The Cellar Door

THE CELLAR DOOR is another rubbishy independent horror flick that's content to copy films that have come previously instead of offering anything new. Once again the main character is a poorly-acting psychopath (amusingly, this time around he's a chubby guy called Herman) who keeps a couple of women captive in his house. That's all there is to it.

The film is saddled with awful camera-work, which shakes all over the place to little effect, and attempts to bring it into the 'torture porn' category, which I didn't care for. The acting of the female characters is all screechy and irritating, and the scripting is so goofy that I often laughed instead of being moved or frightened. The ending, when it eventually comes, is particularly disappointing.

In California, the psychopath Herman (James DuMont) stalks the young Rudy (Michelle Tomlinson) and her mate Christa (Heather Sconyers) along a day and a night and finally he chooses Rudy to be his next victim. He breaks in their house and uses ether to kidnap Rudy, bringing her to the basement of his house. When she awakes, she discovers that she is imprisoned in a wooden cage in a cellar and subjected to sick games of the deranged Herman. Rudy decides to play the game looking for a chance to escape from Herman's claw.

I do not know how many times I have seen the storyline of "The Cellar Door"; maybe the original version of this theme (a man that abducts a woman for his own pleasure) is William Wyler's masterpiece "The Collector", which has become extremely violent and sadistic as years go by. I recall recently watching at least the franchise "Saw", "Captivity", "Broken" and "Sportkill" that are rip-off of the classic storyline. However, I liked "The Cellar Door" because the writer Christopher Nelson and the director Matt Zettell were able to make an extremely low-budget theatrical movie supported by a solid screenplay and mostly by top-notch performances of the unknown James DuMont and Michelle Tomlinson. Their mouse-and-cat game is great and in the end it was worthwhile watching this simple but effective film that works perfectly on DVD. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Porão" ("The Cellar")

he girl next door, having coffee, lunch with a friend, shopping, unaware she is becoming an obsession. She has been chosen. A young woman awakes to find herself imprisoned in a serial killer's basement. She is not the first to be entrapped in this diabolical torture chamber. She is not the first to captivate his perverse affection, Herman has been searching for the perfect girl, but all he's collected are pieces - a chunk of hair; a severed finger; a jar of blood - and now, the alluring and beautiful Rudy. Imprisoned in a wooden cage and yet refusing to play along in his twisted game, she has only her wits to use against his savage and murderous insanity. Will she win the desperate, hallucinatory game of cat and mouse and escape through the Cellar Door, or die trying?

Whatever. The film actually opens with a bloody chick who escapes and runs through the streets but no one sees her. She gets recaptured and croaks.

There's one huge problem with this movie which could have easily been solved -- the director is incompetent. It appears as if the entire movie is films with an over shaky jumpy hand held camera. After about 30 seconds of watching the frames jump around, you want to throw up.

Did he think he was being creative? I think he didn't know what he was doing.

It's could have been a fun diversion in the hands of another filmmaker. Instead, 6 full stars are removed for sheer incompetence. Next time buy a $20 tri-pod. The chopping belongs in the story, not on the film, sherlock. Better yet. Give up. You suck.

A potential serial killer and his kidnap victim... can they develop a relationship, a rapport? This is what viewers will be left wondering after the socially inept kidnapper is forced to take care of his victim, including buying her feminine hygiene products.

The film starts out with some of the most awful shaky cam I've ever seen. If the viewer is prone to motion sickness, this may be a bit unbearable for them... I'm not overly susceptible, but another five minutes and this film would have been ejected. Luckily, it stops after the introduction.

And once the shaky cam goes away, we realize something that makes or breaks an independent film. In this case, it makes it: a good story. Thanks, Christopher Nelson. Sure, I've read multiple reviews saying this film covers familiar ground. And they're right. There's nothing particularly unique about a kidnapper and his victim. We could use a twist -- like a female kidnapper and a male victim. But as far as this archetype is concerned, I think they executed it well.

About the acting... the lead actor (James DuMont) is a bit silly, but fit the quirkiness of the role. The lead actress (Michelle Tomlinson) is solid. I don't think she stands out, I don't think this will launch her career... but she did well.

The quotations on the box are a bit weak --do you really need multiple quotes from my friends at Pretty Scary? -- but the movie was good. If you're a supporter of independent film, this certainly is worth your time. Not the most polished, not the greatest film of the year... but it held my attention and the attention of my friend Seth, which is more than we can say for most films when we're drunk off our butts.

There is just something interesting about the deviant stalker in a horror movie, which is actually why I decided to sit down to watch "The Cellar Door". I had no knowledge about the movie or its existence prior to finding it by sheer luck in the horror section.

The story told in "The Cellar Door" was adequate for what it turned out to be. It was actually, just another stalker who captures prey and keeps it in the basement type of movie. You know the type, once you've seen one you have essentially seen them all. And the storyline told in this movie was rather predictable as well.

The cast ensemble in the movie was rather small, and sadly the cast wasn't putting on particularly memorable performances. And the fact that the characters portrayed in the movie were generic and non-distinct wasn't really helping either.

"The Cellar Door" is adequately paced which was a definite plus. However, the movie was struggling with the fact that it was just another generic torture flick.

This is clearly not a multi million dollar and the production level clearly shows that. But despite that, then I will say that they actually managed to do well enough with their endeavor.

This movie might be worth your time and effort for a single viewing if you have nothing better to watch at hand, but it is hardly a movie that you will go out of your way to get your hands on.