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So much average

Simply Perfect

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This horror film suffers from something that is common in a lot of horror films. The story has something good going for it, but it is executed in such a way that the film suffers. This film was not bad, but it could have been really good had they done a couple of things differently. The premise of the story had enough going for it that it could have easily taken an hour and a half and seemed like a complete film, but thanks to where they went the movie was filled with padding and had a very short running time. The setting had a lot to do with this problem. The cellar and house were fine, it was making the focus of the film the house and then making the house an art colony that kind of doomed this one to being kind of good and kind of bad. Some all right kills and nudity, but it took a bit too long for the killing to begin as they kept establishing all these unnecessary plot points thanks to the whole art colony setting. It was also kind of annoying to see Jeffery Combs at the beginning and then he is absent for the rest of the movie. I figured since he made his way into the credits he would be seen somewhere in the main portion of the film, but alas he is only in the pre-credit sequence.The story has an artist killed by his own creation and a curse some 30 years prior. A young woman who idolized this man who wrote a horror type comic comes to the house where he drew his work to join an art colony where she is less than wanted by the head of the house. She also does not get along with another who lives there and the head of the house and this other woman scheme to get the woman out because they do not look very highly upon her comic book type art. Well, the lady finds a book in the basement or cellar and reads about a monster and proceeds to draw said monster. Unfortunately, as before, the monster is given life due to the curse in the book and it begins to feast upon the artists within the house. At first the young lady draws the monster feasting upon the woman she doesn't like and what she draws occurs, but soon the monster seems to be the one dictating the action.I think the film would have been better had they kept the monster more under the control of the artist rather than having it simply do what it wanted. Add a nearby town and have the artist literally take revenge upon the unsuspecting dupes who crossed her. Instead, we have a limited cast for the monster to feed on and I would have liked to have seen more monster munching. Too often here the killing was shown in comic panels rather than getting to see it happen. Good amount of nudity in this one which I enjoyed as well as a fairly decent monster. I find it kind of funny that a monster in a 1988 low budget film looks better than a lot of the stuff they do now. If they added more kills and less padding and changed up the story this one could have been really good. As is, it is short and watchable as it does not bore anyway...it does not really last long enough to be boring.

Noted horror comic book artist Colin Childress (a regrettably brief appearance by the always welcome Jeffrey Combs) brings a ferocious monster (the hulking Michael Deak in a gnarly animatronic suit that makes him resemble a giant hairy ghoulie) to life with the power of his imagination. Childress and the beast both perish in a subsequent fire. However, his house gets converted into an elite art academy where thirty years later hardcore Childress admirer Whitney Taylor (a perky and appealing performance by the attractive Debrah Foreman) arrives to pursue her studies. Unfortunately, Whitney inadvertently winds up conjuring the monster after she decides to emulate Childress's work. Director John Carl Buechler, working from a compact script by Don Mancini, tells the entertainingly silly story at a quick pace, maintains an engaging lighthearted tone throughout, delivers a few neat bits of splashy gore, and ends the film on a pleasingly grim note. This movie further benefits from the sturdy presences of dependable veterans Yvonne De Carlo as the stern Mrs. Briggs and Vince Edwards as smooth old school former private eye Norman Meshelski. Moreover, Pamela Bellwood snarks it up nicely as Whitney's bitchy rival Amanda while Brian Robbins makes a favorable impression as amiable abstract painter Phillip Lemley. As a tasty bonus, the fetching Cheryl-Ann Wilson bares her lovely breasts in a deliciously gratuitous shower scene. Sergio Salvati's competent cinematography gives this picture a funky stylized comic book look. Carl Dante's spirited shivery score hits the shuddery spot. The tight 77 minute running time ensures that this movie never becomes dull or overstays its welcome. Okay, this corny item might be total fluff, but it still makes the grade as a fun enough minor diversion just the same.

