Reviewed by Rhianna Pratchett
Stars James DuMont, Michelle Tomlinson, Melina Bielefelt, Christina Reynolds | Written by Christopher Nelson
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 85 minutes | Directed by Matt Zettell
What we get with The Cellar Door is a lower budget, but psychologically more interesting, version of Captivity that explores (through what is predominantly a two-hander) the relationship between captor and captive. DuMont plays Herman, a pudgy loner who spends his time stalking women and keeping them in a small cage in his basement, while Tomlinson is his latest victim, Rudy.
The film is quite artful in what it allows the audience to gauge for themselves. For example, there seems to be a lot of nasty equipment in Herman’s basement, which although it doesn’t really get used, adds to the tension about the extremes to which he is capable of. Herman’s human detritus shrines are also equally disturbing. The fairly tight script and direction makes it easy to form an almost personal bond with the characters — one that has you living through Rudy’s tiny triumphs as if they were million dollar set pieces.
Where the film falls down is when it resorts to cheap gore thrills, such as Rudy’s maggot-filled nightmares, which are particularly jarring. The ending also seems a bit of a cop out. Nor does the film ever go quite far enough into exploring what makes Herman tick and why. Certainly allowing an audience to tell part of a tale themselves can be powerful (see above) but it’s also nice to think that the writer and director have some idea of the nuances of story they’re trying to tell. Nevertheless, it still remains an interesting low-budget genre piece.
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