The Cellar Review

3 stars, when is your cellar not a cellar?

The Cellar is an Irish/Belgian co-production which has been acquired by Shudder. Filmed on location in Roscommon, Ireland, it is written and directed by Brendan Muldowney (Love Eternal, Savage) based upon his short film, The Ten Steps. It is available to stream exclusively on Shudder from 15th April 2022.

“Morgan from my class told me the house was owned by a witch, who made a pact with the Devil.”

Keira (Elisha Cuthbert – 24, House of Wax) and her husband Brian (Eoin Macken – The Forest, I Am Fear) are I.T. professionals working on a new platform for Vloggers and Influencers. They have decided that to give their children Steven (Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady) and Ellie (Abby Fitz) the best start in life, they will move them to a creepy old worn down house out in the sticks.

Steven is young and as long as he’s got his console he doesn’t mind either way, but Ellie is a sullen teenage girl who is understandably not happy at the move. Unbeknownst to her parents, while they are promoting unhealthy attitudes among teenagers, their own daughter is being bullied on social media for not conforming to the norm.

Working on a possible new contract, they leave Steven and Ellie alone on their first night in the new house. Bored they play an old gramophone record and shortly after, Steven goes to bed. As Ellie watches TV , all the lights go out and she calls Kiera for help. She tells her she must go into the cellar and check the circuit breaker. Ellie doesn’t want to, but Kiera helps her count the steps.

Her relief at Ellie getting down the ten steps to the bottom rapidly fades as she continues to count and Kiera and Brian rush home. Unfortunately by the time they get back, Ellie is gone without a trace. The police are called but as Kiera suspected, there is no sign of her. As she investigates the strange symbols in the house she realises something far more sinister is at play. How far will she go to save her family?

“We’ve talked to her friends, we’ve pulled CCTV from every bus and train station, but no leads unfortunately. We’ve checked her social media history and there’s a lot of harassment. Quite nasty bullying.”

The Cellar is an enjoyable film to watch which makes excellent use of it’s setting in an old house. The tension builds very well, although it is a little slow in places, but the concept is scary enough to carry it.

Anyone with a half decent imagination who has been on their own in an old house will appreciate that creeping sense of dread, seemingly for no reason, when the only monsters are all in your mind, or are they? The script is fine and the acting is good and it’s a great idea for a story.

Where it falls down a bit is in the details, even the writers seem a bit hazy on what’s actually going on, with sea monsters, Schrodinger, Knights Templar and mathematical equations all getting thrown into the mix at some point. This aside though, I really enjoyed it, well worth a watch.

“One of the seven Princes of Hell. That isn’t his name. My father brought him into this world.”

The Cellar is available to stream exclusively on Shudder from 15th April 2022.