A Horror Flick || Review Of The Cellar (2022)

Left alone to babysit her younger brother, Stevie, Ellie finds a gramophone in the cellar and brings it up to the living room to play the record on it. A voice begins to say a mathematical formula ending with a countdown. She quickly turns it off and sends Stevie to bed. While watching a movie, a dark presence ascends from the cellar, enters the house and the lights begin to go out.

Ellie calls Keira who instructs her through the phone to go downstairs and find the circuit breakers. Ellie descends into the dark cellar and disappears while counting. Keira becomes distraught and begins the search for her daughter. Will she find Ellie? What could the dark presence from the cellar be?

Review

The plot of this film is good and original—this is the first I'm getting to know about mathematical equations or formulas acting as an incantation that opens the door to another dimension where the residents are held by an ancient evil in a hypnotic state, reciting numbers. But the storytelling falls terribly short and it's heartbreaking. I see the potential in every scene and wish the writer and creator, Brendan Muldowney, put in more effort.

The Cellar is written as a supernatural horror with some mystery. The race to figure out the maths equation is intriguing but it's not enough to make it compelling. We hear of concepts like the sea creature, Leviathan, from the Bible, and see some Hebrew scripted symbols and a gramophone hypnotising the cast but these tools are not harnessed to give the audience a proper horror movie.

I was hoping for some action or reasons why the audience should be scared. Instead, Brendan Muldowney overwhelms us with different lingering views of the walls and the stairs leading to the dark cellar. Aside from a few jump scares, the film stubbornly refuses to develop any suspenseful grip.

The cast's acting is not bad but kudos must be given to the lead, Elisha Cuthbert. In moments when the film lacks, she pushes to bring out the beauty but there's only so much she can do. Abby Fitz as Ellie Woods is perfect as the rebel daughter with an attitude but her limited screen time still manages to captivate me.

Another major part that leaves me unsatisfied is the unresolved plot. There are some plot holes in this film such as why the ancient evil wants this family or why it takes people and makes them count numbers out loud, what is this other mysterious dimension etc. We don't get the answers to these and more, making this film a little disappointing.

Overall, The Cellar is more of a psychological thriller than a supernatural horror. The jump scares are few, the suspense is less and dissatisfying. I expected more with the contents of the plot but the director did not put them to good use. All the same, you can watch this film to pass some time. I'll give it 2.8 stars out of 5.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

^{Other images are screenshots from the movie}