Don’t Look in the Basement
- Year: 1973
- Country of origin: USA
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Director: S.F. Brownrigg
- Length: 89 min
- IMDb rating:
The day the insane took over the asylum!
Synopsis
Don’t Look in the Basement (1973) follows a young nurse who takes a job at an isolated sanitarium only to discover that the doctor has been killed and the new head of the facility uses questionable methods to “treat” the patients. As she tries to find her footing among an odd group of inmates and unravel what has happened to the real doctor, the line between sanity and madness blurs and violent incidents escalate. The tension builds toward a bloody climax in which the truth about the asylum and those in control comes to light.
Criticism
-
Although relatively straight-faced, the film is nevertheless great fun … Wildly gory though the latter stages are, it’s typical of the Brownrigg experience that we should be left at the end with feelings more of sadness than of horror.
Stephen Thrower, The Definitive Guide to Horror Movies (Thunder Bay Press, 2025)
Selected disc options for Don’t Look in the Basement
| Extras | VCI BD-ALL/US 2018 | Dark Force BD-ALL/US 2018 | Brink BD-ALL/US 2017 | Film Chest DVD-0/US 2014 | VCI DVD-0/US 2012 | VCI DVD-1/US 2007 | VCI DVD-0/US/OOP 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio Commentary by David DeCoteau and David Del Valle | has extra | ||||||
| Audio Commentary by Tony Brownrigg (Son of Director S.F. Brownrigg) | has extra | ||||||
| Restoration Comparison | has extra | ||||||
| Biographies | has extra | ||||||
| Biography: Director S.F. Brownrigg | has extra | has extra | |||||
| Production Notes | has extra | ||||||
| Theatrical Trailer | has extra | has extra | has extra |
Notes
- VCI’s “Grindhouse Double Feature” Blu-ray also includes Don’t Open the Door! (1974). Bonus trailers included: Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967), Night of the Bloody Apes (1969), Beast of the Yellow Night (1971), Dixie Dynamite (1976), Bad Georgia Road (1977) and Terror (1978).
- Dark Force’s “Starlite Drive-In Theater” Blu-ray also includes Chaos (2005) and no extras. Bonus trailer included: Don’t Go in the House (1979).
- Brink’s Blu-ray includes an 8-page booklet. It also includes Don’t Look in the Basement 2 (2015).
- VCI’s 2012 “Scream Theater, Volume 3” DVD also includes Don’t Open the Door! (1974).
- VCI’s 2007 “Grindhouse Double Feature” DVD also includes Don’t Open the Door! (1974).
- VCI’s 2000 DVD is also available in the “Scream Pack” box set with Don’t Open the Door! (1974) and Kiss of the Tarantula (1975).
~ Have you spotted a mistake or would like to suggest a disc be added? Request an update ~