The Beast in the Cellar (1971) watch online HD

This was the first title from Anchor Bay UK's "Tigon Collection" Box Set that I checked out - being already familiar with the higher-profile titles among them, namely WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) and THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW (1970). While the film isn't as bad as its reputation would suggest, and is actually well worth watching, it is by no means a classic. The interesting premise classifies it as an anti-war movie but it was deemed to be too talky by executive producer Tony Tenser and, along with some cuts, he ordered the addition of sex and violence inserts to heighten its commercial potential. However, incongruous as they may seem alongside the film's generally deliberate pace, these rapidly-cut scenes of the rampaging 'beast' work quite well!

The film's mainstay, of course, are committed performances by the two elderly female leads - Beryl Reid and Flora Robson - but also T.P. McKenna as the police official investigating the murders. John Hamill and Tessa Wyatt's contribution - intended to provide the requisite romantic interest - is largely negligible, however. Perhaps the best scene in the film is Reid's lengthy account to McKenna of their family's back-story, disclosing the identity of the 'beast' and the reason for its violent behavior. One may notice inconsistencies in the lighting scheme throughout; this is the result of having two separate cameramen - with very different styles - working on the film, albeit both very well regarded exponents of the field (Harry Waxman and Desmond Dickinson). Tony Macaulay's over-emphatic score, however, works against the film's attempt at creating suspense and, ultimately, is what dates it most of all.

THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR was actually released as a double-bill with the far superior THE BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, which I rewatched later in the week. Director Kelly made only one other film before his untimely death - NIGHT HAIR CHILD (1971) - which, incidentally, I should also be watching fairly soon since I recently got a copy of it! The main supplement on the Anchor Bay UK DVD is the Audio Commentary, which is pretty adequate: Tenser's memory isn't so lucid and is occasionally hard to understand, but associate producer Christopher Neame (son of director Ronald) made up for this by his highly articulate observations and recollections about this particular film.

Not half as bad as some make out and if as is said it went out on a double bill with 'Blood on Satan's Claw', I reckon that was pretty good value. This doesn't have the dolly birds and swinging London paraphernalia but instead two solid performances from Flora Robson and Beryl Reid more than compensates. The kills are surprisingly bloody, the situation with the two spinsters well done and although the final explanation is a bit wordy and prolonged but at least by the end we are still interested to know just who was the occupant of the cellar. Not as jolly as a lot of Tigon product and maybe the better for it for a change. More than a little creepy, not least for the way the old ladies seem, effortlessly to change roles, causing us to rethink what we reckon is going on.

The oddest thing of all about the Beast in the Cellar is that it is actually rather well acted. Beryl Reid and Flora Robson are just fine in their sinister roles, and it makes you wonder how well the film might have turned out if it hadn't been so poorly written.

Possible plot spoiler: the storyline of this flick is odd too. A couple of nosy, simple minded old sisters live in a country house and seem to just drift along in life. Every now and then they hint that something weird is going on in their cellar. As the film develops, it transpires that they have kept their brother locked in there for years - three decades to be precise - and one day he escapes and goes on a killing rampage. Obviously, after thirty years locked in a damp, dark cellar, he looks more than a little like a caveman and has extraordinarily long sharp nails, almost like claws (all the better to mutilate you with!)

With such a strange, unpromising plot, this never had much chance of being a great film. But it has interesting bits, such as the afore-mentioned high quality performances and a couple of nicely edited shock moments. Generally, though, it isn't up to much and belongs very much in its little time capsule as an early 70's cheap-and-cheerful British horror opus.

The Beast in the Cellar is set in Lancashire in England during the early 70's where two elderly sisters name Ellie (Beryl Reid) & Joyce Ballantyne (Flora Robson) live together in their large house just outside the small rural town of Littlemead, one day Ellie rushes home to tell her sister that a soldier from a nearby Army camp has been brutally murdered. At first they both wonder who the killer could be until Ellie goes down into their cellar where they have kept their brother Steven (Dafydd Havard) bricked up for the past 30 odd years & discovers that he has dug a tunnel & escaped, obviously putting two & two together they feel Steven was responsible or the murder. The fact they find another dead soldier in their shed also has something to do with their thinking. Anyway, the beast is loose, on a murderous rampage & no-one is safe...

