[Review] The Cellar
The latest feature film by Brendan Muldowney (Savage and The Ten Steps), The Cellar, follows the supernatural forces at play in the disappearance of Ellie Woods in their new home’s cellar. Starring Elisha Cuthbert (House of Wax and 24) and Eoin Macken (The Hole in The Ground and Till Death), The Cellar is a typical haunted house story that whilst entertaining, lacks in the fast-paced supernatural elements that would make it a heart-racing horror.
One night shortly after moving into their fixer-upper home, children Ellie and Steven are left at home whilst Keira and Brian are working late on an upcoming project. The house descends into darkness and Ellie calls through to Keira to get help on navigating the electricity in the house, hoping to fix the issue. While in the basement, Ellie begins acting strange, before completely disappearing. Keira frantically returns home and searches everywhere. When in the basement, Keira discovers unusual sketches on the walls. Determined to find what happened to her daughter and return her home, Keira plunges into a world that uncovers the fact that ancient powers might have something to do with her daughter's disappearance.
Elisha Cuthbert as Keira Woods is a powerful force throughout the film. Ascribing to particular tropes that we see in supernatural films; Woods is more often than not dismissed when fighting against law enforcement's attitude towards her daughter's disappearance. The role is portrayed by Cuthbert convincingly and her maternal nature is demonstrated beautifully throughout the film, the disappointing aspect is witnessing the tried-and-true stereotype of irrational mothers and gaslighting by men opposing the proposal of the supernatural.
The house is full of creepy objects and looks like it should be a lot more terrifying than it is. Its enormity is overwhelming, and the film would have benefitted from a jump scare or two. There were scenes where I was waiting with bated breath, and I found those scenes to be the height of the scares for a film that centres around a haunted house. The reliance on technology did feel like a bit of a reach, however, I found it an interesting juxtaposition against the senescence of the Woods’ new home.
Anchored in mathematics and physics, the supernatural elements and evil presence of The Cellar went over my head. They were interesting enough, though, and it provided a unique element to explain how supernatural entities can cross over into the physical world. The conversations that Keira has with different experts in their fields and the research that she conducts don’t provide the audience with enough meat to explain the ending. I do see where it was going, though, and I appreciate that it had taken a different approach to giving answers to “the other side.”
The Cellar is certainly more of a popcorn-and-couch horror movie that is enjoyable if you prefer softer supernatural films. The supernatural is a genre that I would steer clear of until recently. If The Cellar was around in my non-supernatural days, it would have been a nice segway into the world of the haunted house. Elisha Cuthbert is fantastic as Keira Woods and her dedication to the maternal figure is commendable. Other than not being particularly “scary,” The Cellar is still a creepy haunted house story with an interesting take on the origins of the supernatural.
The Cellar is now streaming on Shudder.
