"The Basement”. Disc One - "The Basement"
"The Basement"
Running Time: 69 Mins
Director: Timothy O’ Rawe
"The Basement" is a lost super 8 film that never saw the light of day in the eighties, due to the various problems that the film suffered in post production and the way that some of the film footage looked. The film was unreleaseable, until recent technology cleaned up all the mistakes of the original negative.
The film is about four strangers, who find themselves drawn to an abandoned basement. There, they meet a mysterious person known as The Sentinel. He begins to show each of the strangers their future. Each of the strangers find out that they each commit a heinous deeds in the future and will send them into eternal damnation.
“The Basement“ is one of those films that you think your going to be in for a horrible movie, after the first segment. The first segment of the film is "Swimming Pool". I won't lie, but this one was hard to watch. Everything from the direction to the writing went completely wrong. The characters were dull, as felt like they came off of an assembly line. It was felt like the characters were introduced and they were killed off two minutes later. It was boring. I really thought, I was going to be in for one horrible film but it gets better as the movie goes on. Writter/director Timothy O' Rawe does a good in making each of the segments after the "Swimming Pool" segment entertaining. One of the things that makes the films good, he's able to make the scenes tense. It make the each of the stories interesting and it's also kept my interest considering that the acting here comes off as cheesy at time. The wrap around segment wasn't that bad, considering its more of rip-off of the original "Tales from the Crypt"film. I just wished that there was development in each of the segments. But considering the problems that this had in post-production, at least the film is entertaining enough to be considered a guilty pleasure.
The disc packs a lot of special features. The audio commentary track for "The Basement" is the first special feature on this disc. Director of Photography Michael Raso and John Fedele. The track goes into the history of the lost film, from the production of the film to the technical aspects and style which Timothy O' Rawe used for this film. It makes the track informative enough that didn't need a short documentary of the film.
After the commentary track, there is six minutes of outtakes and deleted scenes. Then, there is a six minute news segment on the film, when the production took place from the film. The segment included interviews from director Timothy Rawe and the film's Director of Photography, Michael Raso. It was very that was nice to see that on this disc, as its gave a glimpse to what happened during the film‘s shoot.
The next feature is three episode from an old cable access program called Meadowlands Showcase TV. It was an old cable access that was produced and directed by Michael Raso and John Fedele in the late eighties and early nineties. There is also a commentary track in that section for "The Halloween Takeover" episode. That track goes into the history of the show and the experiences making the show. Overall, the episode weren’t that bad surprisingly, as I enjoyed them.
Wrapping the disc is two short films from director Timothy O' Rawe, The first one "Say No to Drugs. A very gory short that fans of eighties underground horror will enjoy. The other short film is "Vengeance". This film didn't do much for me, considering it had no dialogue and was shot on what it appears to be super-8 video.
Also in this package, a VHS copy of "The Basement", which is a nice collectors item for eighties underground horror buffs.
“The Basement" Review Rating: Three Stars
Check back next week, as I'll review Disc Two of "The Basement" inside the horror chamber.
