Customer Reviews

The Cellar Door

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A low-budget serial killer flick that focus's on the relationship between captor & captured instead of torture.
Almost the entire movie takes place in Captain Psycho's basement,
so there isn't much in the way of scenery, just a cage.
But it's a nice cage.
He "got an A in shop class".
A cage where he keeps women.
Well one woman at a time, till they die, or try to escape.
And during their luxurious stay he collectss pieces of them.
(You don't want to know what that means, but it's not what you think)
The movie starts off as he loses his last venture,
and continues as he finds, stalks, and captures a new obsession (all of this is in the first 5 -10 minutes)
The rest of the movie plays out like a less outlandish, infinitely better version of Captivity,
No bizarre torture scenes, no high tech surveillance equipment, or twist endings you could see a mile off shore.
Just a psycho, an altar, a beautiful woman, and a cage.
Not a terrible amount of gore.
There's enough though to keep a gorehound's appetite sated, but not enough to be considered overly gory.
Like another reviewer here stated; the creator of this flick is someone who deserves a bigger budget to work with.
There is a very minimalist approach to this story, but it's one that works.
This movie makes a loaf out of a slice of bread.
In both the positive (budget) and negative (plot) sense.
At the very least it's worth a rental.
A purchase if you like torture flicks.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
If you love something.... lock it your basement.
If it stays it'll love you forever,
If it dies it was never meant to be.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:
Broken, Captivity, Gag, Schramm, Otis, Maniac, Live Feed, Hostel, Turistas, Saw 1-5, Borderland, Salo, Martyrs,
Last House on the Left, Seed, Family, Frailty, Bloodsucking Freaks, Strangeland, Snuff 102, P2, May, Roman,

This movie is cooler than Saw, Hostel and makes Captivity look like the expensive crap that it was. It has you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Great actors, script and camera work. I saw it at Shriekfest in Los Angeles and can't wait for the DVD, I have friends who love Good Thriller/Horror films and this one makes the perfect gift.

I've enjoyed seeing James Dumont in a number of films and in TV shows like CSI. He was great and "scarily" believable in The Cellar Door. I'm looking forward to the DVD bonus features!

I don't know what movie "zombie junkie" watched, this movie is "COOLER" (his words) than SAW (the highest grossing horror franchise ever) and hostel?! Horrible actors, james dumont made me want to take the dvd out and smash it. Terrible. It's a tired premise, and is on par with Captivity. BAD MOVIE

"The Cellar Door" is a gripping game of cat and mouse. It features amazing performances, a clever script, and first-class direction. This movie didn't get much press initially, but make sure you catch it on DVD. You won't be sorry. Michelle Tomlinson and James Dumont create subtle, nuanced characters in this smart independent thriller where you're never sure what's what. A very smart flick...with a killer ending.

The Cellar Door is yet another boring and tedious straight to video horror film that doesn't go anywhere. The reason why I gave it 2 stars is because the film had an interesting idea and concept that could have worked if it had a better script and acting, in this film the acting was completely laughable but I have seen much worse. The actor who played the serial killer was not good enough and wasn't believable he wasn't right for the part and the victim did a couple of stupid moves, I hoped that the film would get better but it didn't. The first 10 minutes were pretty good and intense but then it all goes downhill after that, the story's about a woman named Rudy who gets kidnapped by an overweight psychopath who locks her up in a cage where she is forced to listen to his stories (this part was really boring) and eat some of his food. She tries to escape several times but can't and then gets tortured for a while, Rudy realises that she's not the first woman to be imprisoned by this madman and then tries to outsmart the serial killer by doing whatever she can in order to stay alive. The problem with this film is that it doesn't become interesting until the end and by that time its just too late, there was abit of gore and a few stabbings but nothing thats disturbing like one woman at the supermarket getting beat up by a baseball bat but the rest of the gore scenes were disappointing and the film didn't have any scares in it, half of the time I just felt really bored. I suggest that you watch something else cause this felt like a waste of time.

An artist that needs a bigger budget that's all i have too say! Watch and you will understand.Good flick!

And that's about the extent of it. It was not pulse-pounding, riveting, or terrifying in any way, except that I was stuck watching another low-budget mess that could have been presented better if only some talent and creativity were involved in the process. The characters and dialogue were unbelievable, and my heaving sighs of great discontent failed to move the film along any faster. The psychological aspects of the characters' encounters bored me, and I felt myself drawn to meaningless minutiae to stay awake.

"You know," I say to the Significant Other, "She can't lay down in that tall crate, and that's the sort of thing they do to torture POW's in camps. He does care for her, and she would be in agony by now." Really. I read about these sorts of things. "And how come her makeup is still fresh? I look like a sewer rat if I haven't showered in two days, and she looks great. I wonder if it's the shampoo I'm using? Look at those jars, now that's kind of cool. You know, he'd be feeding her pizza and take-out; men like that really aren't into cooking."

Finally the movie crawls to a predictable end - "Oh, look what happened! Now, what are the odds of that? Hmmmm?" I am now trapped in a crate of my own, unable to justify the time and energy spent watching this movie. Sighhhhhh....

Yay, another movie that's based on long loving shots of women being tortured and murdered. Where's the suspense? The movie substitutes gore for plot, predictability for originality, and has no surprises to offer. Big whoop. There was no plot to speak of, it was boring and sadistic, and the ending was no surprise. Sheesh. That's ninety minutes of my life I wasted.

I wish I could give this negative stars.