User reviews

Love creepy house movies, could have been super spooky. It was let down by the parents "what were they thinking" or not in this case. Who leaves their children in a huge old house the day after they move in, to pitch an idea at work???? The acting by the "mother" Elisha Cuthbert was great. The father was sleepwalking through the whole movie, literally no point having him. Good concept, unfortunately, lack of budget and character development let it down.

Nice plot, I let myself be tempted. Sincerely, I had a great time in front of my screen.

The film is intriguing and we want to know what's going on, it's well done. It could have been better because certain ideas could have been better exploited. Some scenes of the films, or visions are still very distressing and disturbing. Conclusion : not bad, could have been better, but it's watchable, yes.

An "evil house" film that is occasionally Lovecraft-adjacent, Cellar's story has good bones but little meat, and I was more than once reminded of Mitchell & Webb's "Lazy Writers."

Add to that constant attempts at suspense that fall short because there aren't any stakes. The overbearing score, always letting you know to Be Really Scared Now Okay! Doesn't help. The first two thirds of the film felt like padding, like B-roll repurposed into something usable after the budget ran out.

But when we finally get there, it's actually a pretty good ending! And the acting is adequate, and the production values are good. They just should have left half of this on the cutting room floor.

Okay for a movie you watch with friends, fully intending to talk over half of it.

I found this movie quite entertaining. There is not a lot left in this type of movie that hasn't been done or hasn't been seen before. Especially the old, big and lonely houses that harbor some dark secret. That's why I probably gave it a better rating (6) then it actually deserves. So, although the whole thing was rather generic. I found especially the first half of the movie quite entertaining, the ending though rather confusing.

The Cellar (2022) is an Irish horror movie recently added to Shudder. The storyline focuses on a family that moves into a unique house in the suburbs with their little girl and boy. Shortly after moving in the little girl disappears. As they coupe with the loss the mother finds strange marking all over the house and as she researches them she discovers her house may be a vessel to something much bigger and discovering what that is may be her only hope of finding the missing little girl.

This movie is directed by Brendan Muldowney (Love Eternal) and stars Elisha Cuthbert (House of Wax), Eoin Macken (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter), Abby Fitz (Redemption), Tara Lee (Moon Dogs) and Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady (Tides).

This movie does have some unique elements within the storyline that are well done. There is really good use of sound to create jump scares and intense circumstances. The horror elements were lacking and I was disappointed so many scenes were shot so dark. The acting is really good and the family dynamic is well established so better horror elements could have made this very good.

Overall this is an average addition to the genre that is only worth watching if you're a horror genre enthusiast. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

I'm a sucker for creepy houses steeped in unique lore. Let's talk about what it got right.

1. The atmosphere - Not many horror movies create it properly. Anyone can take an old dilapidated house and make it spooky. With very few shots, they make the house an oppressive force, with a life of its own. It only helps they create unique lore infusing an added punch to the thing.

2. Cinematography - We have some Kubrick influence. The shots with the stairs. The shots moving through the house. I've always enjoyed when they turn the camera into an invisible enemy. You can tell the director has an eye for setting up shots. They absolutely nail all the visuals.

3. The audio - The audio couples together with the visuals nicely. Ratcheting up the tension slowly. It's actually one of the few movies, where the chanting seems to work well. Maybe it's because it's very soft and in the background. When the sound rushes in, you really can feel it. One thing that gets overused is the counting. I get why it's there, but by the end you are like ok ok, get it. Besides that small detail the audio is top notch.

4. The Lore - Notice how I didn't say story. The idea of a building as a gateway, whether by modified means, or built from the ground up, has been underutilized in horror for the most part. We have some examples, but not many. They inject enough originality to keep you interested. The best kinds of horror lore, is the kind that gives you just enough to fill in your own blanks. They do a good job with that....

5. The Horror - If you have been a fan of the genre for a while, you will pick up all the nods to other movies and/or styles of movies. The crew that made this are fans, and you can tell. Is anything completely new? No. But, they nail just about everything when it comes to the horror. It's creepy and unsettling. It's gothic. Its lovecraftian? In everything but the lore, it's very much a kind of story you would expect from the man. I guess maybe with a nod to hammer horror as well.

And now for what they got wrong

1. The pacing - Things happen over and over again. It all seems to drag out for no apparent reason. I mean, what they do is done well. You can only take so many of the same scenes until you say, " get on with it". The characters and their actions at times make no sense. The initial thing happens, and there is a big effort in fixing it, then all of sudden, it's like the characters kinda just move on. I mean they still show they care, but they don't do a hell of a lot in the meantime. Things pick up towards the end, but the common viewer would have already turned off by this point anyway.

