Well we start off in a sort of big house that is a mental institute run by a man named Dr. Stevens. He doesn't believe in a doctor patient relationship and prefers to deal with the patients by letting them act out and treating them as family. This seems strange when you realize that most of his patients are prone to bursts of violence, but apparently he has spent years gaining their trust. That doesn't stop a patient named Judge Cameron from getting carried away while chopping wood and the honorable Judge gives Dr. Stevens the axe.
Another doctor named Masters takes over for him being the only qualified person on staff. She has a patient named Sam help her with the clean up of Stevens. I should mention the people who stay there. Sam is a big black guy who has the mind of a child. He also loves to play with toy boats. He is pretty tame. Allyson is a nymphomaniac with schizophrenia. There is the previously mentioned Judge Cameron who may only think he is a Judge. A guy they call Sargeant who has PTSD and killed members of his platoon. There is an old woman named Callingham who speaks in ominous poems and really loves flowers. Jennifer mostly cowers in corners and looks creepy. Danny is a prank playing red head who is also childlike. Then there is Harriet.
So Harriet has a baby doll that she thinks is real and is protecting her with violent tendencies. She murders a nurse working there shortly after the death of Dr. Stevens. This leaves them with a staff consisting of just Dr. Masters. As it turns out a woman named Charlotte Beale applied for a job there with Stevens a week prior to his death. After a week she comes there to claim the job only to discover that Stevens is dead and has told Dr. Masters nothing at all about the new employee, or even that there was to be one so Masters is reluctant to hire her. Charlotte gave up her whole life to take this job and despite the news of violent patients, is determined to work there regardless. So Masters hires her.
Not all is well here though. It turns out the phone lines don't work and very shortly after Charlotte makes a bit of progress with the patients, Jennifer attacks Charlotte with a knife and Danny becomes infatuated with her, and is caught looming over her. She wakes because Judge catches Danny looming. Judge is also looming, but with an axe and makes mention of wanting to kill her... sort of. Another occurrence is Allyson seducing the phone repairman with a rampant sex drive and threats of violence.
This all seems pretty fascinating and scary, but I assure you most of what happens is spread out between a lot of nothing or back loaded at the end of the movie. Not that it's bad or anything. In fact for my tastes if more happened I would think it was a bit of overload and start to wonder why Charlotte hadn't left earlier. Much of this happens in the last half hour by the way except the phone guy banging Allyson. There is something else that happens too, but I won't get into it. Many people get killed in pretty brutal ways in this movie, and you see Allyson's upper assets a few times as well which is nice. What really sells this is the ending. Nearly every review you will ever read will talk about this awesome ending, and they will either spoil it, or tell you to watch it for yourself. I choose to go with the second option because I think this movie has fallen into relative obscurity and it could be enjoyable for those that want to watch it to enjoy it for themselves.
Don't Look in the Basement is a prime example of Drive-In cinema in all it's glory and if you want to know what it was like to be a young teen in Texas watching sleazy gore and nudity in the comfort of your own car, I suggest this highly. But get some snacks because you will want to munch and zone out partway through. The good stuff actually makes this movie worth it I think and to be honest I like this movie a bit more than some other well know Drive-In fair such as Color Me Blood Red. Normally I don't give movies ratings but with this one I will. 3 out of 5 I'd say. This I feel is a good score. Young folks nowadays think that average or slightly above means it sucks which is totally not true.
Heed these words well, a rating that is half of the full, like 5 out of 10, means that at the very least it is better than half the things you've seen in your life. So a rating of 3 out of 5 should mean that it is better than average. 2 out of 5 means it's better than a fifth of what you've seen but nothing too great, and 4 out of 5 is pretty damn good. this means 1 out of 5 is bad and 5 out of 5 is as good as it gets. So now you know how to actually rate a movie, but does this mean I recommend Don't Look in the Basement? Not really. I would say if you are a casual movie watcher just don't bother, especially if you are young and have no attention span. If you are a horror fan though then you better sit yourself down. This is something you should see at least once. Especially if you know what the hell I mean by Drive-In fair. Remember folks, as Joe Bob Briggs said, "The Drive-In will never die."