This English produced horror film was written & directed James Kelley, it came from Tigon studios who were formed to compete with the likes of Hammer & The Beast in the Cellar was released in cinemas here in the UK to an unsuspecting public on a double bill with Tigon's best known film The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) which is a thought that make me proud to be British... While not as good as The Blood on Satan's Claw I still thought The Beast in the Cellar was a great film, judging by the other comments here on the IMDb I definitely seem to be in the minority by thinking that but quite frankly I don't give a toss because I thought it was a cracking little horror film & the fact that no-one else seems to like is completely irrelevant to me & my enjoyment of it, isn't it? I love the character's of Ellie & Joyce, as a pair their so different anything else I can remember seeing in a horror film, I mean name one other horror film where he two main stars are old ladies'. I bet you can't. I thought their parts were reasonably well written & I actually started to feel a little sorry for them by the end, I liked the story although maybe it's a touch predictable (you just have to look at the title to basically work the entire film out), I liked the twist's & this is one film where I liked the slow-ish pace & the build up. Having said that it can be slow going at times as well as being a bit dull although there was something about it that I found very watchable, in fact I couldn't take my eyes off it! This is a hard one to call because I can see where all of it's (many) critics are coming from & to an extent even agree with them but for me The Beast in the Cellar (great title, by the way) had that 'X' factor, that indescribable element that just hooked me personally even though no-one else in the World can see it...

Director Kelley does a good job, it's not only for the bizarre story that I love The Beast in the Cellar it's the unique atmosphere that only comes from an English horror film from the 70's & there's nothing that can come close to it. I mean they just don't, can't or simply won't make 'em like this anymore, the thick accents & dialogue, the instantly recognisable English setting & countryside, it's all here. It's a little silly at times & after 30 years that bloke would have had a longer beard than that & there is no way on Earth he could have used his long finger nails as Leopard type talons as they would have broke after one slash. There is an acceptable body-count here, while the kills aren't the goriest they're cool & there is one scene in particular that I just loved when Ellie has to dispose of the dead soldier Steven brought home & since the guys eyeball is hanging out she pops it back in! Honestly I don't really know why but there are so many things that I liked about this film, I must be mad.

Technically The Beast in the Cellar is pretty good considering it was probably made for a few thousand quid, the photography is nice (it's not often you see two credited cinematographers for a film let alone the class of Desmond Dickinson who has an impressive 90 films credited to him & Harry Waxman who has 70) & sometimes very effective although the day-for-night shots look cheap as they always do & it's generally well made with atmospheric sets & locations. I thought the acting was pretty good myself especially Reid & Robson who make the film what it is really.

The Beast in the Cellar is a film that I really liked, I can't quite put my finger on why because I think it's a collection of things that just made it work for me. However I will concede that this will probably be the only positive review of The Beast in the Cellar you will ever read as everyone else in the entire World seems to dislike it which I cannot ignore so with that in mind I can't recommend it as going by the law of average I'm sure most will hate it. This comment is my own personal opinion & I thought The Beast in the Cellar was great fun & a highly entertaining creepy little horror film from a bygone era, unfortunately I doubt many will share my views on it which I think is a shame...

In rural Lancashire in the north west of England, two elderly sisters played by Beryl Reid and Flora Robson have kept their younger brother locked up in the cellar for thirty years and as a result he has been driven right out of his mind. He escapes and starts killing soldiers from a nearby army camp in frenzied attacks.

"The Beast In The Cellar" is a "Tigon" produced shocker that went out as a double bill with the company's own "Blood On Satan's Claw" (Dir: Piers Haggard). Although most critics have condemned it, one called it an "Idiotically boring farrago", it isn't really that bad although there is quite a lot of laughably melodramatic chit chat between the leading ladies and the low budget does show at times. However, the success of this film is through the lighting of Harry Waxman and Desmond Dickinson (one of my favoured cinematographers) who use the rural setting to the full and there is one set up at the end which stands out in the memory long after the movie is over. The sequence in which the beast is seen creeping up a staircase in the middle of the night during a thunderstorm rather recalls the earlier horror movies of the 1930's through it's sinister use of shadow.

This transcends the basic story which is by no means bad, but it would of worked much better as a short story segment in a portmanteau horror film.

Rating: 5

Good atmosphere - soundtrack, film technique, creepy "not what they appear to be" characters - marred by muddled screenplay. Poor continuity. Opportunities with characterizations missed. Not an original idea, done better elsewhere. Mistitled - alternate titles describe movie better. "Beast in the Cellar" sounds exactly what it tries not to be: a '50s drive-in throwaway. "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" Brit spinster wannabe description is apropos.

