Other movies in this series:
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Rish's Reviews
This starred Kim Darby, who I remembered from the "Star Trek" episode "Miri," as well as another Seventies made-for-TV flick The People (with William Shatner, no less), and tyranist will remember as the mom from Better Off Dead. She plays a nervouse housewife who moves into a big old house with her businessman husband. When she discovers a locked room, and a handyman who doesn't think it should be opened, she goes out of her way to release a bunch of murderous little creatures with evil plans for everyone who crosses their path.
I was surprised by what a cool movie this was. It was simple and cheap, but effective. It was a well-told tale with a nice, unexpected ending. "My Three Sons"'s William Demarest (who was played by Dana Carvey in my all-time favourite "Saturday Night Live" sketch) plays the handyman who knows something evil is at work in the basement. Perhaps you can chalk it up to a bored Seventies housewife's obsession with the unknown, but if somebody tried to warn you off as much as this guy did, wouldn't you even CONSIDER reconsidering opening up the basement and tearing up the bricked-in fireplace?
The villainous imps are similar to Gremlins (from the 1984 Joe Dante film) in that they're small, vicious, and afraid of bright light. And they were surprisingly scary creatures, especially since they're actually kind of silly-looking. My Irish friend referred to them as Ashtray Demons, and I like that.
The film was not great, but it entertained me. And you'd be surprised how many modern horror movies fail to do that nowadays.
I'd Recommend It To: Yeah, if you can track down a copy, it's good clean fun.
Posted: September 14, 2004

Total Skulls: 13

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?