The Cellar (1989 film)

Last updated
The Cellar
Cellar, The (1989) poster.jpg
Promotional release poster
Directed by Kevin Tenney
Screenplay byJohn Woodward
Story by
Based on"The Cellar"
by David Henry Keller
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyTom Jewett
Edited bySally Allen
Music by
  • Dave Borden
  • Josh Kaplan
  • Harry Maslin
  • Pat Rettig
  • Donovan Stark
  • Will Sumner
Production
company
Indian Neck Entertainment [1]
Distributed by Filmstar
Release date
  • November 4, 1989 (1989-11-04)(Japan)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Cellar is a 1989 American monster film directed by Kevin Tenney, based on a short story by David Henry Keller. It stars Patrick Kilpatrick, Chris Miller, Suzanne Savoy, and Ford Rainey. [2]

Contents

Plot

Comanche Indians have trapped the evil of their land in a monster made up of a mixture of other animals. The Comanche have placed a protective spear in the ground to contain the evil, along with a rabbit foot talisman for good luck. A young boy pulls the spear from the ground while pocketing the talisman. He starts to play with the spear. A Comanche catches the boy, and startled, he runs away with the rabbit's foot. The Native American places the spear back, realizing too late that the rabbits foot is now gone. After that, white men come and start drilling for oil.

Skip to current time, a divorced father, Mance Cashen, moves to the area with his new wife and baby. His son from his first marriage, Willy, is visiting. Willy notices something peculiar in the house and tries to warn his father and step-mother. They do not believe him. Willy is attacked while on a tire swing over a small water hole. The creature grabs his foot and Willy struggles, eventually getting away. He eventually befriends the local drunk, T. C. van Houten, the same man who rented the house to Mance and his wife. A nice old man with some bad memories who knows something about the evil near the oil well and was in a situation similar to Willy's.

In the meantime a Comanche Indian chief, Chief Sam John, comes to warn Mance of the evil and the need to keep it contained. Sam John informs Mance the evil was originally intended to stop the white man, but it is indiscriminate in whom it kills instead. Mance will have none of it. Willy eventually takes a spear he finds on his property to Sam John and tries to find out what is going on. Sam John convinces Willy to promise to stay out of the cellar and come get him if anything happens. Sam John is later dragged into the cellar by the monster.

Willy, of course, has plans of his own and sets booby traps in the basement. He plans to trap it in sight so he can prove he is not lying. As he lays the traps the creature gives him a scare and Willy runs away. T. C. dies shortly after by the evil. Willy decides to be more bold and makes another trip to the basement in order to stop the monster. This time armed with a flame thrower, electrical cables, and a lucky rabbit’s foot. The monster interrupts him and Willy must run away again.

Willy takes Mance's ex-boss's son, Tommy Boatwright, with him to the water hole in order to set up bait for the monster. Tommy falls in and the monster eats him. The police suspect foul play from Mance on account of him being fired. While looking for his son, under the impression he has merely run away, Tommy's father, Kyle goes into the cellar of the Cashen's house, but is caught in a bear trap that was meant for the creature and the creature itself kills Kyle. Having enough of Willy's 'lying', Mance locks Willy in the kitchen with the cellar door nailed open to scare him into reality only to find out Willy was telling the truth. Willy electrocutes the monster, saving his dad. But the monster is only stunned. Mance disappears and Willy, his step-mom, and the baby escape to the car. Mance escapes through the tunnels to the water hole. Willy grabs some dynamite and rigs it up to a toy car to kill the monster, but the explosives aren't working. Mance decides to once again go back to the cellar and hook up the explosives, barely escaping with his life. Mance and Willy blow the monster up together while escaping.

Cast

Production

Director Kevin Tenney took over as director from original director John Woodward eight days into the film's shooting schedule. [3]

Release

The Cellar was released in the United States on VHS by Southgate Video in 1989, and in Canada that same year by Cineplex Odeon.[ citation needed ] In 2021, a 2K restoration of the film was released on Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome. In Germany was released as "Anthony II - Die Bestie kehrt zurück", without having no connection to The Kindred (1987 film), which had been released as "Anthony". This happened because of promotional reasons. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Python</i> (film) 2000 American TV series or program

Python is a 2000 made-for-TV horror film directed by Richard Clabaugh. The film features several cult favorite actors, including William Zabka of The Karate Kid fame, Wil Wheaton, Casper Van Dien, Jenny McCarthy, Keith Coogan, Robert Englund, Dana Barron, David Bowe, and Sean Whalen.

Michael Myers (<i>Halloween</i>) Fictional character in the Halloween franchise

Michael Myers is a fictional character from the slasher film series Halloween. He first appears in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) as a young boy who murders his elder sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he returns home to Haddonfield, Illinois, to murder more teenagers. In the original Halloween, the adult Michael Myers, referred to as The Shape in the closing credits, was portrayed by Nick Castle for most of the film and substituted by Tony Moran in the final scene where Michael's face is revealed. The character was created by John Carpenter and has been featured in twelve films, as well as novels, video games, and comic books.

Three characters have taken the moniker of the supervillain Chemistro appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

<i>Gorgo</i> (film) 1961 film

Gorgo is a 1961 British science fiction monster film directed by Eugène Lourié and starring Bill Travers and William Sylvester. The story is about a ship's captain and his pearl diving crew who, with other fishermen on an island and an orphaned boy, discover and capture a gigantic amphibious sea creature and take it to London for public exhibition. This results in the creature's much larger mother invading London in search of her offspring, causing catastrophic destruction across the city.

