Absolutely the worst movie.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

9.Insanely good.Thought this would be the usual run of the mill B-seventies horror movie set in an insane asylum but was pleasantly (for lack of a more appropriate word haha) surprised. I would definitely watch it again given the opportunity it was that good.

I have to admit that my preference is for psychological horror where the imagination is left to roam. Thus I thought the lead-up to the unfortunate bloodbath was both interesting and different. Each of the asylum patients in the lead-up is given a chance to demonstrate his or her particular disorder— the compulsive soldier, the nympho hungering for love, the obsessive mother with her doll baby, the partially lobotomized black man, et al-- and except for the judge (Ross) none seems particularly homicidal. And, of course, there's the power-crazed "doctor" (Weenick). Then, into this loony bin arrives poor drop-in nurse Charlotte (Holotik) not realizing that a loony is in charge. This sets up an interesting and fairly suspenseful storyline since we can't be sure where the plot is headed since the murder, mayhem and gore so far is at a minimum. Plus the acting is pretty darn good—Weenick & Holotik, especially. (And after 60-years of movies, I've never seen a cast with more un-Hollywoodized names!) Now, in my view, had the creators exercised more imagination, they could have come up with a less hackneyed climax than the gore-fest we're subjected to. Of course, the blood-letting may satisfy many horror fans, but to me, it betrays the subtler possibilities posed in the lead-up. For example, why not have the real doctor murdered by one of the patients, and then try to figure out which of the patients is actually homicidal. A sort of loony-bin whodunit.Anyway, the film is mostly well-crafted for a cheap-jack production. Still, I wish IMDb provided more background info, since what does appear looks like a wholly Texas production with a local cast. To me that would amount to quite an achievement, regardless of budget or fall off in imagination.

"Don't Look in the Basement" is a very, very cheaply made film. Nothing about it seems very professional….yet, oddly, the film is quite entertaining. Is it really good? Nah—but very entertaining providing you are the type person who can appreciate such an odd film! This movie is set in some sort of sanitarium for the mentally ill—the very, very, VERY mentally ill. No attempt is made to make these folks seem real and it has about the same level of insensitivity you'd find in "Birth of a Nation". I have worked in a psychiatric hospital many years ago, and it was NOTHING like this place! It's pretty obvious they did not film it in a real hospital and just looks like an old house was used. And, for the parts, the 'patients' were told to act very stereotypically insane—like you might expect folks to do on "Whose Line is it Anyway?"—subtle, it ain't! When the doctor (whose methods seem no saner than his patients) is killed by one of the patients, another doctor takes his place. Soon, a new nurse arrives—and she's shocked at how ineffective and stupid the treatment is for the patients. Eventually, more folks start dying and only then do you learn some very interesting secrets. I'd say more, but I really don't want to spoil the suspense.This engaging film looks like if you were to remake "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and had it rewritten by an actively psychotic individual! It's bloody, it's scary and, what I really like is that you really have no idea who, if anyone, is sane in this film! It's one of those ultra-low budget films with no-name casts that manages to work in spite of all the many strikes against it! Clever, strange and probably not for all tastes! If you like "Carnival of Souls", "Night of the Living Dead" (the original one) or "Spider Baby", then this film is for you!

Made by Brownrigg and his most notorious one even as he made Don't Open The Door (1975) or Keep My Grave Open (1976)later in his career. This has become a really exploitation classic even as it is a bit low on blood nowadays but back then it was way ahead of its time.Originally titled The Forgotten it was shot in 12 days. But the marketing boys were clever and flicks started with 'Don't' were a hit. Not even that, they retitled it and paired it with Wes Craven's controversial gore landmark Last House On The Left (1972). The double bill was so popular at drive-ins that it staid there for 13 years. So Don't Go In The Basement got a cult status. Many find it one of the best exploitations of the seventies because the story was insane (no pun intended). The demented inmates in an asylum axe the head doctor and take over the insane asylum. But an unsuspected nurse arrives and tries to unravel the maze of madness. The insane are insane some love popsicles, others never leave their toy boat. But it was the splatter that was non seen back then. A tongue being ripped out or an eye being impaled on-screen. Still it's didn't survive the time and nowadays it look ridiculous. But also a bit of a tittie shot made it all the weirder.It was okay but for me not the hype I suspected. Still it's a good exploitation but it takes a bit too long before things really go wrong. Nevertheless, a must have in your horror collection. Gore 1/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5