Editorials
[It Came From the ‘80s] Camp Horror and a Comic Book Monster in ‘Cellar Dweller’
With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
Before Full Moon Pictures, Charles Band’s Empire Pictures carved out its own niche in the world of B-movie horror in the ‘80s. Turning out fan favorites Ghoulies, Re-Animator, Rawhead Rex, From Beyond, Troll, and so many more, all with a quick turnaround and low-budget approach, Empire Pictures is responsible for a lot of horror movie memories of the decade. Band’s business model meant reteaming with many of the same crews and directors, so it’s no surprise that a quick cursory glance through Empire’s catalog will see one name pop up again and again: director and special effects makeup artist John Carl Buechler.
Buechler’s output during the ‘80s was incredible, frequently juggling multiple film projects at a time at various stages of production, making it difficult to imagine he ever got any sleep. Cellar Dweller came along at a time where Buechler and his effects shop Mechanical and Makeup Imageries Inc. were already hard at work on Ghoulies II, The Garbage Pail Kids, and The Caller. When most would pass on the extra workload, Buechler picked up duties as director and creature effects designer. His second credit as director for a feature length film, it’s easy to see why Cellar Dweller appealed to Buechler.
Written by Don Mancini (under pseudonym Kit Dubois), Cellar Dweller opens with a cameo by Jeffrey Combs as 1950s comic book creator Colin Childress. Childress looks to a book of magic for inspiration on his latest comic when he accidentally conjures up a demon from his own imagination. He manages to stop the demon at the cost of his own life. Cut to 30 years later, where new comic book artist Whitney (Debrah Farentino) releases the demon once more when she sets up her studio in Childress’ former home. Also look for The Munsters’ Yvonne De Carlo as Mrs. Briggs.
Mancini’s original script was much grander in scale, but scaled back for the Empire model. What it lacked in budget, it more than made up for in camp. Though, that does give it a bit of charm. Cellar Dweller was filmed at Empire’s studio in Rome and came together at warp speed, giving Buechler and his crew a very small shooting schedule to work with. The director and his crew were clearly well versed in working under pressure. Buechler embraced the camp, incorporated the comic book format into the film for scenes, and delivered on gore and fun creature effects.
It’s irreverent and schlocky, and pure ‘80s creature feature entertainment. A balance of effects and humor. Buechler would follow up this directorial effort with the far more popular Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, and deliver memorable special makeup effects on A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. All of which were released in 1988, along with Celler Dweller, just to paint a picture of how full his dance card was at any given time. His list of credits is extensive, and his influence on the genre (especially in the ‘80s) invaluable. With sad news of his battle with cancer, it seems only fitting to shed a little more light on the man behind so many great movie monsters.
Cellar Dweller isn’t Buechler’s best feature, but it does a great job conveying his style, work ethic, artistic talent, and flair for lightheartedness.
Found footage movies rely on immersion and a particular kind of suspension of disbelief in order to scare viewers, so it stands to reason that playing along with the “kayfabe” of it all is necessary for these movies to be effective. However, despite being something of a purist when it comes to in-universe recordings, I’ve come to accept that traditional productions can benefit from the occasional injection of found footage thrills.
For instance, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation makes genius use of the analog gimmick in order to trap us in the titular rooms alongside our main characters before effortlessly switching back to a more cinematic language. In honor of these dynamic films that manage to combine the best of both worlds, today I’d like to share six other hybrid horror movies that successfully incorporate found footage into their scares!
For the purposes of this list, “hybrid” horror movies are defined as any flick that shifts between diegetic recordings and traditional filming techniques for a significant amount of time (or at least for pivotal scenes).
As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own hybrid favorites if you think a particularly freaky one was missed.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. The Last Broadcast (1998)
Internet critics may have overstated the influence that Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler’s The Last Broadcast had on The Blair Witch Project, but the found footage subgenre still owes a huge debt to this underrated piece of avant-garde filmmaking. However, while the movie sets itself up as a documentary about the disappearance of a group of cryptid-hunters attempting to track down the Jersey Devil, things take a darker and much more grounded turn towards the final act.
I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say that the jarring shift in perspective actually helps to sell the idea that everything we’ve seen before the finale was an attempt at using filmmaking to manipulate the public perception of a “real” incident.
Not bad for a movie with a $900 budget!
4. Cam (2018)
When you consider just how much the internet affects our daily lives, it’s strange that we don’t see Screenlife elements pop up in more movies these days. For instance, Isa Mazzei & Daniel Goldhaber’s highly underrated Cam only works as a freaky parable about online sex-work because it masterfully balances Madeline Brewer’s intimate moments with highly immersive segments within cyberspace.
While one might argue that the entire film could have been produced as a Screenlife experience, the hybrid approach allows the filmmakers to explore our main character’s life beyond the screens – with the duality of modern human existence actually becoming a recurring theme in the story.
3. Banshee Chapter (2013)
Most of H.P. Lovecraft’s popular stories were told in the epistolary format (where the text is presented as an in-universe compilation of letters or personal notes), so it makes sense that a spiritually faithful adaptation of his work would incorporate elements from the modern-day equivalent to epistolary fiction – found footage!
That’s why Blair Erickson’s Banshee Chapter is such an effective scare-fest, as this hybrid adaptation of From Beyond -retold through a conspiratorial lens as it references MK-Ultra and even secretive numbers stations- immerses viewers in a mind-bending tapestry of Cosmic Horror that blurs the line between fiction and reality.
2. The Deep House (2019)
The underwater setting does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s The Deep House, with the film being especially uncomfortable if you’re already scared of tight spaces and being deprived of oxygen. However, even the universally unsettling elements of the flick only work because the POV often shifts into claustrophobic footage courtesy of our main characters’ GoPro cameras.
Telling the story of a couple of YouTubers who encounter a haunted house at the bottom of an artificial lake while vacationing in France, The Deep House’s first-person exploration sequences contain some of the film’s scariest moments. In fact, I’d argue that the movie didn’t even need ghosts, as becoming trapped in the titular House already sounds like a fate worse than death.
1. Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
My personal favorite instance of filmmakers successfully managing to combine traditional cinematography with POV filmmaking, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, is proof that the two formats can co-exist if the right story comes along.
After all, what better way to conclude a mockumentary all about reality getting increasingly more cinematic than by ditching the found footage gimmick altogether during the finale? Not only does this shift in presentation work on a conceptual level, but it also elevates Behind The Mask into a proper Slasher, which is probably why we’re so excited for that long-overdue sequel!
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