Cellar Dwellar

Cellar Dweller

1988

Director- John Carl Buechler

Cast- Debrah Farentino, Brian Robbins, Vince Edwards, Pamela Bellwood, Cheryl-Ann Wilson, Yvonne De Carlo, Jeffrey Combs

           

The film opens with horror icon Jeffery Combs (The Re-Animator, The Frighteners and a hundred other films) as a comic artist drawing the latest issue of the pulp comic Cellar Dweller. For reference he is using an ancient grimoire (I guess authenticity is important to him). Magically, his thoughts are brought to life in the form of a demonic beast. The two perish in flames as he fights off the beast. Or did they?

            Fast forward 30 years and comic artist Whitney Taylor (Farentino) is trying to follow in her idol’s footsteps and reboot the Cellar Dweller comic. The house where her artist idol died has been turned into an artist commune of sorts (ran by Lily Munster herself, Yvonne De Carlo). She is forbidden to go into the basement where the death occurred, so of course, the first chance she gets, that’s exactly where she goes. She finds the ancient grimoire and soon the beast is brought to life through her imagination where it commits a series of grisly murders.

            To be honest, the premise of this film is a little tired, the set-up is very contrived and it’s way too short for a feature film. So why would I recommend it? Because the titular monster is awesome! This movie was made in the last few years before the CGI revolution, when practical monster effects had reached their highest point. The best of these creatures were combinations of artistic creativity and mechanical engineering. They required skills in latex sculpting, make-up, puppetry and electronics. Jabba the Hutt from Return of the Jedi is probably the most recognizable example of this but great horror examples would be the werewolves in The Howling or the protean creatures in John Carpenter’s The Thing.

This monster’s design is very memorable with hits hulking lycanthrope body, a head like a bugbear from a D&D game and big pentagram on its chest. I daresay, the art of creating such creatures is almost lost today. I remember seeing, in horror magazines, pictures of the creature as a teenager, many years before I could get my hands on the film. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a B movie and the monster can’t hold up to what you would have seen created by say, Jim Henson, but as a teenager the monster blew me away and I think it will have a similar impact on those that  appreciate the art of monster making.