anyway?"—subtle, it ain't! When the doctor (whose methods seem no saner than his patients) is killed by one of the patients, another doctor takes his place. Soon, a new nurse arrives—and she's shocked at how ineffective and stupid the treatment is for the patients. Eventually, more folks start dying and only then do you learn some very interesting secrets. I'd say more, but I really don't want to spoil the suspense.

This engaging film looks like if you were to remake "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and had it rewritten by an actively psychotic individual! It's bloody, it's scary and, what I really like is that you really have no idea who, if anyone, is sane in this film! It's one of those ultra-low budget films with no-name casts that manages to work in spite of all the many strikes against it! Clever, strange and probably not for all tastes! If you like "Carnival of Souls", "Night of the Living Dead" (the original one) or "Spider Baby", then this film is for you!