Cellar Dweller

Cellar Dweller is a horror movie released in 1987, directed by John Carl Buechler. The movie follows the story of a comic book artist named Colin Childress (Jeffrey Combs), who creates a character named Cellar Dweller. The character comes to life and terrorizes the people in Colin's house.

As the movie begins, we see Colin working on his latest comic book at his isolated mansion, which was once a famous artists' colony. However, tragedy struck and one of the artists, a woman named Amanda, was killed by a creature that Colin had brought to life in his comic book.

Years have passed since that incident, but Colin has not been able to come to terms with it. He still blames himself for Amanda's death, and he hides away in his mansion, creating more and more terrifying creatures in his artwork.

Meanwhile, Colin's publisher, Whitney Taylor (Debrah Farentino), comes to visit him and to take a look at his latest comic book. She is accompanied by a young artist named Lisa (Yvonne De Carlo), who is a big fan of Colin's work.

As they explore the mansion, they stumble upon the cellar where Colin used to work on his art. They discover a strange manuscript and an odd machine with which Colin had allegedly brought Cellar Dweller to life.

Whitney decides to publish a new edition of Cellar Dweller, and Lisa does some sketches for the revised version of the comic. However, as they work on the comic, strange things begin to happen around the mansion. People start disappearing, and Cellar Dweller seems to come to life once again.

The movie builds up tension slowly, giving the viewer time to get to know the characters and the story. There are some effective jump scares, and the creature design is impressive, particularly for the time when the movie was made.

Jeffrey Combs delivers a strong performance as Colin, portraying him as an unstable and obsessive artist. Yvonne De Carlo, who is best known for her roles in films such as The Ten Commandments and Munster, Go Home!, adds a touch of class to the movie with her portrayal of Lisa, the older and wiser artist.

Debrah Farentino is also good as Whitney, who is the voice of reason in the movie. Brian Robbins plays a young actor who has just joined Colin's household to play the role of Cellar Dweller in a TV adaptation of the comic book.

The movie draws inspiration from classics such as Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Phantom of the Opera, and it pays homage to the horror genre with its nods to famous horror movie characters such as Dracula and the Wolfman.

Overall, Cellar Dweller is a creepy and entertaining horror movie that will appeal to fans of the genre. It has an interesting storyline, solid performances, and some effective scares. It may not be a masterpiece, but it is definitely worth a watch.