VividSimon Simply Perfect

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Mikel3 We had another cold winter day here so I stayed warm and watched a film I've never seen. I viewed 'The Beast in the Cellar' a 1970 British film. It has the look of one of Hammer Studio's lesser efforts. It's not made by them, it just has that Hammer feel and quality to it...almost. I'm not hinting it's bad, on the contrary it was pretty good, especially compared to the stinkers I've seen lately. Here the acting, sets, and the dialog were all very professional. The film deals with two old ladies, spinster sisters. They remind me very much of two similar characters from 'Arsenic and Old Lace'. Like in 'AaOL' they even know a young man they're both very fond of, only this man is a friend, not a relative. These ladies are not killers, still they do have a dark secret. They did something terrible ...a person or thing has been locked in their basement for a very long time. It finally escapes, that's when people start dying, all soldiers from a nearby base. Only soldiers are killed for a reason not revealed till later. What is doing it and why is the mystery. The story does have some slow moving sections that seem like filler more than anything else. The ending is suitable yet comes off a bit abrupt compared to the leisurely way the rest of the plot unfolds. I do recommend this one for fans of light British horror, just don't expect too much from it as far as action. It's about the characters and their pasts catching up with them. I rate it a 5 out of 10.

ferbs54 A tale of sibling overprotectiveness taken to horrifying extremes, the 1970 British film "The Beast in the Cellar" introduces us to a very unusual pair of elderly sisters indeed. When we first meet Joyce and Ellie Ballantyne (played, respectively, by the great English actresses Dame Flora Robson and Beryl Reid), the two are in quite a flustered tizzy, as a wild animal has started to kill off some young soldiers at the military base near their isolated country home in Lancashire. The authorities suspect that a leopard is to blame, but when the two aging biddies realize that "he has escaped from the cellar"...well, let's just say that they know better. And the less said about the titular beast, the better, I suppose, for those potential viewers who somehow may not have heard.Anyway, "The Beast in the Cellar" is something of a mixed bag, at best, and certainly not abetted by its DVD presentation. The film's main strength is unquestionably the most impressive performances turned in by its two leads. Robson's terrific portrayal was not a surprise to this viewer; I've been a fan of hers since seeing her decades ago in the great 1940 Errol Flynn swashbuckler "The Sea Hawk," in which Flora's Queen Elizabeth practically steals the show. I had not previously encountered Beryl Reid anywhere before, however, but she was so very good here that I am now inclined to seek out more of her work; her performance in 1968's "The Killing of Sister George" is supposed to be especially good. The acting turns by these two old pros aside, however, "Beast" does not offer too much to the casual viewer. It is never especially scary, or even suspenseful, and although the beast's attacks are somewhat gory, they are shot in such a dark and frenzied manner that the viewer cannot make out much. Composer Tony Macaulay's theme song for the film is eerie and excellent, but much of his incidental music seems out of place, and even non sequitur at times. James Kelly has directed his film in a fairly pedestrian manner, with little style to speak of, and his picture drags woefully in spots. Perhaps the uncut British version of the film, at 101 minutes, would be an improvement, but the 87-minute American cut seems to be missing...something. If ever a picture deserved a loving restoration! As suggested above, the DVD offered for us Yanks is a miserable-looking affair, with a scratchy print, lousy sound and many nighttime scenes rendered almost completely black on the small screen. Seeing "Beast" back when in a theatre must have been a completely different experience; it can only have improved what is, in essence, a highly interesting albeit flawed film. For this viewer, the most interesting aspect of the picture is how our opinion of the two sisters keeps changing as the film unreels. As in 1962's "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?," our perception of which sister is more rational and which is more batty--which is more sympathetic and which is more to be condemned--is subject to fluctuation as the secret of their history is revealed. In the film's best scene, Ellie does reveal all to a flabbergasted police superintendent, and it is a story both moving and tragic, and fully detailing this most unusual family affair. Having a loving and caring sister is one thing, but heaven forbid that you ever get one like Joyce or Ellie Ballantyne!

aridan3 This film has haunted me for 30 years. I'm trying to buy a PAL format VHS or UK or USA DVD copy. This film is excellent. Flora Robson is disturbingly controlling and the ending, if you haven't been told of it, is sad & very moving. And my home is 90 years old- with a cellar.

jplenton The pre-title sequence shows army vehicles on manoeuvres across Lancashire moorland - for a moment I thought I'd taped the wrong film. A Landrover breaks down so the driver has to trod back to base. He does not get there (right film then). His body is discovered the next day with extensive claw wounds and the pathologist's initial prognosis suggests an animal attack, possibly a large cat such as a leopard. The film focuses on two elderly sisters, Joyce and Ellie, who live on a smallholding on the moors. They are both concerned about the murder (and ensuing bodycount rise), perhaps a bit too concerned.The main problem with The Beast In The Cellar is its title. It tells the viewer more than they need to know from the outset and immediately makes you suspicious of the two sisters. A better title would be, say, 'The Beast On The Moors'. It still has the sensationalist promise of a beast but removes any emphasis away from the sisters and their house. Thankfully the fact that the beast is in the cellar is well established in the story about halfway through the film. The questions thus raised are what/who is it, why is it there, why is it killing and what is its connection (if any) with the sisters?A major component of the film is the military and the 'horrors of war'. The beast's victims are all low ranking soldiers from the local army base (as in warfare it is the common soldiers who suffer most). The soldiers all looked as if they had all been sequestered from Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who and their survival rate was certainly comparable (something actress Beryl Reid is familiar with). The two sisters' father was an officer in WWI and they frequently refer to him and seem very proud. The older sister even dresses up in his uniform. Does she have a uniform fetish or is there a more sinister reason?*spoilers*The film could initially be described as having an anti-military pathos. This is surprising since part of the British army helped in making the film. However the ending reveals that there are worse things than being sent to war and the military is overall treated in a friendlier light. The fact that the 'culprits' were acting for what they believed to be the greater good makes the final revelations especially chilling.A handful of final musings: Ellie goes around in a child-like state of denial whilst Joyce, the older of the two, is more responsible and therefore more strained and serious. They obviously have something plaguing them. It is interesting to see who will 'crack' first. As the beast supposedly dug out of the cellar why are its claws/talons so long. Wouldn't they have been blunted and broken from the work. Speaking of work, the amount of slogging about Ellie does for a sixty plus year old is remarkable. There are some neat moments of irony. These include Joyce finally receiving her prescribed medicine and the constant appearance of the young corporal, who must continually remind the sisters of their past.