| "2 MOVIES WE DARE YOU TO OPEN!” |
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Grindhouse Double Feature: Don't Look in the Basement! / Don't Open the Door
DOUBLE FEATURE 2 DVDS/APPROX. 185 MINS/1973 - 1975/USA R18+
DOUBLE FEATURE 2 DVDS/APPROX. 185 MINS/1973 - 1975/USA R18+
7.5
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With the recent buzz created by the admittedly fairly average Tarantino/Rodriguez epic Grindhouse, just about every DVD company on the planet
is creating their own ‘Grindhouse Double Feature DVD‘. While admittedly this is good news as it means a fair few long lost & forgotten films are
finally making a DVD appearance, the only downside is once ‘Grindhouse’ is no longer a ‘cool’ buzzword does that mean these double feature DVDs
are gonna dry up? Hopefully not as I personally can't get enough of 'em!
Which brings us to this "Grindhouse Double Feature" DVD, Unleashed by the good folks at VCI Entertainment, this collection boasts 2 no-budget
Trash flicks by underground cult fave S.F. Brownrigg....
Don't Look in the Basement! (1973)
A small Mental Institution resides in the middle of nowhere in Down South USA. Charlotte Beal (Rosie Holotik, Incidentally a Playboy covergirl in
1972) is the newest member of the staff in the dilapidated house come asylum. Upon her arrival at the asylum she learns that one the inmates
murdered Doctor Stephens earlier that morning with an axe! Dr. Masters has taken control of the asylum and runs it like a Prison Camp. Severe
punishments are dished out to all the wackos who include a former Army Sergeant, a former Judge, a raving Nymph, an old duck suffering from
dementia so bad she thinks flowers are her children, a woman who thinks a doll is a real baby, a harmless man who had a lobotomy gone wrong
which has given him the mind of a 10 year old child, and a real withdrawn drug addicted young woman with hidden homicidal tendencies...
Now with Dr Stephens out of the way, the inmates are taking back the asylum whilst Dr. Masters performs her very unorthodox treatments....
However when the bodies start pilling up all is not as it seems...
Shot on a reputed budget of $100,000 in Brownriggs Native Texas, Basement is his directorial debut after serving as an editor under
Schlockmeister Larry Buchannan (In The Year 2889, Mars Needs Women!). The whole film takes place inside the asylum, which is in fact an old 3
story mansion that would have been very grand in its day, but as can been seen in the film, is a little run down and leaves a very atmospheric
spooky aura to the film. The film itself is a bit of hit & miss affair. The pre-credits sequence kicks ass straight of the bat and sets everything up
perfectly, but from then on the pace slows right down to set up some atmosphere before a brilliant twist at about the 70 Minute mark and the
shocking blood soaked climax.
A rather unique film and is a worth a spin for all you budget trash fans. I mean how can you go wrong with a film about wack-jobs with weapons?
Sounds like good wholesome family fun to me!
Don't Open the Door! (1975)
Mandy (Susan Bracken) receives a strange phone call telling her Grandmother is gravely ill and that she must return to the family homestead
immediately. This is the first time Mandy has returned to the old house since her mother was brutally murdered there 13 years ago. Upon returning
to the old house a shit-fight breaks out between Mandy and 2 corrupt town officials (The Museum Curator and the local Judge) who try to stake a
claim in Mandy's Grandmother’s will, even before the old bat has croaked! Add to the fact the local doctor is in cahoots with these two fellows and
is overdosing the poor old dear to the point where she cant even talk! Luckily Mandy's ex boyfriend back home in Dallas is a doctor and comes out
to the sticks to check ol Granny out and takes her to hospital with him. However this is only the start of Mandy's problems....
Seems a Psycho with a strange fetish for dolls has decided to hole up in the crawlspaces of the house, where he can keep an eye on Mandy) and
keeps making obscene & threatening phone calls to her. But what is this Psycho after? Why Mandy? And just what does he know about Mandy's
Mothers death that no one else knows?
With a considerably bigger budget than Don't Look In The Basement, Don't Open The Door is a far more polished effort. On a Technical level at
least. This is still low budget territory, however it seems that S.F. is more confident behind the camera with the making of Door. The first 20
minutes could almost be mistaken for a retitled Giallo, with some very Argento-esque camera work and somewhat Goblin influenced score.
However the same curse that plagued Don't Look In The Basement is apparent here as well with ...Door dying in the arse more so than
Basement. I myself put it down to the fact that S.F. made a fatal error with the killers identity becoming way too obvious at around the 45 minute
mark, and any chance of building suspense (of which there would have been a few) just went straight out the window with it.
The killer hiding in the house making phone calls idea is very notable however due to the fact that it pre-dates both When A Stranger Calls (1978,
and don’t even mention that stupid fucking Hollywood remake, either!) and Bob Clark's immortal Black Christmas (1980), 2 films who would go on
to use this plot point to much better effect.
Still with solid performances all round this is still a fairly good chaser film to ...Basement, even if it does live in its shadow....
This 2 disc set appears to be a quick bang up job of 2 former single releases, and for my money I would have to say this probably the best
the films will ever look. Both suffer from film grain, which is to be expected since both were shot of 16mm, but at least they seem to be
taken straight from the Negatives and not VHS Rips. Trust me I have a cheap ass ... Basement DVD from Diamond and it looks fucking
terrible compared to the print VCI have used here. This print is nice and clear (save for the grain) with minimal print damage, although the
colours are a bit on the dull side.
