Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Beast In The Cellar (1970)

3 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: A chill-filled festival of horror!
Directed by: James Kelley
Written by: James Kelley
Actors include:  Beryl Reid, Flora Robson, John Hamill
Genre: Horror
Length: 88 minutes/110 minutes
Banned: Nope




Review:
Well this did have some things going for it, I liked the concept and the two main characters are old bitties that are quite amusing (well acted). The two old Women are spinsters who seem to be hiding something. When a monster appears to be murdering local soldiers they seem sorta panicked, that is until they realize they probably know who is responsible once they find a hole in their cellar. It's very slow and actually seems rather like a play what with limited sets and a ton of talking. The good news is that the film is often very dryly and darkly humorous, it's just too much chatting and not enough horror. Sure they mention that the bodies are horribly mutilated but we never see them, in fact I don't recall seeing a single drop of blood. Now I've heard rumours that there is a 110 minute version of the film floating around with gore intact and it apparently makes more sense too. I watched the DVD version and it was only 88 minutes and definitely appeared cut so I'd love to find a full version to watch. This is a Tigon film, it feels quite cheap and really it clearly illustrates why folks usually choose Hammer then Amicus first before hittin' Tigon.

Availability:  On DVD

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