Is it art imitating death or death imitating art? I really don't know why this cool movie has languished into near obscurity over the years, I think it's one of the best horror comic themed flicks out there. I love the simple yet impressive intro credits sequence, so similar to that of my favourite ever film "Creepshow", which is also a homage to the classic macabre spirit of the old E.C. horror comics of the '50s. I always like stories and pictures that feature comic books that come to life, it's what I most enjoy about this movie and for me is the very glue that holds it together. It's just such an utterly fantastic concept, the pen-to-paper magic of the events becoming reality as they are scrawled out. The comic art panels are very fun and imaginatively executed and are used to great economic and stylistic effect. A few of the kills are very awesome and memorable where it's shown frame-by-paneled frame as the demon beast embarks upon its unholy feasts of terror. The plot is very similar to a "Tales From the Crypt" episode called "Korman's Kalamity." The tone throughout is somewhat light and silly but it still maintains a good Gothic horror atmosphere. And the location and setting weren't all that much, but are used well. A lot of eerie moodiness is generated by simple shadows, frequent thunder crashes, and howling winds - real good old-fashioned haunted dark house type stuff! The decent subtle score helps a lot as well. The look and sound are quite rough and in fact almost make it come off as a neglected B-movie at first. I mean it's clearly high on imagination, low on budget, but that doesn't prevent it from being a hell of a lot of fun and far from an average horror movie. It's great to see Jeff Combs in it, looking suspiciously professorly! But don't get too attached - he kicks the bucket even before the opening credits roll. It's too bad they didn't use him any more than they did because the rest of the cast is a bore. They're not terrible, but neither are they engaging or interesting enough that you give a s**t when they start getting eaten including the lead! Brian Robbins was especially lame and annoying. He was kinda cute but so weird looking.. His impossibly huge gob freaked me out! Looked big enough to swallow your whole head! ::: I like the rather cryptic rhyming verse that is spoken several times over the course of the plot. I don't believe it suggests that only sick people enjoy horror and are intrigued by evil, just that maybe sometimes allowing the mind linger in the darkness and on dark things for too long, and trying too hard in vain to make sense of the senseless, can corrupt and consume the careless and give rise to further badness and heartache... I love the simpleness of the closeup shots of imagery on paper during the sequence where the monster is slowly recreated with just a little inspiration from the Necronomicon-like tome of evil! The personified comic book monster incarnation of evil, the malicious Cellar Dweller, looked like a combination of a werewolf, some kind of giant ghoulie, and an ape. Kinda plain, but a very interesting design. The appropriately hulking suit was enough to convey a lot of intimidation and dark intentions, and the animatronic face was wonderfully expressive, with flexing lips, eyes and ears. And in this movie age of cgi it's always real nice to see a tangible, 'flesh and blood' creature that's physically present. He doesn't get up to all that much, but you sure couldn't say that he doesn't love his work... ::: The ending wasn't exactly a great twist and it doesn't make that much sense, but I still think it's pretty interesting and poetic with the devilish Dweller apparently being completely free to haunt imaginations untold... Maybe he just ate too much "creative energy" that he was simply too strong to be banished? At least it's not a happy ending... This is a great horror comic book fantasy that no fan of such rare offerings should be without. See ya!

Where there is imagination, I will dwell."A horror artist, Colin Childress(Jeffrey Combs in an opening cameo appearance) unleashes a werewolf-type monster thanks to his creations for a new comic, because he uses encryptions from a demonic book titled "Curses of the Ancient Dead"(..sounds a lot like the one used in THE EVIL DEAD). Anytime, you create something on paper with the monster and pentagram star on it's chest, adding a specific written spell on the demonic book, then whatever is printed happens in reality. Dying during a fire after he tries to destroy the beast who has just murdered a girl the artist put to paper, the house is now in present day a commune for various talents trying to hone their craft with each other providing critical views. The commune is ran by Mrs. Briggs(Yvonne De Carlo)who is repelled by newcomer Whitney Taylor(Debra Farentino)because of her brand of art..Whitney is a disciple of Childress' horror comics and wishes to create her own work right in the very place her idol once brought to life monsters. Taylor herself unknowingly makes the same mistake as her idol, finding the evil book, drawing the same damn wolf-beast which murdered the girl many years ago, and unleashes terror on her accompaniment of eccentrics, in particular the ones who disapprove of her work. Rubber-faced Brian Robbins is the kid painter, Phillip, whose work yields different results from different folks. Pamela Bellwood is Whitney's arch-rival, Amanda..they have a history where Amanda always tried to ruin any potential at success Whitney ever hoped for due to jealousy. Miranda Wilson is the bubbly "performance artist" Lisa, and provides the viewer with plenty of tits, especially her time in and out of a shower. Through her acts of anger towards Amanda, Whitney gives birth to the beast by having it murder her rival on paper..we watch the beast stalk after Amanda as she develops an expose on how Whitney plagiarizes Childress' work. A domino effect ensues with everyone being knocked off one by one. Can Whitney kill the beast she gave birth to, or become a victim of her own creation?I felt that such a fun premise is undermined by such a minor budget, and poor storytelling. The art work is magnificent, and the idea of juxtaposing the creation of scenarios on paper, and seeing those scenarios take shape as they are being drawn quite nifty. Down the road, the film makes a startling mistake which opens a crater-sized plot hole..somehow the monster itself can kill on it's own as those being hunted down, ripped apart, and eaten are created on paper without an artist pinning these scenarios. Who brings these scenarios to life on paper is never established and there's one scene where an important character in the plot transforms into the beast herself. These occurrences make no sense whatsoever and the film just continues losing steam until it's conclusion because the protagonist, Whitney Taylor,tries to right the wrongs of the ghost-artist resulting in a final twist which leaves you scratching your head. There are a choice few death sequences, with director John Carl Buechler opting instead(..due to funding, I guess)to show the demise of certain characters on paper through comic artistry, while they are being pursued by the monster. You do get a nice beheading and some arm chewing from the beast with a look of glee on it's face. Director Buechler often shoots the monster from the pentagrammed chest up so that he can hide the fact that it's a rather immobile suit with a stuntman inside. I'm not a fan of Buechler's, to be honest, but I think an ideal opening premise deserves a more talented director and polished screenplay which, at the very least, coats over the plot holes which are so distracting.