The Beast in the Cellar

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.

A soldier walks alone in the ever darkening sunset. Suddenly he is attacked by a creature. You know this because the camera is shaken around, there is disjointed screaming, and the same photo of a bloody slash mark is subliminally flashed. This was obviously to avoid too much editing by the censor, but I immediately thought, "Great, a 1970's crap horror movie. Worth watching" Then the laid back, easy-listening trumpet title tune put the icing on the cake - more cocktail lounge than horror film it is immediately at odds with the theme of the film. After the intro, the usual chapter with the detectives investigating the incident scene. You don't actually see the body, but the contrived commentary by the detectives gives you a good idea of its condition. "Hmmmm, deep lacerations to the face and body made by talons, I'd say." You get the picture. This thorough off the cuff autopsy by the detectives gets them off on the wrong foot by making the assumption that it's a Panther.

Apart perhaps from the two leading actresses and T P McKenna, there is little evidence of any real acting. The soldier that keeps an eye on the two old dears was probably a real soldier - he appeared to be reading from idiot boards such was his woodeness. However, the story does get a bit more involved and at times seems well written, so you shouldn't judge this film by the first amusing half hour.

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.

Not half as bad as some make out and if as is said it went out on a double bill with 'Blood on Satan's Claw', I reckon that was pretty good value. This doesn't have the dolly birds and swinging London paraphernalia but instead two solid performances from Flora Robson and Beryl Reid more than compensates. The kills are surprisingly bloody, the situation with the two spinsters well done and although the final explanation is a bit wordy and prolonged but at least by the end we are still interested to know just who was the occupant of the cellar. Not as jolly as a lot of Tigon product and maybe the better for it for a change. More than a little creepy, not least for the way the old ladies seem, effortlessly to change roles, causing us to rethink what we reckon is going on.