2. The characters and the story - Cuthbert really shines. She has the most character development and screentime. She is believable and pulls it off here. That being said, all the other characters either are there as plot devices, or are just bare bones as can be. The daughter hating her mom and having bully issues.... It was just filler, it had no relation to the story other than to make the character seem real after the fact. The husband was just a cookie cutter guy who played the disbeliever role. The little kid was a typical gets caught up in everything kid. They filled the characters like they would fill horror movie tropes. Mother trying to solve a mystery? Check. Disbelieving husband? Check. Weird little kid? Check. And the next one really got me. They had the one role that could have made the movie better, the mathematician. This is the character that added and could have added more, but they just decided to forgot about him towards the end of the movie. I mean, they even made it seem like he was in the process of solving this weird mathematical riddle, and then nothing, you never here from him again.

3. The ending - Maybe it makes more sense to say the third act. Now I think this where it all comes together in a good way, but it also becomes completely predictable here all the way until the end. With a movie that moves slow......the payoff has to be great....and while some visuals are done well, it ultimately becomes formulaic at the wrong time.

Final Thoughts

Ok I loved it too much to hate. I'll admit it. As a horror fan, it will pick off many boxes. I loved how there was zero CGI, and even at the end when you finally go to that place...it's practical. The scene in the depths of the cellar, that scene reminds me of The Beyond. Another world that looks all too similar to your own, that can be scarier than any alien world. Another thing to mention, this originally was a short horror. The director tried really hard to add lore and flesh this out into a feature. It works and it doesn't. I think if you are a longtime horror fan what works will outshine what doesn't. If not, the shortcomings will have the opposite effect, especially with the pacing....

Watching The Cellar won't kill you, I'm relatively sure about that, but it also won't scare you the least bit (but maybe in the case that you are haunted with something like a cellarphobia it may be a different matter). The movie got a few okay dark atmospheric moments, acting and production are also okay, but really, there is no real reason for the movie's existence or why you should watch this one - but The Cellar may be useful if you need some background noise while writing your next novel masterpiece or surfing thru the sales of some online shop of your choice. The "occult" in this movie is also rather just a melting pot of very superficial cliches. Verdict: meanders somewhere lost between below average and average. Exact rate: 3.5 points.

A gazillion close up shots of Cuthbert a little boy with a nice haircut, a rebellious daughter who had five minutes in the entire film and a clueless dad, did nothing for this super meh long and drawn out story. This film was dreary, lackluster and melodramatic. Watch with the volume down, with subtitles on and turn on some music and you will still be able to follow the story. And all of those nonsensical close up shots on Cuthbert's face only proved that she is old.

It has a good plot. But I would say it's a lot of talking and searching rather than enough suspenseful moments to be a full on horror. So if you want a tense horror movie for the whole time this isn't it. But it has good acting. Good plot. Some scary elements, but not really any jump scares, and it is filmed very well.

Overall definitely worth the watch.

Don't understand the low score here. It was really thought through to not be just another remake with a different name. I can really appreciate that.

I used to love horror.

Today's so called horror movies are either just another disgusting zombie movie or some other sort of gore, or my worst pet-peeve a cop-out.

I liked that this one tried to stand on its own. It deserves a better rating.

First I wanna say that I rented this without hesitation because I'm a big Elisha Cuthbert fan. She is definitely the best part of the movie and about the only lead even though she has kids and is married. She does a good job with what she has to work with, but the problem is what she has to work with.

The plot itself is interesting enough for a decent horror flick, but it ends up as just squandered potential. We've seen all this before, but at the very least they could go all the way with their ideas. Nothing shocking, no twists, very few actually scary moments, and the actor playing her son was so bad it was honestly distracting.

It's an OK watch, but nothing I would say is worth spending money on.

Haunted house film. I liked what they were attempting to do. This one was a bit confounding for the seasoned viewer. High production values and nice visuals. The technological aspect is enticing, but never fleshed out. Solid acting. Some interesting ideas are unfortunately crushed by cliches. The story was a fine mysterious set-up. This sounds like faint praise but this might be a good film for young teen horror fans. It felt, at times like a good introductory film for a younger set who dig the occult. Poses interesting afterlife questions for discussions about what it all was supposed to mean. It was obviously a short film expanded to "feature" length. The padding is obvious and feels unnecessary. (caught The Ten Steps (2004), the short that was the basis for this film - recommended!) The characters act as you might expect in these films. The story heads in a direction that is fairly simple. Might be fun for fans of audiophile horror and demonic records. This movie wasn't bad at all...just filled with a lot of unused potential.

I always approach these channel commissioned Movies with some apprehension. In my book, Shudder has a 50/50 strike rate. However on this occasion I was pleasantly surprised. It is not one for those who seek action in every frame and gallons of blood. But this really intrigued me. And I found myself caring about the characters. And really wanting to know what happened. Although the ending was not a shocker, it still left me wondering. For those who are into the supernatural rather than the supergraffic.