This low budget exploitation film from director S.F. (DON’T OPEN THE WINDOW) Brownrigg has been offending audiences (on many levels) for years since it’s release in 1973. The original distributors, Hallmark, released it on a drive-in double bill (that played for years) with LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which brought some notoriety to the film. Critics have lambasted the movie and called it an insulting and unrealistic portrayal of the mentally ill. But that didn’t stop this film from doing big box office business on the drive in circuit, thus certifying it as a genuine minor classic. Cult cinema specialists VCI Home Video have released the controversial film to DVD with mixed results.

The movie features a host of B movie talents including mainstay Annabelle (DEADLY BLESSING) Weenick as Dr. Masters. The hot Rosie Holotik plays Nurse Charlotte Beal, through whose perceptions we see the movie. Some of the patients are: Bill (CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE) McGhee as the lobotomy recipient Sam, Jessie Lee (KEEP MY GRAVE OPEN) Fulton as the withdrawn Jane, Hugh (DON’T OPEN THE DOOR) Feagin as the Sergeant, a man who thinks he’s still in the army, Camilla (POOR WHITE TRASH PART 2) as Harriet, a woman with an imaginary infant, Gene (8 MILLION WAYS TO DIE) Ross as the Judge, and Betty Chandler as a nymphomaniac.

In the small town of Greenpark, the residents of the local mental health facility are given free reign by Dr. Stephens, a psychiatric doctor who uses unorthodox methods of therapy. During a form of therapy, Dr. Stephens allows the patient known as Judge to chop wood with an ax to let his aggressions out. The resident nurse comes out and tells the Doctor that she wants to quit. This news distracts Dr. Stephens long enough for him to turn his back on the ax-wielding Judge. Sure enough, Dr. Stephens backs into Judge’s therapy session, and is accidentally struck with the axe, and dies. The other psychiatrist in charge, Dr. Masters runs out the door and rounds up the startled patients.

Later that day, a new nurse arrives (Holotik) claiming she was hired my Dr. Stephens. Dr. Masters tells her that Dr. Stephens was just killed, and that Dr. Stephens never mentioned anything about hiring a new nurse to her, but as they are short staffed, Miss Beale is welcome to stay during this tumultuous time of mourning. Miss Beale sets up shop in the spare room, and as the days go by she gets to know the patients, and notices many of the patients are acting out their various psychotic delusions. That night, an old lady patient tries to warn Ms. Beale that something is amiss. And later when the old woman is sleeping, someone enters her room and removes her tongue. Later, Ms. Beale discovers the old woman on the floor with blood pouring out of her mouth.

The next day, Dr. Masters informs Ms. Beale that the old woman removed her own tongue and has mutilated herself in the past. Ms. Beale becomes concerned that something is going on here, and doesn’t know who to believe. Later that night, the usually withdrawn girl, Jane, pulls a butcher knife and enters Ms. Beale’s room to try and kill her, but the two struggle until Dr. Masters comes to the scene and pulls the crazed girl off of the frightened nurse. Things really heat up when Ms. Beale stumbles across Dr. Stephen’s corpse in the basement. Before you know it, the patients are revolting and not even Dr. Masters can control them. Ms. Beale must find the strength to fight her way out of this asylum of horror.

There is lots of mayhem including:

There are a few problems with the film. One of the biggest problems is the low-tech production, void of any budget or style. The movie takes place almost entirely within this asylum (a big old house actually), which has very generic interiors and bland colors. Director Brownrigg, though a proven cult director, is hardly a Dario Argento. There is virtually no art direction to the film, and only a few exterior scenes. The cinematography consists mainly of the characters walking and talking inside the asylum’s rooms. This approach makes for a very drab build-up of the film, but finally pays off in the last 20 minutes (when all hell breaks loose), and the scenes of Rosie Holotik being stalked are sublimely claustrophobic and atmospheric.

The other big problem is pacing. After the intriguing opening minutes, the main part of the movie follows each mental patient through their individual psychosis. These scenes all take place inside that colorless asylum, and last for nearly a hour without any suspense or horrific elements to break the viewer out of their stupor. The cast make the best of their roles, and many of them portray convincing mental patients, but after a while I found myself nodding off (which is rare). When the final act comes and we are treated to a suspenseful cat and mouse game, with a memorable and bloody climax (although only the last five minutes are truly memorable). Many of the performances of the disturbed patients are also sure to draw lots of laughter from the audience.

The movie has a definite ‘trash’ element that cult fans usually go for, but lacks in other key areas including the script, production values, and the special effects. The effects are so cheap, that the blood looks like red finger paint. You can see each plot twists coming, and it is only in the last five minutes that the film becomes unpredictable. On the positive side, there are some good thing about it mainly because of the efforts of the cast, especially Bill McGhee as Sam.

SIGHT

VCI presents the film in the full frame ratio of 1.33.1. After seeing the great work VCI did with the full frame GARGOYLES DVD, I had high hopes for this transfer. But GARGOYLES was made for TV, and lends itself better to a full frame presentation. I believe that DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT was shot in the 1.66.1 theatrical ratio. So picture-wise, only a little image is missing. But it’s the quality of the image that suffers. Granted, the inherent quality is not the fault of VCI’s mastering. The damage is in the source print and this one looks like the one that has been available for years on VHS. VCI chose not to clean it up, perhaps they figured it would be like beating a dead cat. Either way I’d rather have VCI save their pennies for their flagship titles like Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, and Argento’s BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE. The film has a grainy, washed out look, which it even had on those big, ol drive-in screens. There are numerous nics and scratches in the transfer, and an occasional vertical white stripe in the film. The image is soft and the colors muted, but keep in mind this is the intended look of the film. The only thing that VCI is truly guilty of is the incorrect black level. Though disappointing, the transfer is still better than VHS.

SOUND

The audio is Dolby Digital Mono 2.0. Though the mono 2.0 adds nothing new to the transfer, it is a serviceable soundtrack and that holds up better than the video. You got to remember this is a dialog driven film that has no use for surround effects or high fidelity. I would not call this mono mix crisp, as there are some anomalies on it, but it is generally free from distortion, though some hiss was detected at various intervals (it was never constant). Robert Farrar’s score is subtle background music that is quite unusual for a horror film. There is some acoustic guitar strumming that is used sparingly in the score.

FEATURES

Not exactly an abundance of extras, but there is a nice collection of original theatrical trailers for upcoming and currently available VCI DVD releases. The trailers are for Mario Bava’s BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (widescreen 1.66.1, stereo, 1:00), Dario Argento’s BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE (widescreen 2.35.1, stereo, 2:26), THE NIGHT VISITOR (full frame, stereo, 1:37), and GORGO (widescreen 1.66.1, stereo, 3:00). However, there is no trailer for DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT. But there are some talent bios and film facts.

CONCLUSION

So basically what we have here is a low budget, one-trick-pony that has sustained itself through the years by riding the coattails of the superior LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. It’s nowhere as good as that true classic drive-in film, and lacks a talented filmmaker like Wes Craven or Sean Cunningham. To be fair, perhaps I’m being a bit harsh because I did not enjoy the full frame presentation. If the film had been widescreen with a cleaned-up transfer, I would’ve enjoyed it more and maybe seen the film in a different light. It’s not that the film is that bad, it’s just it’s not that outstanding. But I really can’t recommend this DVD except maybe to diehard fans of the film.

DONT LOOK IN THE BASEMENT is available from DVDEmpire.com

                                                     Rating (out of 5):