The Basement (2018)

You know, when I get an email from Uncork’d Entertainment it’s like Christmas, I never know what the gift is going to be. This time around, they sent me a screener for a film called The Basement (2018). Obviously, the title didn’t tell me much about the movie. Except, it’ll have something to do with a basement, maybe? Come to find out, the title wasn’t misleading. The Basement did have something to do… with a basement. Matter of fact, most of the movie was spent in a basement.

The Basement is a horror with an eighty-eight-minute runtime. It was directed by Nathan Ives and Brian M. Conley. It was written by Brian M. Conley, Sean Decker, and Nathan Ives. It’s rated NR (not rated) but has language, violence, and nudity. Here’s what the story is about. The last thing Craig remembers, before waking up tied to a chair, is getting into his car. Quickly, Craig realizes Bill, his capture, is a serial killer who wants to reenacts his own capture and Craig gets to play the role of Bill.

I decided to read the synopsis of the movie before watching it, to see what I was in store for, but it was the tagline that won me over. “One serial killer. Twelve personalities. The nightmare begins.” Ok, I’m curious. The story they came up with was surprising good. As it turns out, the story is kind of a mix of Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Split (2016). The story centers around Davis and Long’s characters, with Barton and Borders as filler to the story. For the most part, the movie is pretty simple. Kidnap a victim and then torture said victim with mind games and physical abuse. However, what makes the story so good is the playthrough. Using the reenactment of Bill’s capture was brilliant and highly entertaining to watch.

I thought pace of the film was really good. There’s a short intro and then the story takes off. It has a good pace to it and I didn’t feel like there were any slow spots. I thought they used every second of film time really well. I have to say, the dialogue gets pretty deep at times. Some of Bill’s personalities start to pull on your heart strings and then you’re slapped in the face by one of his more brute personas. The mix of and layout of Davis’s characters was the best part of the film, to me.

Some of the cast is Jackson Davis (Deserted), Cayleb Long (The Basement), Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense) and Bailey Anne Borders (The 5th Wave). First off, I thought everyone did a good job. However, Davis stole the show with his multiple characters. My favorite role was when he played the convict. From funny to painfully serious, Davis hit every emotion in the spectrum and did it so well. I think Long also did a great job with his character. Long’s character spends most of his time tied to a chair trying to fight for his life while looking death in the face and I thought he really sold that. At first, I didn’t think Davis and Long had any chemistry together. However, as the movie went on, you could start to see just how well they played off of each other, which truly heightened the film for me. Unfortunately, Barton and Borders don’t have a lot to do in the film and really don’t get a chance to shine. Their parts are more filler roles to keep everything busy in between the scenes of Long and Davis.

The Basement centers on a kidnapping situation. So, expect to see some torture. Not Saw (2004) level, but losing fingers etc. For the most part, it’s mild violence and somebody mutilation, but things end up pretty gory towards the end. Speaking of which, the special effects looked really good throughout the movie. It’s a mix of practical effects and CGI and I thought both were well used in their spots and made the scenes look good.

Side note, The Basement gets a 10-market theatrical and digital release on September 14th (2018) from Uncork’d Entertainment. If you’re in one of these areas, you should swing through and check it out. LA: Laemmle Music Hall, Cleveland: Tower City Cinemas, Atlanta: AMC Southlake Pavilion, Chicago: AMC South Barrington, Houston: AMC Gulf Pointe, Minneapolis: AMC Apple Valley, Phoenix: AMC Arizona Center, San Francisco: AMC Deer Valley and Dallas: AMC Grapevine Mills.