Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Cellar Dweller Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 29, 2017

Thirty years ago, a popular comic book artist by the name of Colin Childress (Jeffrey Combs) created a masterpiece, so good it came to life and violently recreated the horrific scenes he drew. Fast forward a few decades. A budding young artist, Whitney Taylor (Debrah Mullowney), travels to a small boarding school for gifted up-and-coming artists. She struggles to impress those around her, but she talks her way into turning an old dank, dusty, cobweb-riddled cellar into her studio. She's long been inspired by Childress' works and becomes determined to recreate his characters. Little does she know that by doing so her creations will come to life, ready to kill in the most grotesque manners possible.

Cellar Dweller is another old Empire production that nails the genre B-movie. It's silly but quite a bit of fun. It's full of all the genre staples: bare breasts, a nasty creature, blood, black magic, and all sorts of other little touches like the dank basement, cobwebs, and secrets within dusty old chests. It's something of a revenge movie at its core. As the artist discovers the powers behind her works, she begins to use them to her advantage, but there are consequences, of course. The movie is well paced, to the point, and enjoys quality production values. The creature is simple but scary, the production design is terrific (including the artwork seen throughout the film), and the locations fit the movie nicely. Acting is surprisingly good, too. There's not much to dislike about the film for what it is and what it tries to accomplish.

Cellar Dweller Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cellar Dweller begins with a disclaimer: "The new HD transfer was created from the only surviving film element, a film print, direct from MGM's vaults. Some video and audio anomalies may be present." Be that as it may, the image is quite pleasant. It reveals an endless supply of print wear -- scratches, speckles, hairs -- but with the otherwise filmic texturing, it adds a bit of vintage drive-in flair to the presentation. It's not perfect by any means, but it shows character that actually suits the movie quite nicely. Detailing is firm, showcasing artwork, various environments, skin, clothes, and creature effects with pleasing depth and textural nuance. Colors are well balanced, black levels are fine, and flesh tones appear accurate.

Cellar Dweller Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cellar Dweller's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack carries the movie to baseline sonic satisfaction. The track struggles to push wide at the beginning, but it opens up as the film moves along. Effects like distant thunder claps engage the further reaches of the stage nicely enough. Clarity is passable but there's ample room for improvement. Dialogue is adequate, though it, too, could use a boost in clarity to eliminate a scratchiness that accompanies any number of scenes. Dialogue positioning is decent enough, though there are times when it's not imaged quite to the middle.

Cellar Dweller Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Cellar Dweller contains no supplemental content.

Cellar Dweller Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cellar Dweller is a fun and very well-done B-movie. It's texturally rich, structurally simple, well acted, and the creature is scary. The Blu-ray is good, too, in an old drive-in sort of way. It's imperfect to be sure, but it's imperfect in a way that gives it a pleasing character. The disc, which is currently only available as part of a double feature with Catacombs or in the Empire Pictures Collection, comes recommended.