The Beast in the Cellar

Kitchen sink snooz-a-thon which seems more focused on cups of tea and nattering than being a horror. Flora Robson and Beryl Reid are the odd couple of sisters, who spend every moment having agitated little quarrels about nothing, while a vicious beast is loose on the moors, and... Oh please excuse me...would you like a cup of tea?

In the pantheon of eccentric 70s brit horrors (that were not by Hammer or Amicus), this doesn't measure up to the groovy Tower Of Evil, or the deranged Killer's Moon, or Norman J Warren's campfest 'Terror'. I recommend choosing those over this one... Now, fondant fancy? Help yourself.

Rating: 5

Good atmosphere - soundtrack, film technique, creepy "not what they appear to be" characters - marred by muddled screenplay. Poor continuity. Opportunities with characterizations missed. Not an original idea, done better elsewhere. Mistitled - alternate titles describe movie better. "Beast in the Cellar" sounds exactly what it tries not to be: a '50s drive-in throwaway. "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" Brit spinster wannabe description is apropos.

I remember viewing this movie when I was a kid. I recall it terrified me immensely and it stayed with me all these years. I spent a couple of years trying to find it online...didn't remember the title, only the storyline. After searching and searching, I came across a VHS that was being sold on E-Bay. I was excited and when it finally arrived, I jammed it into the VCR and couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed. This wasn't the movie I remember watching as a kid. It was boring at times and I found Beryl Reid's incessant whinning extremely annoying. Both performances by Reid and Flora Robson were good overall but the movie wasn't scary. I think any movie is worth viewing to form you're own opinion but sometimes, well......

This latter day Tigon film used to be on the telly all the time when I was young. Me and my sister thought it was great! It doesn't seem to have all that good of a reputation though but having saw it for the first time since way back when, I can safely say that I still like it! It centres on a couple of elderly sisters who live together (Beryl Reid and Flora Robson) who keep their deranged brother in the cellar; he gets out and starts killing soldiers from the local training base. The two central pensioners are pretty good value and it has a sense of place and atmosphere to boot.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and written by James Kelly; Produced by Graham Harris; Associate Producer: Christopher Neame, for Tigon British, released in America by Cannon Films. Photography by Harry Waxman and Desmond Dickinson; Edited by Nicholas Napier-Bell; Music by Tony Macaulay. Starring: Flora Robson, Beryl Reid, Tessa Wyatt, John Hamill, Peter Craze, T. P. McKenna and Vernon Dobtcheff.

Fine low-budget horror thriller staged like a play, involving spinsters Beryl & Flora who keep a monstrous relative indoors. Excellent acting by the duo, plus repetitive but ultra-violent flash-cut gore montages focusing first-person on the victim.