A Porta do Porão

I enjoyed this film; well acted and not a horror, more a mystery who dunnit. It is a relatively slow burn, but I was intrigued by the characters and invested in them. The characters, though few in number, were all fleshed out with their own unique quirks and motivations, adding depth and complexity to the story. A score of 7 may be a little high, but so many reviewers giving this a 3 or 4, in my opinion, is rather mean. It contains some blood and a little violence, which is nothing you won't have seen on a BBC production; it is well crafted and unexpected. I don't think anyone who is a Who Dunnit fan or enjoys a good mystery will believe their time was wasted by watching this. Look elsewhere if you are after blood, gore, and supernatural happenings.

I like a slow burner but there needs to be a payoff and here there simply isn't.

There's very little that is tense or exciting. The story goes nowhere really and gives us nothing new. The script is lazy and the result is some pretty tepid central performances. There is so much exposition there is no tension at all.

Laurence Fishburne is a highlight. He's engaging for the time he's onscreen.

I think the intention is for viewers to make their own conclusion, to leave the payoff to their own imaginations. The trouble is the movie just wasn't engaging enough for me to invest so I just left it feeling disappointed.

I had not heard about this 2024 thriller titled "Cellar Door" prior to sitting down to watch it, so I didn't know what I was in for. But that is how it is with the vast majority of the movies I watch, as I don't watch trailers, nor keep up with upcoming movies. If I stumble upon a movie that I haven't already seen, such as the case with "Cellar Door", I sit down to watch it.

Writers Sam Scott and Lori Evans Taylor put together a rather generic and stereotypical script and storyline here. Sure, it was a watchable enough movie, but there wasn't much of any great thrills to be had throughout the course of the movie. And that sort of made sitting through "Cellar Door" a somewhat bland and mundane viewing experience.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with Scott Speedman and Laurence Fishburne. It should be noted, though, that the acting performances in the movie were good.

I suppose that if you are a diehard thriller fan, then you might be getting a bigger kick out of watching "Cellar Door" than I did. Something I was finding to be missing from the movie was that I was never pushed to the edge of my seat out of sheer thrill and excitement. It was a rather mundane movie, to be honest.

This is not a movie that will find its way back to my screen a second time.

My rating of director Vaughn Stein's 2024 thriller "Cellar Door" lands on a four out of ten stars.

I cannot believe that I watched that movie twice. First at the beginning of November and today again. I watched it and thought: "Kind of familiar." Well, I continued to watch it.

After the movie wrapped up, I was like: "Dang, I watched it already."

It's how forgettable this movie is. Oh my God, I was so dumb wasting the same amount of time twice. It's a very bad movie. Forgettable, basically background noise. I wouldn't wonder if my troglodyte-brain sees that movie in the "what to watch"-list and I choose that movie again at the beginning of January.

It's really bad. And I cannot believe how dumb I am for watching it twice... 🙄

Cellar Door starts with an intriguing premise, hinting at a mysterious horror story full of suspense and deep-rooted tension. However, it soon becomes clear that the film's potential remains untapped. What begins as an atmospheric buildup, luring the audience with the promise of dark secrets and spine-chilling moments, gradually devolves into an uninspired, drama-filled soap opera with no real stakes or satisfying resolution.

The movie's singular rule-"Just don't open the cellar door"-is paradoxically both the center of attention and a total misdirection. One would expect that such a warning would be pivotal to the story, propelling the plot with intense anticipation. Instead, it plays no significant role at all, leaving viewers scratching their heads. How does a film build its entire narrative on a concept that never materializes into anything meaningful? The result is a frustratingly aimless experience with no payoff, no tension, and an underwhelming narrative arc.

In the end, Cellar Door fails to deliver on every front, leaving audiences with more questions than thrills and a lingering sense of wasted time.