Blood Capsule #242

CELLAR DWELLER (1988)

What do you get when you combine the creative brain trust behind Empire Pictures with a groovy script written by Don Mancini?  Don't answer just yet.  Imagine handing that script over to director John Carl Buechler, the enterprising special effects guru responsible for Troll and (most of) The Dungeonmaster.  Okay, now add a killer creature suit and a talented cast spearheaded by Yvonne De Carlo (yes, Lily Munster herself).  If you didn't know, what you get is one of the most entertaining horror films from the 80's that no one ever talks about.  I won't sit here and tell you that it's perfect, but I freakin' love it.  Cellar Dweller starts with a prologue that introduces us to Colin Childress (Jeffrey Combs, yo), a comic book artist toiling away at his latest creation.  Obviously, his latest creation is the Cellar Dweller, an abstruse beast with roots in the astrophysical (I think).  It seems that Colin's imagination has pulled his monster into reality.  Yeah, it's one of those stories.

Cut to thirty years later.  Whitney arrives at an isolated art institute run by the priggish, square-toed Mrs. Briggs (that would be Lily--I mean, De Carlo).  She learns that the basement is off-limits.  Apparently, it's where her hero - the shadowy Childress - butchered an innocent girl before turning the axe on himself.  At least that's the prevailing rumor, but Whitney doesn't believe a word of it.  Feel free to consult Wikipedia for a more detailed synopsis.  I don't want to reveal everything.  Actually, there isn't much more to reveal, as the film only stretches to 77 minutes, and that's if you count the credits.  Cellar Dweller does feel incomplete, but don't let that deter you from checking it out.  It's full of energy and, for lack of a better noun, color.  It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that it was shot to look like a comic book.  Aside from Creepshow, I can't name many other genre pearls that were so heavily influenced by EC comics (pre-1990, that is).  Creepshow 2 maybe?

Don't sleep on this beauty.  I'm proud to own it on both VHS and Blu-ray.  Come to mention it, I would put Cellar Dweller somewhere in my Top 20 movies of all time.  No, that's not a list I'm itching to make.