Bargain Bins, Box Art, and B-Movie Gold
“Cellar Dweller (1988) is one of those classic rental titles that seemed to fall through the floorboards for almost 20 years. After the Empire collapse, and later the New World implosion, the only copies you could find were the bargain-bin dwelling low quality EP ‘Starmaker’ re-issues from ‘91. But who could forget that gorgeously staged box art?
Beyond the art-school cool and comic book geek cred, what your rental dollar got you is an EC Comics-inspired tale that could have easily been a segment on Creepshow or Tales From The Darkside. While not exactly the stuff of stomach churning terror, there’s still a fun time to be had with plenty of quality grue effects, a big hairy monster suit and a few familiar faces including Jeffery Combs.
This is an early work for esteemed Child’s Play franchise show runner Don Mancini, and while it was produced at the tail end of Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, you could feel some of that Full Moon light shining through. -Pop”