‘The Cellar’ Movie Review [SXSW 2022]: Elisha Cuthbert in a House of Horror Clichés
The Cellar embraces the horror haunted house sub-genre clichés, but ultimately falls victim to many of them. However, writer/director Brendan Muldowney also incorporates some of the familiar staples that audiences crave from this horror sub-genre. The Cellar is reliable, but it doesn’t do quite enough to stand out from the pack.
A family moves into a new house in ‘The Cellar’
Keira (Elisha Cuthbert) moves into a new house along with her husband, Brian (Eoin Macken), and their two kids. Their daughter, Ellie (Abby Fitz), mysteriously vanishes during a power cut. Law enforcement believe that she ran away, but Keira isn’t so easily convinced.
The house has several oddities that only further expand the mystery of Ellie’s disappearance. The Cellar pushes Keira to her breaking point, as she refuses to relent until her family is whole once again. However, she will need all of her strength to face the great evil behind the mystery of her family’s new home.
Writer/director Brendan Muldowney relies too heavily on clichés
The Cellar begins with the family moving into their new home, which has some strange decorative details. However, the family initially shrugs them off. Muldowney relies on the typical haunted house clichés from the very beginning. The family got the house for a real steal, stories say that a witch supposedly owned the house before, and the husband doesn’t believe the wife’s paranormal experiences.
Keira and Brian are excited to move into their new home and start a new chapter of their lives. However, Ellie is angry to leave her life behind. This tension creates a wedge between the mother and daughter, as Keira doesn’t begin to really notice her daughter’s call for help until she’s already missing. Ellie isn’t a little girl anymore.
The Cellar tips its hat to previous classics in the genre, including The Amityville Horror. There are some other narrative beats similar to Sam Raimi‘s The Evil Dead. However, Muldowney doesn’t capture that level of fear or suspense. Its non-descript movie title plays into the narrative, but in a way that is as short-sighted as the horrors in the house itself.
‘The Cellar’ has scary moments that don’t quite add up
There isn’t anything particularly inventive about The Cellar. However, there are a few eerie moments thanks to Muldowney’s direction. The film’s biggest moments are off-screen or in the shadows, allowing one’s mind to run wild. Much like a nightmare, The Cellar operates with subconscious fears. But, once the film’s secrets are unveileved, it loses much of its edge.
The Cellar isn’t bad and it certainly has its moments. However, it doesn’t add up into a particularly memorable horror movie that will draw in non-genre fans. Muldowney provides solid direction, although his screenplay hinders a potentially terrifying haunted house into one that fits in too neatly in the story. The Cellar had promise, but there isn’t anything that separates it from other haunted house flicks.
