After notable figures like Se7en‘s John Doe and the Saw franchise’s Jigsaw, it seems that serial killers need to come up with a memorable gimmick in order to stand out among the murderous crowd. With his first feature film, The Basement, writer-director Brian M. Conley presents us with one of the most creative serial killer premises to date, though originality alone can’t quite save the rest of the film.
The Basement stars Cayleb Long as Craig Owen, a seemingly innocent man who’s kidnapped by Bill Anderson, played by Jackson Davis, a deranged serial killer that likes to roleplay with his victims. As Craig is forced to reenact scenes from Bill’s disturbing life, all the while enduring horrific torture, his wife (Mischa Barton) attempts to convince the police that his disappearance was the result of foul play. However, this sudden abduction might not be as random as it seems.
Regardless of the finished product, you have to admit that this is a darned good setup for a serial killer movie. Having to race against the clock to save a desperate character from a psychologically complex antagonist is an inherently thrilling premise, which is why it pains me to say that the film manages to squander nearly all that potential by ignoring the most interesting aspects of the story.
While the budget must have certainly been an issue as well, The Basement is ripe with questionable creative decisions, and the direction and cinematography are too conventional to make the most of an admittedly inspired setup. Even great ideas like the final plot twist, which could have worked beautifully had it been properly set up, are rendered dull and ultimately pointless through this approach. For some reason, the movie insists on not having fun with its torture-porn inspired horror elements, but at the same time, it doesn’t evolve into a serious thriller either, ultimately becoming stuck in an uninteresting limbo.
At the very least, Long makes for a serviceable protagonist, even though the script doesn’t really give him much to do other than suffer through his unfortunate ordeal. Davis, however, is the true highlight of the film. His memorable character and sickly performances during the tortuous reenactments are what keep things interesting, and the movie might actually have benefited from splitting the focus between these disturbing scenes and Barton’s story back home.
I can’t honestly call The Basement a bad film, but it manages to be so utterly unexceptional in its execution that it ends up feeling like a waste of a good idea. While I usually enjoy smaller movies set in claustrophobic environments, this one wasn’t interesting enough to justify the drab and repetitive setting. It might be worth a watch just to appreciate Davis’ fascinating character, but I think viewers are better off waiting for Conley’s next cinematic endeavor.
The Basement will be available on VOD September 15th.
