The Cellar

The Cellar (2022) is an Irish horror movie recently added to Shudder. The storyline focuses on a family that moves into a unique house in the suburbs with their little girl and boy. Shortly after moving in the little girl disappears. As they coupe with the loss the mother finds strange marking all over the house and as she researches them she discovers her house may be a vessel to something much bigger and discovering what that is may be her only hope of finding the missing little girl.

This movie is directed by Brendan Muldowney (Love Eternal) and stars Elisha Cuthbert (House of Wax), Eoin Macken (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter), Abby Fitz (Redemption), Tara Lee (Moon Dogs) and Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady (Tides).

This movie does have some unique elements within the storyline that are well done. There is really good use of sound to create jump scares and intense circumstances. The horror elements were lacking and I was disappointed so many scenes were shot so dark. The acting is really good and the family dynamic is well established so better horror elements could have made this very good.

Overall this is an average addition to the genre that is only worth watching if you're a horror genre enthusiast. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

I'm a sucker for creepy houses steeped in unique lore. Let's talk about what it got right.

1. The atmosphere - Not many horror movies create it properly. Anyone can take an old dilapidated house and make it spooky. With very few shots, they make the house an oppressive force, with a life of its own. It only helps they create unique lore infusing an added punch to the thing.

2. Cinematography - We have some Kubrick influence. The shots with the stairs. The shots moving through the house. I've always enjoyed when they turn the camera into an invisible enemy. You can tell the director has an eye for setting up shots. They absolutely nail all the visuals.

3. The audio - The audio couples together with the visuals nicely. Ratcheting up the tension slowly. It's actually one of the few movies, where the chanting seems to work well. Maybe it's because it's very soft and in the background. When the sound rushes in, you really can feel it. One thing that gets overused is the counting. I get why it's there, but by the end you are like ok ok, get it. Besides that small detail the audio is top notch.

4. The Lore - Notice how I didn't say story. The idea of a building as a gateway, whether by modified means, or built from the ground up, has been underutilized in horror for the most part. We have some examples, but not many. They inject enough originality to keep you interested. The best kinds of horror lore, is the kind that gives you just enough to fill in your own blanks. They do a good job with that....

5. The Horror - If you have been a fan of the genre for a while, you will pick up all the nods to other movies and/or styles of movies. The crew that made this are fans, and you can tell. Is anything completely new? No. But, they nail just about everything when it comes to the horror. It's creepy and unsettling. It's gothic. Its lovecraftian? In everything but the lore, it's very much a kind of story you would expect from the man. I guess maybe with a nod to hammer horror as well.

And now for what they got wrong

1. The pacing - Things happen over and over again. It all seems to drag out for no apparent reason. I mean, what they do is done well. You can only take so many of the same scenes until you say, " get on with it". The characters and their actions at times make no sense. The initial thing happens, and there is a big effort in fixing it, then all of sudden, it's like the characters kinda just move on. I mean they still show they care, but they don't do a hell of a lot in the meantime. Things pick up towards the end, but the common viewer would have already turned off by this point anyway.

2. The characters and the story - Cuthbert really shines. She has the most character development and screentime. She is believable and pulls it off here. That being said, all the other characters either are there as plot devices, or are just bare bones as can be. The daughter hating her mom and having bully issues.... It was just filler, it had no relation to the story other than to make the character seem real after the fact. The husband was just a cookie cutter guy who played the disbeliever role. The little kid was a typical gets caught up in everything kid. They filled the characters like they would fill horror movie tropes. Mother trying to solve a mystery? Check. Disbelieving husband? Check. Weird little kid? Check. And the next one really got me. They had the one role that could have made the movie better, the mathematician. This is the character that added and could have added more, but they just decided to forgot about him towards the end of the movie. I mean, they even made it seem like he was in the process of solving this weird mathematical riddle, and then nothing, you never here from him again.

3. The ending - Maybe it makes more sense to say the third act. Now I think this where it all comes together in a good way, but it also becomes completely predictable here all the way until the end. With a movie that moves slow......the payoff has to be great....and while some visuals are done well, it ultimately becomes formulaic at the wrong time.

Final Thoughts

Ok I loved it too much to hate. I'll admit it. As a horror fan, it will pick off many boxes. I loved how there was zero CGI, and even at the end when you finally go to that place...it's practical. The scene in the depths of the cellar, that scene reminds me of The Beyond. Another world that looks all too similar to your own, that can be scarier than any alien world. Another thing to mention, this originally was a short horror. The director tried really hard to add lore and flesh this out into a feature. It works and it doesn't. I think if you are a longtime horror fan what works will outshine what doesn't. If not, the shortcomings will have the opposite effect, especially with the pacing....

Haunted house film. I liked what they were attempting to do. This one was a bit confounding for the seasoned viewer. High production values and nice visuals. The technological aspect is enticing, but never fleshed out. Solid acting. Some interesting ideas are unfortunately crushed by cliches. The story was a fine mysterious set-up. This sounds like faint praise but this might be a good film for young teen horror fans. It felt, at times like a good introductory film for a younger set who dig the occult. Poses interesting afterlife questions for discussions about what it all was supposed to mean. It was obviously a short film expanded to "feature" length. The padding is obvious and feels unnecessary. (caught The Ten Steps (2004), the short that was the basis for this film - recommended!) The characters act as you might expect in these films. The story heads in a direction that is fairly simple. Might be fun for fans of audiophile horror and demonic records. This movie wasn't bad at all...just filled with a lot of unused potential.

Love creepy house movies, could have been super spooky. It was let down by the parents "what were they thinking" or not in this case. Who leaves their children in a huge old house the day after they move in, to pitch an idea at work???? The acting by the "mother" Elisha Cuthbert was great. The father was sleepwalking through the whole movie, literally no point having him. Good concept, unfortunately, lack of budget and character development let it down.

Nice plot, I let myself be tempted. Sincerely, I had a great time in front of my screen.

The film is intriguing and we want to know what's going on, it's well done. It could have been better because certain ideas could have been better exploited. Some scenes of the films, or visions are still very distressing and disturbing. Conclusion : not bad, could have been better, but it's watchable, yes.