Highly Overrated But Still Good

best movie i've ever seen.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT may be an ordinary-looking exploitational grindhouse movie, but it's actually worth a look for fans of cult cinema. It's entirely cheap with a scuzzy look, but it's also actually a pretty interesting look at mental illness and it doesn't just rely on gore shocks and axe murders to make it work. It has more plot than that, including a fine ending which is something of a mini-classic.The setting is a cheap, run-down old asylum populated by a group of distinctive characters: there's a the girl who cradles a doll and thinks of it as her child, the former judge who goes around dispensing law, alongside a handful of sympathetic characters. Soon enough a series of gore murders are taking place, and it's up to the pretty young heroine to solve the crimes before she herself becomes the next victim. Director S. F. Brownrigg gets the most out of a clearly non-existent budget, and the film becomes most impressive at the Grand Guignol-style climax, which has something of FREAKS about it.

Don't Look in the Basement has attained a certain level of infamy on the basis that it was one of the 72 films that made the video nasty list. For those not in the know, this was a list of films considered obscene by the authorities in early 80's Britain. It does have to be said, though, that like many others from that list this one has no right being on any list of movies considered extremely shocking. Don't Look in the Basement has no real reason to have been labelled a video nasty but I am pleased for it that it was because it has given it a lasting fame of sorts. Its original title 'The Forgotten' is actually a more meaningful title though, seeing as it's about people locked away in a hospital for the insane. It seems likely that it was given the 'Don't' moniker to tie it in with other similarly titled horror flicks from the time. In actual fact, there were four of these on the video nasty list, so perhaps the censors back in the day took eccentric exception to use of the word 'don't' at the beginning of film titles…The story revolves around an experimental asylum for the criminally insane, where the chief doctor encourages the inmates to act out their fantasies and allows them to roam the facility unchecked. This ends in disaster though when one of them puts an axe in his back. The following day a new nurse turns up for duty and shortly afterwards a series of murders begins.The first time I saw this film I was pretty unimpressed. I was expecting something completely different though. I certainly wasn't prepared for an oddball flick populated by a selection of very strange characters. The story is basically a 'lunatics taking over the asylum' narrative but it has something definitely quirky and interesting about it that I picked up on having seen it again with a clearer mind. The budget is clearly very small but the scuzziness of the production values adds somewhat to the overall effect. This is much better for the fact it is so rough and ready with threadbare sets. Even the basic acting adds to the strangeness seeing as the inmates are supposed to be out of their minds anyway. It is a character-driven movie and they are a real selection box of oddness, each has his or her own quirks. Although I could have done without the extremely annoying frizzy haired character called Danny who screams and giggles in an incessantly irritating way. Otherwise there were some interesting ones, including a strange old woman who spoke in strange riddles, an ex-soldier who thinks he is still fighting a war, an axe-wielding character called The Judge, a Popsicle loving man with the mental age of a child, a woman with severe relationship issues and another who nurses a baby doll.The mystery/thriller/horror side of the story almost takes a back seat a lot of the time. But it increases in relevance in the final third. Things are wrapped up ultimately with a pretty neat twist that I didn't see coming. At the end of the day this is probably among the most interestingly different of the films to make the video nasty list. It's not for all tastes but for fans of 70's American exploitation movies it's one to see.

Made by Brownrigg and his most notorious one even as he made Don't Open The Door (1975) or Keep My Grave Open (1976)later in his career. This has become a really exploitation classic even as it is a bit low on blood nowadays but back then it was way ahead of its time.Originally titled The Forgotten it was shot in 12 days. But the marketing boys were clever and flicks started with 'Don't' were a hit. Not even that, they retitled it and paired it with Wes Craven's controversial gore landmark Last House On The Left (1972). The double bill was so popular at drive-ins that it staid there for 13 years. So Don't Go In The Basement got a cult status. Many find it one of the best exploitations of the seventies because the story was insane (no pun intended). The demented inmates in an asylum axe the head doctor and take over the insane asylum. But an unsuspected nurse arrives and tries to unravel the maze of madness. The insane are insane some love popsicles, others never leave their toy boat. But it was the splatter that was non seen back then. A tongue being ripped out or an eye being impaled on-screen. Still it's didn't survive the time and nowadays it look ridiculous. But also a bit of a tittie shot made it all the weirder.It was okay but for me not the hype I suspected. Still it's a good exploitation but it takes a bit too long before things really go wrong. Nevertheless, a must have in your horror collection. Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

A young nurse named Charlotte Beale arrives at a small sanitarium run by Dr Stephens, but soon finds out that not all is as it seems, as the patients aren't locked in their room and the previous Doctor got murdered, so Charlotte tries to investigate the secrets of the place and soon finds out more than she bargained for.In my opinion I find this movie very uneven, firstly as the first hour basically nothing happens just a bunch of overacting and patients screaming, and plus endless boring dialogue, but then the final half hour the movie finally kicks in which is intense and thrilling and the setting is brilliant with it a genuinely eerie feel -- claustrophobic, intense, and a sweaty nightmarish feel. Overall "Don't Look in the Basement" isn't that bad of a film although it's pacing is one of its biggest issues overall. The movie seems to lack direction in parts although it does end up a lot better than most will expect.All in all Don't Look In The Basement is a fun 70's slasher, definitely one of the better ones, but nothing that sets it apart from the other movies of this calibre or memorable.