Two spinsters Joyce and Ellie live together in the family home they grew up in,but hide a dark and sinister secret.They keep their demented brother Steven locked in the cellar.But Steven manages to escape and starts killing soldiers.And he can see in the dark."Beast in the Cellar" is a pretty creepy horror movie produced by Tigon.The score by Tony Macaulay is marvelous and there are some moments of genuine suspense.The film is well-acted and directed.Beryl Reid and Flora Robson shine in their chilling performances of two elderly sisters Joyce and Ellie.The climax is a bit predictable and the editing is rather bad in places plus it's quite difficult to see what is happening.Still solid British shocker.8 beasts out of 10.

A tale of sibling overprotectiveness taken to horrifying extremes, the 1970 British film "The Beast in the Cellar" introduces us to a very unusual pair of elderly sisters indeed. When we first meet Joyce and Ellie Ballantyne (played, respectively, by the great English actresses Dame Flora Robson and Beryl Reid), the two are in quite a flustered tizzy, as a wild animal has started to kill off some young soldiers at the military base near their isolated country home in Lancashire. The authorities suspect that a leopard is to blame, but when the two aging biddies realize that "he has escaped from the cellar"...well, let's just say that they know better. And the less said about the titular beast, the better, I suppose, for those potential viewers who somehow may not have heard.

Anyway, "The Beast in the Cellar" is something of a mixed bag, at best, and certainly not abetted by its DVD presentation. The film's main strength is unquestionably the most impressive performances turned in by its two leads. Robson's terrific portrayal was not a surprise to this viewer; I've been a fan of hers since seeing her decades ago in the great 1940 Errol Flynn swashbuckler "The Sea Hawk," in which Flora's Queen Elizabeth practically steals the show. I had not previously encountered Beryl Reid anywhere before, however, but she was so very good here that I am now inclined to seek out more of her work; her performance in 1968's "The Killing of Sister George" is supposed to be especially good. The acting turns by these two old pros aside, however, "Beast" does not offer too much to the casual viewer. It is never especially scary, or even suspenseful, and although the beast's attacks are somewhat gory, they are shot in such a dark and frenzied manner that the viewer cannot make out much. Composer Tony Macaulay's theme song for the film is eerie and excellent, but much of his incidental music seems out of place, and even non sequitur at times. James Kelly has directed his film in a fairly pedestrian manner, with little style to speak of, and his picture drags woefully in spots. Perhaps the uncut British version of the film, at 101 minutes, would be an improvement, but the 87-minute American cut seems to be missing...something. If ever a picture deserved a loving restoration! As suggested above, the DVD offered for us Yanks is a miserable-looking affair, with a scratchy print, lousy sound and many nighttime scenes rendered almost completely black on the small screen. Seeing "Beast" back when in a theatre must have been a completely different experience; it can only have improved what is, in essence, a highly interesting albeit flawed film. For this viewer, the most interesting aspect of the picture is how our opinion of the two sisters keeps changing as the film unreels. As in 1962's "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," our perception of which sister is more rational and which is more batty--which is more sympathetic and which is more to be condemned--is subject to fluctuation as the secret of their history is revealed. In the film's best scene, Ellie does reveal all to a flabbergasted police superintendent, and it is a story both moving and tragic, and fully detailing this most unusual family affair. Having a loving and caring sister is one thing, but heaven forbid that you ever get one like Joyce or Ellie Ballantyne!

This film has haunted me for 30 years. I'm trying to buy a PAL format VHS or UK or USA DVD copy. This film is excellent. Flora Robson is disturbingly controlling and the ending, if you haven't been told of it, is sad & very moving. And my home is 90 years old- with a cellar.

The pre-title sequence shows army vehicles on manoeuvres across Lancashire moorland - for a moment I thought I'd taped the wrong film. A Landrover breaks down so the driver has to trod back to base. He does not get there (right film then). His body is discovered the next day with extensive claw wounds and the pathologist's initial prognosis suggests an animal attack, possibly a large cat such as a leopard. The film focuses on two elderly sisters, Joyce and Ellie, who live on a smallholding on the moors. They are both concerned about the murder (and ensuing bodycount rise), perhaps a bit too concerned.

The main problem with The Beast In The Cellar is its title. It tells the viewer more than they need to know from the outset and immediately makes you suspicious of the two sisters. A better title would be, say, 'The Beast On The Moors'. It still has the sensationalist promise of a beast but removes any emphasis away from the sisters and their house. Thankfully the fact that the beast is in the cellar is well established in the story about halfway through the film. The questions thus raised are what/who is it, why is it there, why is it killing and what is its connection (if any) with the sisters?

