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Cellar Dweller

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Cellar Dweller
Directed byJohn Carl Buechler
Written byDon Mancini
Produced byBob Wynn
Charles Band (executive)
StarringYvonne De Carlo
Debrah Farentino
Brian Robbins
Pamela Bellwood
Vince Edwards
Jeffrey Combs
Edited byBarry Zetlin
Music byCarl Dante
Distributed byEmpire Pictures
Release dates
  • February 15, 1988 (1988-02-15) (United Kingdom)
  • September 20, 1988 (1988-09-20) (United States)
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Cellar Dweller is a 1988 American monster horror film about a comic book artist who unleashes a demon after drawing it. It was directed by John Carl Buechler, written by Don Mancini (credited as Kit Du Bois), and stars Debrah Farentino and Brian Robbins. As of 2024, this is the only film not in the Child's Play series that was written by Mancini.

Plot

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Colin Childress, 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 . One night, comely student Whitney Taylor goes rooting around the sealed boxes in the cellar and releases the supernatural forces trapped there.

Cast

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Release

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Cellar Dweller was released directly to VHS videocassette and LaserDisc on September 20, 1988, by New World Video. In 1991, Starmaker Entertainment released a VHS tape in EP mode.[1] MGM released an Amazon.com Exclusive VHS on September 29, 2006.[2]

On October 29, 2013, the movie was released on DVD by Scream Factory as part of the second volume of its All-Night Horror Marathon series, along with Contamination .7, Catacombs, and The Dungeonmaster. Scream Factory released Cellar Dweller as a Blu-ray double feature with Catacombs on July 14, 2015.[3]

Reception

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Anthony Arrigo from Dread Central gave the film 3 stars out of 5, writing, "Cellar Dweller might not be quite up to the level some of Empire'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."[4] TV Guide 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."[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Company Credits for Cellar Dweller". imdb.com. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  2. ^ "Cellar Dweller". Amazon. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  3. ^ "Scream Factory Details Scarecrows Release; Announces Nomads, Jack's Back, Ghost Town and More". DC. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  4. ^ Arrigo, Anthony (15 July 2015). "Cellar Dweller / Catacombs (Blu-ray) - Dread Central". Dread Central.com. Anthony Arrigo. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Cellar Dweller - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings". TV Guide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
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