''Cellar Dweller'' is a 1988 American

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

about a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist who unleashes a demon after drawing it. It was directed by

John Carl Buechler __NOTOC__ John Carl Buechler (pronounced ''Beekler''; June 18, 1952 – March 18, 2019) was an American special make-up effects artist, film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He was best known for his work on horror and science-fictio ...

, written by

Don Mancini George Donald Mancini (born January 25, 1963) is an American screenwriter and film director, most notable for the ''Child's Play'' franchise. Career Having been a horror fan since his childhood, Mancini's inspiration for '' Child's Play'' were ...

(credited as Kit Du Bois), and stars

Debrah Farentino Debrah Farentino (born September 30, 1959) is an American actress, producer and journalist. She began her career starring in the CBS daytime soap opera ''Capitol'' from 1982 to 1987, before moving to prime time with a female leading role in the ...

and

Brian Robbins Brian Levine (born November 22, 1963), known professionally as Brian Robbins, is an American film executive, actor, and filmmaker who is the current President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. He also serves as C ...

Plot

Colin Childress (

Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fra ...

), a highly successful comic book artist who gains inspiration from a mystical book of horrific drawings, inadvertently summons an evil spirit into his basement studio. Decades later, his house has become a small art institute run by the stern Mrs. Briggs (

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Hollywood film star in the 1940s and 1950s, made several recordings, and late ...

). One night, comely student Whitney Taylor (

) goes rooting around the sealed boxes in the cellar and releases the supernatural forces trapped there.

Cast

as Whitney Taylor (credited as Debrah Mullowney) *

as Phillip Lemley *

Vince Edwards Vince Edwards (born Vincent Edward Zoine; July 9, 1928 – March 11, 1996) was an American actor and director. He was best known for his TV role as doctor Ben Casey and as Major Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film '' The Devil's Brigade''. Ear ...

as Norman Meshelski *Cheryl-Ann Wilson as Lisa *

as Colin Childress *

Pamela Bellwood Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King) is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington Claudia Blaisdel Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC prime time soap opera ''Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro ...

as Amanda *

as Mrs. Briggs

Release

''Cellar Dweller'' was released directly to VHS videocassette and

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

on September 20, 1988, by

New World Video New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. In 1991, Starmaker Entertainment released a VHS tape in EP mode.

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

released an

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Exclusive VHS on September 29, 2006. On October 29, 2013, the movie was released on DVD by

Scream Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

as part of the second volume of its All-Night Horror Marathon series, along with '' Contamination .7'', ''

Catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

'', and ''

The Dungeonmaster ''The Dungeonmaster'' (originally ''Ragewar: The Challenges of Excalibrate'' and ''Digital Knights'') is a 1984 American anthology fantasy film produced by Charles Band, and is split up into seven distinct story segments, each written and direc ...

''. Scream Factory released ''Cellar Dweller'' as a Blu-ray

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with ''Catacombs'' on July 14, 2015.

Reception

Anthony Arrigo from ''

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

'' gave the film 3 stars out of 5, writing, "''Cellar Dweller'' might not be quite up to the level some of

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

's celebrated cult classics have attained, but with equivocal production design and a few familiar faces – not to mention great FX work – it’s another unique picture worth watching."

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

was more negative, giving the film 1 of 5 stars, and opining, "An enjoyable although not particularly distinguished effort, ''Cellar Dweller'' has a number of small worthwhile moments. Director Buechler gets the most out of a somewhat limited script, pacing the action nicely, and the special effects are adequate – but, like everything else in this film, small and limited in scale."

References

External links

* * * {{John Carl Buechler 1988 films 1988 horror films 1980s monster movies American monster movies Empire International Pictures films Films about comics Films about fictional painters Films directed by John Carl Buechler 1980s English-language films 1980s American films