A major component of the film is the military and the 'horrors of war'. The beast's victims are all low ranking soldiers from the local army base (as in warfare it is the common soldiers who suffer most). The soldiers all looked as if they had all been sequestered from Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who and their survival rate was certainly comparable (something actress Beryl Reid is familiar with). The two sisters' father was an officer in WWI and they frequently refer to him and seem very proud. The older sister even dresses up in his uniform. Does she have a uniform fetish or is there a more sinister reason?

*spoilers*

The film could initially be described as having an anti-military pathos. This is surprising since part of the British army helped in making the film. However the ending reveals that there are worse things than being sent to war and the military is overall treated in a friendlier light. The fact that the 'culprits' were acting for what they believed to be the greater good makes the final revelations especially chilling.

A handful of final musings: Ellie goes around in a child-like state of denial whilst Joyce, the older of the two, is more responsible and therefore more strained and serious. They obviously have something plaguing them. It is interesting to see who will 'crack' first. As the beast supposedly dug out of the cellar why are its claws/talons so long. Wouldn't they have been blunted and broken from the work. Speaking of work, the amount of slogging about Ellie does for a sixty plus year old is remarkable. There are some neat moments of irony. These include Joyce finally receiving her prescribed medicine and the constant appearance of the young corporal, who must continually remind the sisters of their past.

I remember viewing this movie when I was a kid. I recall it terrified me immensely and it stayed with me all these years. I spent a couple of years trying to find it online...didn't remember the title, only the storyline. After searching and searching, I came across a VHS that was being sold on E-Bay. I was excited and when it finally arrived, I jammed it into the VCR and couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed. This wasn't the movie I remember watching as a kid. It was boring at times and I found Beryl Reid's incessant whinning extremely annoying. Both performances by Reid and Flora Robson were good overall but the movie wasn't scary. I think any movie is worth viewing to form you're own opinion but sometimes, well......

A soldier walks alone in the ever darkening sunset. Suddenly he is attacked by a creature. You know this because the camera is shaken around, there is disjointed screaming, and the same photo of a bloody slash mark is subliminally flashed. This was obviously to avoid too much editing by the censor, but I immediately thought, "Great, a 1970's crap horror movie. Worth watching" Then the laid back, easy-listening trumpet title tune put the icing on the cake - more cocktail lounge than horror film it is immediately at odds with the theme of the film. After the intro, the usual chapter with the detectives investigating the incident scene. You don't actually see the body, but the contrived commentary by the detectives gives you a good idea of its condition. "Hmmmm, deep lacerations to the face and body made by talons, I'd say." You get the picture. This thorough off the cuff autopsy by the detectives gets them off on the wrong foot by making the assumption that it's a Panther.

Apart perhaps from the two leading actresses and T P McKenna, there is little evidence of any real acting. The soldier that keeps an eye on the two old dears was probably a real soldier - he appeared to be reading from idiot boards such was his woodeness. However, the story does get a bit more involved and at times seems well written, so you shouldn't judge this film by the first amusing half hour.

Two batty old ladies have a secret in their cellar, a secret which may need to be revealed when murders start occurring around the countryside. And why are soldiers being particularly targeted?

Two great British actresses in Beryl Reid and Flora Robson rock up for one of Tigon's worst films. It's not that the production is poor, because that side of it is more than decent, it's that it's an utter bore. 99% talking and literary bluffs dominate the picture to the point where when the big finale arrives, it really isn't worth the wait. Not even the introduction of the lovely Tessa Wyatt - in astute male fantasy nurse role - can perk things up.

Head of Tigon, Tony Tenser, once said he only made films to make money, it's with films like this where that becomes apparent. It's hard to believe that this is the same company that produced Witchfinder General! 3/10

The `plot' of this film contains a few holes you could drive a massive truck through, but I reckon that isn't always top priority in horror. Two elderly sisters in rural England keep their brother in the cellar since more than 30 years. Now, he escaped and started a killing spree, focusing on militaries that are homed nearby. `We only did we thought was best for him' they keep on repeating and – strangely – all the army officers love these women and don't doubt their sincerity, even though 5 of their men died. I don't know whether to find the revelation near the end suspenseful … or tedious! In a way, this film reminded me about `Arsenic and Old Lace'. In that black-comedy classic, two half-insane siblings mother their goofy younger brother as well, yet they do the killing there. The old ladies in `The Beast in the Cellar' are by no means less crazy, though. The `horror' in this early 70's film is very amateurish and cheap, but there are a few neat attempts to build up the tension. Too many `old-ladies' talk about the good ol' days, though and that rarely is something you seek in a horror film with such an appealing title. Flora Robson, who may be recognized by classic film buffs, plays one of the sisters. She gave image to the Queen of England is the legendary Errol Flynn swashbuckler film, the Sea Hawk.

