Dennis Harvey Film CriticNot a nadir in recent horror cinema, but well below average — and sea level — “The Cellar” is a logy contraption whose basic elements seem all too obviously determined by international co-production requirements, rather than any internal logic.
Toplining scream queen Elisha Cuthbert as a mother who unwittingly moves her family into a house of supernatural peril, this West Ireland-shot thriller, made in conjunction with Belgian interests, is technically polished.
But writer-director Brendan Muldowney’s latest lacks the thick atmospherics that might have punched across a sketchy screenplay, which falls short in expanding the premise of his 2004 short “The Ten Steps.” RLJE Films is releasing this SXSW premiere to North American theaters on April 15, simultaneous with its streaming launch on Shudder.
Muldowney’s ten-minute short is basically recycled as a first act here, with a tad more setup. Married advertising professionals Keira (Cuthbert) and Brian (Eoin Macken) have moved to a rambling old manse in the Emerald Isle countryside for the sake of work.
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