aka The Forgotten

• Produced and directed by S.F. Brownrigg
• Written by Tim Pope (and Thomas Pope, uncredited)
• Starring
  • Rosie Holotik
  • Anne MacAdams
  • William Bill McGhee
  • Gene Ross
  • Betty Chandler

Ah, the inadvertent power of advertising. Under its original title of The Forgotten, this movie is a fairly unsettling little horror-thriller with a surprising minimum of explicit gore or violence. But it was retitled for distribution as Don’t Look in the Basement and put on a drive-in double bill with Last House on the Left (1972); it even co-opted the latter movie’s tagline: “To Avoid Fainting Keep Repeat: ‘It’s Only a Movie… It’s Only a Movie… It’s Only a Movie…’”. One is led to assume that it was this kind of marketing image and notoriety-by-association that led to it being placed on the infamous “Video Nasties” list in 1970s Britain.

That’s not to say that it’s gentle family fare, or that it thrives on quiet menace. But in banking more on the threat of violence and menace instead of its execution, Don’t Look in the Basement plants itself much more firmly in the “suspense” tradition than the “horror” tradition.

That’s no way to treat a clipboard, Doctor!

Our singular setting is the Stephens Sanitarium, located way the hell out in the boonies and run, naturally enough, by Dr. Stephens (Michael Harvey). Dr. Stephens is experimenting with “unusual psychiatric methods,” which usually means “dumbass ideas which will get you killed” in the movies. For instance, he gives an axe to one of his patients, “the Judge” (Gene Ross) to work out his frustrations on a log. Now, I’m not a psychiatric professional, but I think it a little careless to so empower an unpredictable mental patient and then get distracted and turn my back on him. The Judge apparently thinks so too, and buries the axe in Dr. Harvey’s back to show his displeasure.

With Nurse Jane (Jessie Lee Fulton) choosing that day to quit under the strain, the entire asylum is left in the hands of Dr. Geraldine Masters (Anne MacAdams). At least until new nurse Charlotte Beals (Playboy model Rosie Holotik) shows up as the new nurse that Dr. Stephens had hired the week before. Dr. Masters had heard nothing about the hiring, but since she’s short-staffed, she brings Murse Charlotte on staff and helps her get to know the patients. They include:

- “Sergeant” Jaffee (Hugh Feagin), a former military man who now spends his time looking out the window for “the enemy” and being cowed by any authority figure.

Dr. Masters. And friend.

- Sam (William Bill McGhee), a gentle African-American giant, whose lobotomy has left him with a gradeschool mentality.

- Harriet (Camilla Car), who spends her entire day caring for the doll that she insists is her baby.

- Danny (Jessie Kirby), who effectively answers the question, “What if Danny Bonaduce had ever played the Joker?”

- Jennifer (Harryette Warren), who spends most of her time in near-catatonia except when she flies into murderous rages.

- Allyson (Betty King), a thirty-something nymphomaniac desperate for a man to validate her with love.

- Mrs. Callingham (Rhea MacAdams), a nonagenarian who seems more senile than insane per se; she wanders around in her housecoat, forgets where she is in conversations, and fills in the gaps with her favorite verse:

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushing glen
You never can go hunting
For fear of little men.

Double order of Alzheimers, anyone?

A charming crew, aren’t they? How Dr. Stephens ever thought he could manage them with such a limited staff (and that’s with no extra cooks, handymen, orderlies, etc.) is beyond me. Especially when you consider that his treatment philosophy included such things as having no locks on the doors of patients or staff, and leaving huge kitchen knives where the patients can get at them. Charlotte does her best to fit into the routine, unlocked doors and all, but ominous things start happening all over: Mrs. Callingham wakes up one morning with her tongue missing, which Dr. Masters immediately judges to be Mrs. Callingham’s own action (and since Mrs. Callingham can’t talk, and is too arthritic to write, that pretty much closes the case). Then the phone lines get cut. What kind of job has Charlotte taken here, any?

Meanwhile, of course, other stuff is going on. Danny repeatedly steals Harriet’s “baby” just to torment her. Harriet hides in Charlotte’s closet and attacks her with a knife. Allyson comes onto just about every male to be found, including the repressed Judge, Danny, and the telephone repairman (Robert Dracup) who earns Dr. Masters’ ire by showing up and finding the front door unlocked. (Allyson never comes onto Sam. Racism? Or has Sam already shown himself too childlike to respond? I dunno.) And Dr. Masters keeps trying to hide the file (or filecard, rather — nice records-keeping program!) of one patient…

“This is today’s script? I’m gonna need something stronger than coffee.”

Here’s where this review becomes **spoilerific**: After enough subtle hints have been dropped, it’s spelled out for us about ten minutes before Charlotte gets the memo: Dr. Masters ain’t staff, she’s a patient. With Dr. Stephens out of the way, she’s exercising absolute control and living out her caregiver fantasy, and she’s willing to kill anyone who threatens her secret or her control. The only reason I go so far as to mention such a climactic revelation is that I have to wonder if Dr. Masters was the inspiration behind Christopher Lloyd’s character in the 1989 comedy The Dream Team.

I hope I’ve given the impression that this movie tries not to be simple exploitation fare, though there is an awareness that it will be marketed as such. Ominous menace is used far more frequently than gore, though gore is very much in evidence where appropriate. But I also don’t want to leave the impression that this is a better movie than it is. Though the core idea is viable, its execution leaves a lot to be desired. The premise of Dr. Stephens’ treatment program, with its open-door policy and minimal staff to cover so many potentially violent patients, is ludicrous on its face. Beyond that, under Dr. Masters’ reign there really is no treatment to be seen, and with no entertainment or other activities, it seems inevitable that they’ll eventually become axe murderers out of sheer boredom. The script is workmanlike and ill-paced, and the acting generally falls into the “vaguely adequate” category. And the true moment of potential horror, when Charlotte finds out that Masters has led the other patients to believe that she’s really “one of them,” is underemphasized to a criminal degree.

“Whaddaya mean, ‘It’ll hurt in the morning’? It hurts NOW!”

Oh, yeah. The basement. I bet you’re wondering where the title figures into the plot, right? Not as much as you’d probably like, the title being an afterthought to the production after all, but here it is (we’re still on **spoiler alert** from earlier, right?): Dr. Stephens didn’t die of his injuries, and Sam took him to the basement for safekeeping. The doctor’s been trying to send warning messages to Charlotte via Sam, but of course when Sam says that “Dr. Stephens talks to me,” everyone assumes it’s mostly the lobotomy speaking. Which means that the title should more accurately read Look in the Basement Already!

Some Notable Totables:

• body count: 10
• breasts: 2
• explosions: 0
• ominous thunderstorms: 2
• actors who’ve appeared on Star Trek: 0