One thing I have noticed about British horror movies from the 1970s is that they don`t hold up to repeated viewing THEATRE OF BLOOD is a case in point as are all those Amicus anthology movies . Add THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR to the list

Much of the drama of this movie revolves around the build up of a plot revelation at the end . Once you know what the revelation is this becomes a rather flat film . It does open with a fairly good hook but after that we`re treated to long boring sequences of two old ladies making small talk . Correct me if I`m wrong but how many people watch a horror movie expecting a couple of old ladies making small talk ? The only sort of interest to be found in THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR is the anti-smoking stance . Some people have mentioned that this is an anti-war or anti-military film but watch carefully and you`ll see that everytime a squaddie lights up for a fly puff he gets killed . Rather strange considering attitudes to smoking weren`t nearly so hysterical as they are nowadays

I cannot tell. But this motion picture seems like a film adaptation of a stage play, although with very few licenses to leave the main setting: that is, the house with a cellar that contains a beast... or contained, it seems, because right from the beginning whatever was inside is killing soldiers around the countryside, leaving them all bloody (yes, there is enough blood for an early 1970s movie), and more scratched than a phone card. I enjoyed the proceedings and the chitchat between the two main characters, the Ballantyne sisters, in the first two thirds. But in the third act, Ellie (Beryl Reed) never stops talking about how she loved her father and how her sister Joyce (Flora Robson, by now bedridden) loved their brother Stephen. She confirms what we know since the beginning, that the two sisters locked brother Stephen in the cellar for 30 years. In the meantime, the police, now being alerted by Ellie, looks for the man-beast. Blond John Hamill (perhaps Britain's most popular male nude model of the 1960-70s) plays a very amiable young corporal who visits the two old ladies with the latest news at least three times a day, and Tessa Wyatt appears too late in the plot as a nurse, but she anyway becomes Hamill's love interest. By then poor Stephen has no hope. It does not have any right to be so, but somehow the film is enjoyable.

In a year awash with horror films comes this oddity, built around the familiarity and fondness cinema-goers had for the leading ladies. When Beryl Reid's Ellie potters over the hillside, or Flora Robson's Joyce is introduced sternly cleaning the house, it is the actresses we are being treated to, with the characters of Ellie and Joyce yet to be introduced to us.

The production is more reminiscent of a heartfelt Ealing drama interspersed with briefly glimpsed moments of graphic horror than usual Tigon fare. Apparently, the flashes of gore – and a brief scene of underwear removal during a kiss-and-cuddle scene to 'spice it up' – were added after filming was over, at the insistence of Producer and Distributor Tony Tenser who felt, understandably, that this was a very tame presentation.

'The Beast in the Cellar' could have been lifted from a stage production, as much of the focus is inside the farmhouse, and there is a tendency for the leading players (Ellie, Joyce and soldier Alan, played by John Hamill) to indulge in lengthy preamble, telling each other and the audience what they already know.

James Kelley's creeping direction often makes the most of the evocative location but wastes too much time on mundanities; there is a scene where Ellie discovers the Beast has escaped, which has her scuttling through the house, down some stairs, into the garden, by the side of some sheds, into the barn – and then back again - which seems to drag on forever. Soldier Alan visits the ladies to make sure they are alright, to tell them of the frightening events and killings occurring all around them, and then to assure them not to worry. His cheerful visits are relentless, and surprisingly nothing is made of the friendship between him and wholesome local nurse Joanne Sutherland (Tessa Wyatt).

The 'beast', when revealed, is … a wide-eyed bearded old man. Hardly a thing of nightmares – indicative of the film as a whole, in fact. Well played by all concerned, the story is too thin (indeed, everything you need to know is summed up in the title) and sedate to satisfy. And yet some elements remain unexplained - just why does Joyce take to dressing in her late father's army coat and cap when she thinks no-one is watching? The reason for brother Steven's incarceration is murky at best. These things would have been more effective had the audience furnished with some reasoning or motivation. What could have been truly frightening results in an inoffensive, even quaint, pot-boiler.