<i>Samson & Goliath</i> American animated television series

Samson & Goliath, also known as Young Samson, is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for NBC, where it debuted on September 9, 1967. Primarily sponsored by General Mills, who controlled the distribution rights through its agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, Samson & Goliath was retitled Young Samson in April 1968 to avoid confusion with the stop-motion Christian television series Davey and Goliath.

<i>Savage Sam</i> (film) 1963 film by Norman Tokar

Savage Sam is a 1963 American Western film sequel to Old Yeller based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Fred Gipson. Norman Tokar directed the live-action film, which was released by Walt Disney Productions on June 1, 1963. It did not enjoy the success of the original.

<i>Jack Frost</i> (1997 film) 1997 American direct-to-video black comedy slasher film by Michael Cooney

Jack Frost is a 1997 American direct-to-video black comedy slasher film written and directed by Michael Cooney. It stars Scott MacDonald and Christopher Allport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Winchester</span> Fictional character

Dean Winchester is one of the two protagonists from the American drama television series Supernatural, along with his younger brother Sam. He is portrayed primarily by Jensen Ackles. Other versions of the character having been portrayed by Hunter Brochu (toddler), Ridge Canipe (child), Nicolai Lawton-Giustra (pre-teen), Brock Kelly and Dylan Everett (teen), and Chad Everett (elderly).

<i>Evil Bong</i> 2006 American film

Evil Bong is a 2006 American stoner horror comedy film directed by Charles Band about a group of stoners who smoke from a sentient, malevolent bong that traps the smoker in The Bong World, a surreal realm filled with killer strippers and other Full Moon creatures. The ending features an extended cameo by Tommy Chong, of Cheech & Chong fame. Brandi Cunningham from VH1's Rock of Love with Bret Michaels and horror icon Bill Moseley also make appearances in the film, which spawned a franchise of sequels.

<i>Dracula vs. Frankenstein</i> 1971 film directed by Al Adamson

Dracula vs. Frankenstein, released in the UK as Blood of Frankenstein, is a 1971 American science fiction horror film directed and co-produced by Al Adamson. The film stars J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Durea, a descendant of Dr. Frankenstein who is working on a blood serum for his assistant Groton. The serum soon becomes sought after by Count Dracula, who hopes that it will grant him the ability to be exposed to sunlight without harm. Other members of the film's cast include Anthony Eisley, Regina Carrol, and Angelo Rossitto.

<i>Saturday the 14th Strikes Back</i> 1988 film by Howard R. Cohen

Saturday the 14th Strikes Back is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Howard R. Cohen and produced by Julie Corman. It stars Ray Walston, Avery Schreiber, Patty McCormack and Jason Presson.

<i>Frightmare</i> (1981 film) 1983 American film

Frightmare is a 1983 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Norman Thaddeus Vane. It stars Ferdy Mayne, Luca Bercovici, Jennifer Starrett, Nita Talbot and Barbara Pilavin, along with Jeffrey Combs in his horror film acting debut. The film's plot follows a group of drama students who decide to kidnap the corpse of a recently deceased horror movie star. By disrupting his tomb, they unwittingly release an ancient black magic that begins consuming them one by one.

<i>Spookies</i> 1986 film

Spookies is a 1986 American independent horror film directed by Brendan Faulkner and Thomas Doran, with additional footage directed by Eugenie Joseph. It stars Felix Ward, Dan Scott, Alec Nemser, and Maria Pechukas, and follows a group of partying teenagers who find an abandoned mansion and become trapped inside as a warlock tries to sacrifice the group with the intention of using their vitality to keep his wife alive.

<i>Demon Wind</i> 1990 American horror film

Demon Wind is a 1990 American horror film directed by Charles Philip Moore. The film concerns a group of friends who travel to an old farm, and soon find they cannot leave as a mysterious fog sets in.

<i>Leprechaun: Origins</i> 2014 American film

Leprechaun: Origins is a 2014 American slasher film directed by Zach Lipovsky, written by Harris Wilkinson and starring Dylan Postl, with Melissa Roxburgh, Garry Chalk, and Brendan Fletcher co-starring in the film. It is a reboot of Leprechaun and the seventh installment in the Leprechaun franchise. WWE Studios President Michael Luisi has described the film as "a little darker, a little more traditional horror than the Warwick Davis ones that people remember".

<i>Curucu, Beast of the Amazon</i> 1956 film by Curt Siodmak

Curucu, Beast of the Amazon is a 1956 American adventure/monster film, directed and written by Curt Siodmak and starring John Bromfield, Beverly Garland and Tom Payne. The title creature is pronounced "Koo-Ruh-SOO". The film was distributed in the United States as a double feature with The Mole People.

<i>Witchtrap</i> 1989 American film

Witchtrap is a 1989 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Kevin S. Tenney and starring James W. Quinn, Kathleen Bailey, and Linnea Quigley. The film follows a team of parapsychologists who attempt to exorcise a haunted inn with the help of a device designed to lure in and trap evil spirits. Despite the film's title, its central villain is a male witch also known as a warlock. Witchtrap was released direct-to-video.

References

  1. Tahmahkera, Dustin (2022). Cinematic Comanches: The Lone Ranger in the Media Borderlands. University of Nebraska Press. p. 243. ISBN   978-0803286887.
  2. Weldon, Michael J. (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 97. ISBN   978-0312131494.
  3. "The Arrow interviews...Kevin Tenney". JoBlo.com . Archived from the original on June 28, 2003. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  4. "The Cellar – Vinegar Syndrome". Vinegar Syndrome. Archived from the original on February 8, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022.