Extras are limited to S.F. Brownrigg Bios (although his name is mispelled as Browning on the Basement DVD) and a handful of other VCI
Trailers
is creating their own ‘Grindhouse Double Feature DVD‘. While admittedly this is good news as it means a fair few long lost & forgotten films are
finally making a DVD appearance, the only downside is once ‘Grindhouse’ is no longer a ‘cool’ buzzword does that mean these double feature DVDs
are gonna dry up? Hopefully not as I personally can't get enough of 'em!
Which brings us to this "Grindhouse Double Feature" DVD, Unleashed by the good folks at VCI Entertainment, this collection boasts 2 no-budget
Trash flicks by underground cult fave S.F. Brownrigg....
Don't Look in the Basement! (1973)
A small Mental Institution resides in the middle of nowhere in Down South USA. Charlotte Beal (Rosie Holotik, Incidentally a Playboy covergirl in
1972) is the newest member of the staff in the dilapidated house come asylum. Upon her arrival at the asylum she learns that one the inmates
murdered Doctor Stephens earlier that morning with an axe! Dr. Masters has taken control of the asylum and runs it like a Prison Camp. Severe
punishments are dished out to all the wackos who include a former Army Sergeant, a former Judge, a raving Nymph, an old duck suffering from
dementia so bad she thinks flowers are her children, a woman who thinks a doll is a real baby, a harmless man who had a lobotomy gone wrong
which has given him the mind of a 10 year old child, and a real withdrawn drug addicted young woman with hidden homicidal tendencies...
Now with Dr Stephens out of the way, the inmates are taking back the asylum whilst Dr. Masters performs her very unorthodox treatments....
However when the bodies start pilling up all is not as it seems...
Shot on a reputed budget of $100,000 in Brownriggs Native Texas, Basement is his directorial debut after serving as an editor under
Schlockmeister Larry Buchannan (In The Year 2889, Mars Needs Women!). The whole film takes place inside the asylum, which is in fact an old 3
story mansion that would have been very grand in its day, but as can been seen in the film, is a little run down and leaves a very atmospheric
spooky aura to the film. The film itself is a bit of hit & miss affair. The pre-credits sequence kicks ass straight of the bat and sets everything up
perfectly, but from then on the pace slows right down to set up some atmosphere before a brilliant twist at about the 70 Minute mark and the
shocking blood soaked climax.
A rather unique film and is a worth a spin for all you budget trash fans. I mean how can you go wrong with a film about wack-jobs with weapons?
Sounds like good wholesome family fun to me!
Don't Open the Door! (1975)
Mandy (Susan Bracken) receives a strange phone call telling her Grandmother is gravely ill and that she must return to the family homestead
immediately. This is the first time Mandy has returned to the old house since her mother was brutally murdered there 13 years ago. Upon returning
to the old house a shit-fight breaks out between Mandy and 2 corrupt town officials (The Museum Curator and the local Judge) who try to stake a
claim in Mandy's Grandmother’s will, even before the old bat has croaked! Add to the fact the local doctor is in cahoots with these two fellows and
is overdosing the poor old dear to the point where she cant even talk! Luckily Mandy's ex boyfriend back home in Dallas is a doctor and comes out
to the sticks to check ol Granny out and takes her to hospital with him. However this is only the start of Mandy's problems....
Seems a Psycho with a strange fetish for dolls has decided to hole up in the crawlspaces of the house, where he can keep an eye on Mandy) and
keeps making obscene & threatening phone calls to her. But what is this Psycho after? Why Mandy? And just what does he know about Mandy's
Mothers death that no one else knows?
With a considerably bigger budget than Don't Look In The Basement, Don't Open The Door is a far more polished effort. On a Technical level at
least. This is still low budget territory, however it seems that S.F. is more confident behind the camera with the making of Door. The first 20
minutes could almost be mistaken for a retitled Giallo, with some very Argento-esque camera work and somewhat Goblin influenced score.
However the same curse that plagued Don't Look In The Basement is apparent here as well with ...Door dying in the arse more so than
Basement. I myself put it down to the fact that S.F. made a fatal error with the killers identity becoming way too obvious at around the 45 minute
mark, and any chance of building suspense (of which there would have been a few) just went straight out the window with it.
The killer hiding in the house making phone calls idea is very notable however due to the fact that it pre-dates both When A Stranger Calls (1978,
and don’t even mention that stupid fucking Hollywood remake, either!) and Bob Clark's immortal Black Christmas (1980), 2 films who would go on
to use this plot point to much better effect.
Still with solid performances all round this is still a fairly good chaser film to ...Basement, even if it does live in its shadow....
This 2 disc set appears to be a quick bang up job of 2 former single releases, and for my money I would have to say this probably the best
the films will ever look. Both suffer from film grain, which is to be expected since both were shot of 16mm, but at least they seem to be
taken straight from the Negatives and not VHS Rips. Trust me I have a cheap ass ... Basement DVD from Diamond and it looks fucking
terrible compared to the print VCI have used here. This print is nice and clear (save for the grain) with minimal print damage, although the
colours are a bit on the dull side.
Extras are limited to S.F. Brownrigg Bios (although his name is mispelled as Browning on the Basement DVD) and a handful of other VCI
Trailers
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