Don’t Look In the Basement 2

Don’t Look In the Basement 2…

1972 leaves the Stephens Sanitarium a slaughterhouse of  bloody mayhem. Staff and patients slaughtered for no apparent reason. 

One man stands convicted of mass murder and is moved from one sanitarium to another. Sam, the man giant who had been lobotomised four years previously.

40 years later he returns home. But now it is known as Green Park Mental Institution and its past left behind in a veil of secrecy.

But long forgotten ghosts are raised from their otherworldly slumber by the return of this child like man with a passion for drawing and a love of boats. 

Flashbacks strike across Sam’s mind. Then slowly memories and images start to flash across elements of the staff and patients minds until these are no longer theirs!

Transformed…the Green Park staff and patients are mentally transferred back to those of the patients of 1972 and the murders start up again. 

Bloodshed and mayhem begin!

Who will die, and who will live….again?!?

 

Don’t Look In the Basement 2 is a work of passion from son to his father.

1973 saw the release of the original Don’t Look in the Basement from filmmaker, at this time debut director S.F. Brownrigg. His story of  inmates taking over the nuthouse is one I love. Madness, insanity and mayhem rule the day here and plays out so well!

2014 comes along and some interesting news. Son of the original director of Don’t Look in the Basement, Anthony Brownrigg, is working on a direct sequel. Which to this writer was an interesting promise in this age of remakes.

Finally Don’t Look In the Basement 2 gets its release through the awesome guys over at Legless Corpse.

From the start I could see what I expected! A son’s love for his father and said father’s debut.

Beautifully shot though out. Stark difference between the original and this is the blatant obvious. 1973’s is rough around the edges which gives it a nice touch to the proceedings and works well. Griminess to go with the fractured minds being shown in their downfalls to homicidal madness in the finale.

2015 brings a cleanliness to the proceedings. Naturally this is not filmmaker Anthony Brownrigg’s first outing and naturally has access to equipment his Dad could only dream off. Shots are clear and well done. Did this have any effect for me coming from a love of the original, no! Actually glad it was like this as it should be. It is a new generation carrying on with a tradition of sorts with the story telling. Maybe if computer elements were added to give it a feel of the original then it had the chance of coming out pretentious and fake. Thankfully Anthony went with what he did.

Don’t Look In the Basement 2 has a great cast to portray the inmates and their doctors. Some really nice madness was on show though again differing to the original. Before the ghosts of the past creep in and take over we get yet again a different feel to the mental illness on show.

Dug how the story went from the original to the sequel. From Stephens Sanitarium to the Green Park Mental Institution. Then with Sam’s return home of sorts. Bringing with hm the awakening of memories. These in the form of flash backs down in a very blurred edit of original scenes from the first film. Then this process is used as memories of sorts seep into the minds of some of the patients and medical personnel. I dug it, was ghostly thus fitting into the theme of ghosts from the past taking over and in ways being reborn from the catalyst of Sam’s return.

Now you may ask how the hell did Sam wind up back here?

After all it is the scene of the crime if you will. Seriously don’t want to get too involved here as I want those who haven’t go revisit the original along with giving Don’t Look In the Basement 2 a shot. But there is a reason and one I didn’t pick up on straight away until out main doctor character Dr. William Matthews starts digging into things. Pieces are missing but when it all starts coming together there is a confrontation that spills the beans with what is happening.

An opening sequence using modern actors to portray original characters and aspects of what happened to them. Forty minutes then goes by before things start going to the nuthouse for the Green Park Mental Institution.

We are introduced to the different characters and their modus operandi. From the comedy element of the two orderlies, nurse they both fancy but who does not see them, the practitioners and, then obviously, the patients.

Forty minutes for some to get to the start of the juicy bits may seem a little steep for some going into a horror film. For me I was fine with this. Seeing everyone’s quirks, motivations and insanities kept me glued. Even the comedy was just an aspect of the usual types in a work place.

When the juicy bits do come they are more than worthy. Effects for Don’t Look In the Basement 2 are at the hands of none other than Marcus Koch. With many years under his belt creating gory goodness scenes of hair straightener down the gullet, intestines pulled out and being eaten along with other tantalising tidbits are done very well!

Before I finish up this little review I shall mention Sam, otherwise known in the real world as actor Willie Minor. For the life of me his voice reminded me in ways with Morgan Freeman. Hell, even his look gave me the impression of the big brother version of Mr Freeman! Dug the character, felt for him especially after revelations come out. Felt he was there for this reason that was purely genuine. But unfortunately his being there was the catalyst to bring forth the downfall of the place. Guess the spirits of the house had it in for him for obvious reasons.

I’m not into spoilers so will leave things as is!

As stated in the beginning Anthony Brownrigg created this tribute out of a love of a son to his father. A need to bring to the screen this legacy his father created all of those years ago. Bringing forth skill, actors capable to portray this madness, along with the abilities of Marcus Koch shows the genuine need to create something worthy for the fans! Though with some small quirks Don’t Look In the Basement 2 holds up way better than if done as a remake including rushed computer effects to create a grind house vibe.

Anthony went into Don’t Look In the Basement 2 with serious intent!