This slow and talk-filled movie will be offputting to most genre fans who are expecting the pace of a Hammer movie or the grisliness of a Pete Walker film. It has neither, and instead seems to be more of a drawing-room drama, packed with dialogue and the minimum of action and actual horror content. This is a shame, as the murders (when they do occur) are executed well, and shown from the killer's point of view - kind of like the murders in LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF. Although the film is not explicitly gruesome, the murders do get pretty bloody and two scenes involving a hanging eyeball have been inserted in to make things more grisly.

The story is a rather simple one, yet director Kelley manages to wring maximum atmosphere from the location of his story - an isolated farmhouse is just right for a horror flick of this variety. Although obviously filmed on a limited budget, the realistic sets are good too, full of ominous shadows, which is a good thing because the entire film only takes place in a handful of locations. A suspenseful music score also helps to add to the atmosphere of the film.

The main problem with the movie is the lack of horror content and the slow pacing, which makes it laborious even for patient viewers. While this isn't too much of a problem, it comes as a surprise due to the exploitation title which makes this sound like some exciting monster rampage movie when in fact it's not. The opening murders and a scene showing a loving couple being butchered in a barn fit in oddly with the scenes involving Robson and Reid.

Perhaps these scenes go on for too long (one has Reid telling the whole story, which lasts about twenty minutes of her talking), but they're certainly interesting, if not exciting, to watch. The dialogue the two actresses are given helps to make their characters realistic and, if not exactly likable, then certainly understandable. Both are given clear personalities - Reid is the worrying, gentle one, while Robson is the colder, cunning one - and their interchange can sometimes be gripping in a subtle way. You really get to know these two by the end of the film, and it feels like you've invaded their lives. The supporting roles are obviously minor yet packed out with appealing actors and actresses. THE BEAST IN THE CELLAR is not a film for all tastes, mine somewhat included, but it's a well-handled curiosity.

We had another cold winter day here so I stayed warm and watched a film I've never seen. I viewed 'The Beast in the Cellar' a 1970 British film. It has the look of one of Hammer Studio's lesser efforts. It's not made by them, it just has that Hammer feel and quality to it...almost. I'm not hinting it's bad, on the contrary it was pretty good, especially compared to the stinkers I've seen lately. Here the acting, sets, and the dialog were all very professional. The film deals with two old ladies, spinster sisters. They remind me very much of two similar characters from 'Arsenic and Old Lace'. Like in 'AaOL' they even know a young man they're both very fond of, only this man is a friend, not a relative. These ladies are not killers, still they do have a dark secret. They did something terrible ...a person or thing has been locked in their basement for a very long time. It finally escapes, that's when people start dying, all soldiers from a nearby base. Only soldiers are killed for a reason not revealed till later. What is doing it and why is the mystery. The story does have some slow moving sections that seem like filler more than anything else. The ending is suitable yet comes off a bit abrupt compared to the leisurely way the rest of the plot unfolds. I do recommend this one for fans of light British horror, just don't expect too much from it as far as action. It's about the characters and their pasts catching up with them. I rate it a 5 out of 10.

The bad news: the Canadian version of Beast In The Cellar released by Maple Pictures that I saw was of poor quality. Dark and washed out, it appeared to be dubbed haphazardly from a VHS tape. It even skips at one point due to some missing frames.

The good news: this movie is so bad that the poor quality of the DVD detracted little from my viewing enjoyment. This horror movie fails to build tension and lacks scares. It is a horrorless horror film. While most frightening films have limited dialog, Beast In The Cellar is a gabfest, so much so that a character will repeat something we have just heard said by two other characters. Presumably, all the chit chat acts as filler for a very low budget, unimaginative movie. Unfortunately, the dialog isn't campy enough to make it worth a watch.

It's a pity to see such an earnest thespian as Flora Robson (who was the unforgettable Dowager Empress in Ray's widely underrated "55 days at Peking" )in such a demeaning ridiculous part.She and Beryl Raid portray two spinsters who hide a terrible secret in their cellar (check the title).

The idea was not so bad after all.There are,currently,in some countries,mothers who hide their sons so that they can avoid the draft.That is to say the movie had a real potential.The results are actually very poor and Robson in her uniform is guaranteed to net horselaugh.

This is a very special beast:his victims are military men only (and occasionally) their girlfriends .