THE BASEMENT was a movie I picked up in college because it had the greatest hook I’d ever heard: a previously unreleased movie from the ‘80s, being released for the first time in 2010. It was like finding a favorite snack food you thought had been discontinued. That VHS actually came in a box set with a DVD and a few other films on DVD as well. Even though THE BASEMENT itself wasn’t shot on video (it was exactly one step higher, shot on Super 8) it was my introduction to the world of shot-on-video horror. That set contained SOV titans such as CANNIBAL CAMPOUT and VIDEO VIOLENCE.
But we’re just here to talk about one movie. THE BASEMENT is an anthology that lifts its wraparound very heavily from 1972’s TALES FROM THE CRYPT, except the action is set in, well, a basement instead of a mausoleum because that’s what they could afford. Make no mistake, it’s amateurish. It’s basically homemade. Seeing what they accomplished, given that, is absolutely a huge part of the appeal.
The first story revolves around a killer swimming pool. The second story is about a Halloween Grinch of a teacher who hates children so much he fantasizes about killing his students, and gets subjected to a parade of Halloween horrors. The third focuses on a low-budget zombie movie that gets besieged by actual zombies, and the fourth is about a man who moves into a house with a harrowing haunted past. The first story is the most hokey and it’s probably the most poorly placed, because it can sour you on the whole experience, but don’t let it. The stories are inventive and engaging for an amateur production and end on a strong note.
For its complete and total lack of budget, THE BASEMENT boasts wildly impressive effects. The Mummy taking out someone’s tongue and putting it in his own mouth to say “Happy Halloween” is perfect. That’s exactly the vibe this movie hits at its most entertaining. Even the perhaps unintentionally laughable moments are charming. At one point a man is confronted by the rotting corpse puppet ghost of his dead wife. He says “I don’t believe it!” She rattles, makes a generic ‘80s Halloween “toodleloodleloodle” sound effect and asks “Do you believe NOW?” As if that’s all it takes to convince him. And it is, because he then says “I do believe it! I must!” It’s truly an exchange that has to be seen to be believed.
THE BASEMENT has exactly the same appeal of walking through a neighbor’s homemade garage haunt on Halloween night. It’s not Halloween Horror Nights and it’s not trying to be, it has no illusions about being that and that’s good, because it scratches a completely different kind of itch.