Claire S., Here…
‘Don’t Look In the Basement 2‘ is the sequel to a horror film from 1973. You can watch the original film HERE. This sequel incorporates footage from the original film and tries to weave together an over-arching storyline.
Forty years ago (in the original film), there was a mass murder at a sanitarium. Today, the sole survivor, a mental patient implicated in the deaths of the sanitarium staff and patients, is now transferred to a new group home. Turns out this new group home is operating out of the same building where the sanitarium was once located. When the patient arrives at the group home, strange things start happening and the patients and staff start violently killing each other one by one.
Sounds good, right? Wrong. This movie is a slog. When it finally picks up the pace, it is disjointed and bizarre. The motives of the characters are confusing, they exclude the only likable character for most of the film, and the main character is completely one dimensional. The “big reveal” is seen coming a mile away, and it was as if the director was spoon-feeding us baby horror.
Unfortunately, he was spoon-feeding us in all the wrong places. Sure, I figured out who the bad guy was. And the movie wanted to make sure I really got it. So, they’d reveal who the bad guy was over and over again — as if it were a new thing each time. But in all other respects, I was lost. In each scene, I literally was saying out loud, “What the hell is going on?” Here at the end of the film, I am staring at the screen utterly confused. The person sitting next to me just said, “Really?!!!” and started laughing.
1 out of 5 Stars
– Claire Swann