A young psychiatric nurse goes to work at a remote asylum following a murder. There, she experiences varying degrees of torment from the patients.A young psychiatric nurse goes to work at a remote asylum following a murder. There, she experiences varying degrees of torment from the patients.A young psychiatric nurse goes to work at a remote asylum following a murder. There, she experiences varying degrees of torment from the patients.
- Sam
- (as William Bill McGhee)
- Dr. Geraldine S. Masters
- (as Anne MacAdams)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to remove a closeup shot of an axe blow to a woman's body and the film later found itself on the banned list of video nasties. The cut version was released on the UK HHO label in 2005 and the full uncut version (now rated 15) was released on the Stax label later the same year.
- GoofsWhen the doctor gets hit with an axe, it strikes his back, yet the blood effect is shown on top of his shoulder.
- Quotes
[Ray is fixing the asylum's telephone]
Allyson King: You know, I used to live in this place where the phone man was always coming around.
Ray Daniels: That bad, huh?
Allyson King: Uh uh... that good.
Ray Daniels: Oh, I thought that you meant that you'd had a lot of phone trouble.
Allyson King: Hell, I didn't even have a phone!
- Crazy creditsThe characters in the film are shown as the actor's/actress's name appears at the end of the film, including the murdered characters!
- Alternate versionsOnce listed as a video nasty, the UK Stax (Boulevard) and Elstree Hill DVDs are now 15 rated and uncut, restoring the original cinema cut to a shot of an axe hitting a woman's bloody body.
- ConnectionsEdited into III Slices of Life (2010)
The film takes place in a large house which is home to several psychotic individuals. Before the plot even begins, the head of the hospital is chopped up by one of the patients with an axe. Then Rosie Holotik enters the hospital looking for the axe victim and finds that the hospital has a new head who is not at first willing to honor her agreement with the deceased Dr. Stephens. Soon, however, Dr. Masters reconsiders and Nurse Beale (Holotik) is hired. The rest of the film builds tension and successfully develops the individual psychoses of the in-mates. After a while it becomes very unclear who is a patient and who is a doctor.
In the end, Don't Look in the Basement is a cleverly plotted film which benefits from generally good acting and directing and not-overly-ambitious camera work. A must-see for B horror fans, and an interesting diversion for those interested in psycho-dramas and psychological thrillers. Be warned, however, this film is slightly more gory and sexy than the average horror film of its time.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $100,000 (estimated)