Cellar Door

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.

John and Sera are looking for a fresh start after Sera miscarries. The pair struggle to find a house in their price range, but their luck changes when they're told to visit Emmett, a wealthy man in a beautiful house. Emmett offers the couple the house, on condition that they never go into the basement.

I thought this started off pretty well, I enjoyed the first half an hour or so, I loved the suspense and intrigue, that whole question of what's in the basement, unfortunately it tails off badly.

The second half of the film is poor, it just didn't fit, it went from being an intriguing thriller into a bizarre and clunky slog, I could almost believe the story of the cellar, the Alissa storyline....never in a million years.

What is going on with Laurence Fishburne, he seems to be signing up for the most random films, films that let's be honest, aren't quite at his level.

Jordana Brewster and Scott Speedman were both pretty good, they made a cute couple, they worked well together.

A decent start, shocking second half.

5/10.

Cellar Door just failed to deliver in my opinion. Even though there's a non-predictable twist it's still not good enough to stand out from the rest in the thriller genre. Director Vaughn Stein must be an avid television watcher as his movie is nothing more than a mediocre tv-movie copy. If you want to make a good movie you firstly need a good soundtrack, certainly not that typical tv-movie piano soundtrack. Just that alone makes your movie look cheap. Add to that some average acting and you have the perfect recipe for a movie that nobody will remember. I have no clue why Lawrence Fishburne would even think in participating even if he has a very small role. He's probably just a poster filler, a name that attracks an audience. I wouldn't waste your time with this one unless you like forgettable Sunday afternoon tv-movies.

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 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.