The Basement (2017) Directed by László Illés & Vozo Zoltán Végh
As far as low-budget horror movies are concerned, this one actually is actually being a pretty creative and decent one, though at the same time it remains a far from perfect movie to watch.
It uses a very formic sounding story and it indeed features a whole bunch of standard events and characters in it, but the movie at least still gets told in a pleasant- as well as creative enough way. It isn't necessarily a movie by the numbers, which probably is also due to the fact that it is an European production, spoken in English, with some American actors in it as well. The look and feel of the movie is quite different from the usual American genre attempt, which adds to the reason why it still manages to come across as such a pleasant and original enough one, despite never doing anything too special or surprising.
I am really fond of the look of this movie. It is visually appealing. professional, as well as bright and colorful enough, which isn't too common for a low-budget genre attempt, let alone one that is mostly set underground. The gore and make-up isn't too impressive looking though, but I still appreciate the fact that it isn't really holding back with it. There are plenty of killings in this movie, as well as a 'fun' and solid killer. It all helps to give this movie a pretty effective atmosphere and a pretty good sense of danger and suspense in particular.
It uses different genre approach with its storytelling. I for instance like how it incorporates some found footage elements, only sporadically, to create tension and mystery for certain sequences. This really is the way to go, in my opinion, as far as using found footage is concerned. No need to turn any movies in a complete and total found footage flick, which has been done to death by now and is terribly ineffective as a whole. Nothing wrong with a found footage approach to show horror, but as a storytelling mechanism it is very limited and definitely difficult to deal with as a film-maker. I am therefore glad that they didn't decide to turn this movie totally in a found footage movie, though they very easily could have and probably would have been simpler and cheaper to do as well.
The characters aren't anything too special, but at least they are not annoying teens who only party, drink and have sex. The characters in this movie at least feel like remotely realistic ones and I like some of the dynamics between them. Maybe it is also because the movie features a very international cast. It creates some interesting and unusual dynamics, which works out very well.
The story actually features a ton of clichés in it, but the pacing and approach of the movie still ensures that it remains a perfectly watchable one, all throughout. At the same time the story still remains the one thing that really is keeping the movie down. It prevents it from ever turning into something truly special and memorable and it also most definitely has some flaws in it. It for instance is far too predictable with all of its twists, which actually is the main reason for me to still give this movie a fairly low rating. Why do horror movies/slashers feel the need to feature surprises twists in it anyway? Just think about it. It is never really needed and it more often than not just doesn't work out at all.
Average in a lot of ways, but still perfectly watchable due to its fine approach and a good visual style. Probably for genre fans only, but I for one definitely enjoyed it for what it was, despite of all of its flaws.
5/10
Watch trailer
It uses a very formic sounding story and it indeed features a whole bunch of standard events and characters in it, but the movie at least still gets told in a pleasant- as well as creative enough way. It isn't necessarily a movie by the numbers, which probably is also due to the fact that it is an European production, spoken in English, with some American actors in it as well. The look and feel of the movie is quite different from the usual American genre attempt, which adds to the reason why it still manages to come across as such a pleasant and original enough one, despite never doing anything too special or surprising.
I am really fond of the look of this movie. It is visually appealing. professional, as well as bright and colorful enough, which isn't too common for a low-budget genre attempt, let alone one that is mostly set underground. The gore and make-up isn't too impressive looking though, but I still appreciate the fact that it isn't really holding back with it. There are plenty of killings in this movie, as well as a 'fun' and solid killer. It all helps to give this movie a pretty effective atmosphere and a pretty good sense of danger and suspense in particular.
It uses different genre approach with its storytelling. I for instance like how it incorporates some found footage elements, only sporadically, to create tension and mystery for certain sequences. This really is the way to go, in my opinion, as far as using found footage is concerned. No need to turn any movies in a complete and total found footage flick, which has been done to death by now and is terribly ineffective as a whole. Nothing wrong with a found footage approach to show horror, but as a storytelling mechanism it is very limited and definitely difficult to deal with as a film-maker. I am therefore glad that they didn't decide to turn this movie totally in a found footage movie, though they very easily could have and probably would have been simpler and cheaper to do as well.
The characters aren't anything too special, but at least they are not annoying teens who only party, drink and have sex. The characters in this movie at least feel like remotely realistic ones and I like some of the dynamics between them. Maybe it is also because the movie features a very international cast. It creates some interesting and unusual dynamics, which works out very well.
The story actually features a ton of clichés in it, but the pacing and approach of the movie still ensures that it remains a perfectly watchable one, all throughout. At the same time the story still remains the one thing that really is keeping the movie down. It prevents it from ever turning into something truly special and memorable and it also most definitely has some flaws in it. It for instance is far too predictable with all of its twists, which actually is the main reason for me to still give this movie a fairly low rating. Why do horror movies/slashers feel the need to feature surprises twists in it anyway? Just think about it. It is never really needed and it more often than not just doesn't work out at all.
Average in a lot of ways, but still perfectly watchable due to its fine approach and a good visual style. Probably for genre fans only, but I for one definitely enjoyed it for what it was, despite of all of its flaws.
5/10
Watch trailer
