So in the early to mid 1990’s I was one of those kids that found the faded VHS tape of Night of the Demons on my local video store shelf brought it home, and promptly had my mind BLOWN. My group of friends who rented PILES of horror films on weekly basis felt like we were hardened to the scares of most horror cinema, legitimately were scared by this film. A little while later I found Witchboard and then Witchboard II, decades later Vinegar Syndrome put out Witchtrap, which was a total blast and made me realize just how awesome this director truly is.

This brings me to the Cellar. I had ZERO idea this movie existed. I mean I’m sure I knew it existed, because I have looked at Kevin Tenney’s IMDB page, but for some reason it never threw myself at me as something to look at, which it turns out that for once my slacking paid off. The Cellar was a 1989 family horror film kind of like the Gate, or at least that’s what the producers seemed to be going for.

So what we have here is a cool little 1980’s creature feature infused with some Native American vibes. The film opens in a town Compassion, TX. In 1932 an evil force kills a man, and ends up driven into the cellar of a house and trapped by a talisman. Speed ahead to the 80’s and a new family moves into the house. The family’s son Mance realizes there is some evil presence in the house, of course no one believes him, so it’s on him to take it on!

So, being that this film was targeted at a family audience it doesn’t go all the way that a film like Night of the Demons would. That being said it does have some great monster FX here, and the Southwest ambiance really shines through (Living in Austin the last 10 years has given me a real appreciation for SW horror).

Vinegar Syndrome presents 2 versions on their Blu-ray set. The director’s cut presented using Tenney’s lab print and the producer’s cut from the negative. The producer’s cut which looks better in the transfer department (practically pristine), but the film is not as well put together as the DC and just doesn’t flow as well (still a great inclusion and fun to watch back to back). The Tenney cut looks great, but there are some specks and assorted bits of minor damage from the print, but it looks quite good. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD stereo track and comes through nicely. Extras include a group commentary on both versions of the film, a director intro, and a making of documentary. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.