Saint Mort’s Nostalgia Nightmare “Cellar Dweller & Catacombs” Blu-Ray Review

It feels so great to be back! Welcome once again to Saint Mort’s Nostalgia Nightmare! This week I’ll be reviewing Scream Factory’s Double Feature release of Cellar Dweller and Catacombs. This will be my first time watching both of these films but I’ve heard good things for both of titles so I’m kind of excited.

Before a single credit comes on the screen we are introduced to Jeffery Combs playing a comic book artists in 1958. Suddenly his comic monster comes to life (along with the comic victim). it immediately reminded me of the Korman’s Kalamity episode of Tales from the Crypt (although the movie pre-dates that episode by a few years). Combs’ role is short lived but he manages to take the cellar dweller down with him. Flash forward to present day (1988) and another animator accidentally brings the Cellar Dweller back endangering herself and her friends.

This movie was a ton of fun to watch. It’s a quick film (a brisk 77 minutes) and fairly funny. The Cellar Dweller looks pretty good as far as low-budget creature effects go and the acting isn’t as bad as you’d expect from such low-budget schlock. The film was written by Don Mancini (one of his few non-child’s play writing credits) and directed by John Carl Buechler who directed such 80’s classics as Troll, Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood and Ghoulies Go to College.

Now on to Catacombs

Catacombs is a little slower. It’s not a bad movie but it’s not a movie for me. However I know a ton of people who would LOVE this movie. It has great sets, fantastic performances and definitely is a film that should be more well-known. I can admit this even without particularly liking the film.

Perhaps the biggest disservice for the film is that I watched it immediately after Cellar Dweller which was the superior film. However Cellar Dweller has no special features, Catacombs comes with a director’s commentary.

Either way this double feature is worth owning because Cellar Dweller was amazing and Catacombs is worth watching at least once.

The Cellar Dweller/Catacombs Blu-ray is available today from Scream Factory. Also released today is the double feature of The Outing/The Godsend and Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf.

Matt Kelly is the host of The Saint Mort Show and co-host of Horror Movie Night. He’s also the writer of the Every Damn DVD blog.