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.

OK Guys, So I watched this movie when I was like 6 years old. Which is very young I would think for watching such a film.. lol Anyway, It pretty much set the bar in my mind as the horror movie I have never forgotten. I cant remember the plot or even the story. Just bits and pieces but they have been in my head for so many years now it just seems interesting to me. I actually very rarely think of this movie other than in situations where it trigers that memory some how. Could be the dweller himself or the characters trying to figure out this mystery. It was cheezy yet something very dark and mysterious was being conveyed.I wish this movie was on DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would purchase it in a minute and keep it in my collection. If anybody can ever get a copy on DVD pleaseeeeee let me know...Truly a film that has changed my vision of what true horror and mystery is. Very dark and scary film. I'm sure I would watch it now and feel it was under produced and very poorly made. All the same it will be with me forever as the original film to capture my interest in horror films. I am a professional photographer and even find the influence of that film in my dark horror movie style photographs. If you ever find this on DVD please contact me @ www.rustybradford.com All The Best & Enjoy This Film By Yourself On A Rainy Night In A Strange House In The Country In Texas When Your 6!!!! lol Rusty

John Buechler proves again, two years after "Troll", that having good special effects in your film DOES NOT automatically mean you have a good film. He may be very good at his main craft (makeup effects for horror pictures), but his storytelling abilities are limited, to say the least. Actually, most of the blame here should go to the bad script, which has no consistency or logic; for example, at first the monster (which looks mostly like a werewolf) is brought to life by the drawings of a cartoonist and can do only what is depicted in her pictures, but later it can move and kill freely and the comic book pages are drawn by themselves! At another point, the old lady that runs the mansion inexplicably turns into the monster! The mansion itself is supposed to be a place for young aspiring artists, yet a would-be private detective also lives there! Ah, forget it. (*1/2)

Cellar Dweller is quite an original horror offering as well as my first Jeffrey Comb's flick. Of course I didn't know it was a Jeffrey Combs movie back then, I didn't even know who Jeffrey Combs was. But, being the huge Tales From the Crypt (if you see the movie you'll know what I'm babbling about) fan that I am, the movie had an impact on me. Cellar Dweller is a very loving tribute to the EC comics that are cherished by many a horror fan. It's also a John Carl Buechler film and he created the Ghoulies. That explains why the Cellar Dweller is simply an oversized Ghoulie (some people even say that he's cute). I spent quite some time looking for this movie and gave up. It's one of those movies you see when you're a kid watching Showtime after midnight and you never expect to see it again (especially since you don't remember the title). Then you run across it in a ghetto Blockbuster years later and you realize that this is the movie you've been looking for, and, indeed, one of your heroes is in it. Great gore effects, gratuitous chewing, and Lily Munster (Yvonne De Carlo) make Cellar Dweller a classic in my book, no matter how many people disagree. "Whenever there is imagination, I will dwell." Note for genre buffs: Look for a Troll and a Ghost Town poster on the walls of the colony. John Carl Buechler did the effects for both of those films.