CELLAR DWELLER

A famous comic book artist seeks inspiration in a book of black magic for the creation of a new creature, but the monster he draws comes to life and kills him. Thirty years later, an aspiring artist goes to stay in a gathering place for budding artists built on the ruins of the artist's house and, having found the black magic book in the basement, continues the work of the deceased artist. The monster comes back to life and immediately begins to sow death among the young artists of the dwelling. Classic American production from the late 1980s, which relies on a rather banal and improbable story, a handful of young actors with no future (with the exception of a few old glories recycled in an attempt to relaunch) and the use of good special effects. It is these latter that are the best thing about the film: the monster, resembling a hybrid between a werewolf and a monkey, is convincing and well-made (although not at all scary), and the splatter effects, although dosed with a sense of economy, are quite enjoyable (memorable the decapitation caused by a monster's claw). The film is explicitly an affectionate homage to the horror comics that were popular in the 1950s, mainly through the presence of an old comic series that in the original version gives the title to the film ("Cellar Dweller") and which presents itself as deus ex machina throughout the film along with the black magic book that contains the formulas to summon the monster, a sort of cousin of the Necronomicon. The screenplay is the real weakness of this otherwise quite appreciable film, as in addition to telling a too improbable and highly childish story, it presents a multitude of rather visible holes that compromise entire narrative passages of the film. The direction is by special effects expert John Carl Buechler, who in the same year also directed "Friday the 13th part 7 - The New Blood"; while the cast includes some new faces and of little interest, such as the protagonist Deborah Mullowney; but also familiar presences to the horror audience, such as Jeffrey Combs, who three years earlier was the protagonist of Stuart Gordon's masterpiece "Re-Animator". Moreover, in the role of the hotel director for artists is Yvonne De Carlo, a veteran of many films from the 1950s (mostly westerns, but also kolossals like "The Ten Commandments") and finally recycled into horror (she also appears in "American Gothic" always in 1988). In conclusion, "Ork" is a little film with good special effects but zero atmosphere; suitable only for those who don't miss any horror, negligible for others. Rating rounded up.