The cellar is always a scary place. Nobody wants to go down to the cellar in a since evil things lurk at the bottom of the steps. Doesn’t even matter if it’s your grandmother’s basement or your own cellar, you rarely want to linger in the poorly lit space. This is the second most frightening place after a dentist’s office. So a cellar is the perfect place for a horror film. No matter what you took into the basement and stored, there’s a chance something else has taken up space. The Cellar makes full use of the creepy space in a low budget scare fest.
Mance Cashen (Minority Report‘s Patrick Kilpatrick) has moved out to the desert to start his new life with his new wife (The Knick‘s Suzanne Savoy) and baby. But part of his old life visits when his son Willy (Christ Miller, future director of Shrek 3) drop by. While dad is enjoying his time in the desert, Willy senses something is wrong around the house. He fears something is trying to get him especially when playing around the watering hole. He’s not wrong since it turns out that earlier, the local Native Americans used their magic to create a fierce creature. It was supposed to just attack the white folks and scare them off the land. But it couldn’t tell the difference between the two. But Mance doesn’t believe the Indians or his son until it’s nearly too late.
There are two cuts of the film included on the Blu-ray. The version worth watching first is the Director’s Cut which isn’t close to what you might have seen on VHS when the movie came out nearly three decades ago. Turns out that director Kevin Tenney’s version was completely overhauled before it was distributed. But now you get to see the original version which isn’t so over the top dramatic. This one plays things as a strange family drama about the kid dealing with dad’s new life and the creature lurking in the basement. The Producer’s Cut was created by Pat Rettig. He shot extra scenes and re-edited the film. There doesn’t seem to be any trace of him working again under that name. It’s interesting to compare the versions and seeing how both are under 90 minutes, you can do it in the same time it takes to watch one of the Justice League versions.
The Cellar is PG-13 horror so don’t expect too much blood and guts on the screen. A lot of the action deals with the son getting used to his father’s new life. The monster is rather nasty looking when it appears in the cellar. I’m thrilled that the director’s cut can now be shown since it’s so much better than the producer’s cut.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic for both versions. The director’s cut isn’t quite as clean since it was an answer print. But you’ll be more impressed by it. The audio is DTS-HD MA stereo. You’ll hear the strange noises coming from below the house. The movie is subtitled.
Commentary Tracks are included for both the Director’s Cut and the Producer’s Cut. This is great for people wanting to hear the reaction to what the producer did to certain scenes.
From Chicken Shit to Chicken Salad (46:12) has the cast and crew discuss the film and how happy the can finally show the film properly after all these years. They go deep into how messed up the production was including the original director John Woodward getting fired a few days into production and Kevin Tenney (Night of the Demons & Witchboard) hopped on board. Tenney described the experience of being like directing a TV episode since the actors were cast, sets were built and the monster in the cellar made. After they made the film, the production company sold the film to another production company. The new owners decided to shoot new scenes, load up on stock footage and recut the movie. Tenney was shocked at the change, but couldn’t get his name taken off as director. But he saved his cut as an answer print which what makes the director’s cut. The film went straight to VHS. But found a following. And Patrick Kilpatrick should know that I got his Nicholas Roeg reference.
Vinegar Syndrome presents The Cellar. Directed by Kevin Tenney. Screenplay by: John Woodward. Starring: Patrick Kilpatrick, Chris Miller, Suzanne Savoy, Ford Rainey, Michael Wren, Lou Perryman and Danny Mora. Rating: PG-13 Rated. Director’s Cut: 84 minutes. Producer’s Cut: 86 minutes. Blu-ray Release Date: May 25, 2021.
