THE FILMS:

Cellar Dweller:

One night in the 1950s, comic book artist Colin Childress (Jeffrey Combs) is killed by his own creation: a vicious, man-eating monster that walks off the pages of his "Cellar Dweller" horror comic series. The death is ruled a suicide, but thirty years later, Whitney Taylor (Debrah Farentino), also a comic book artist, comes to Childress' home to investigate. The house is now an artist commune, overseen by grouchy Mrs. Briggs (Yvonne De Carlo), and Whitney immediately ruffles the matron's feathers by setting up shop in Childress' basement studio. She wants to revive "Cellar Dweller," but manages to awaken the dormant beast in the process.

Written by Don Mancini (Child's Play), Cellar Dweller is unapologetic '80s cheese from horror house Empire Pictures and director John Carl Buechler (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood). The comic-book action is entertaining (several death scenes partially unfold in comic frames), and the film emphasizes the humor of its hungry, chuckling monster. Farentino is a likeable lead, but Cellar Dweller never settles on an M.O. for the monster. The first victim is a catty woman from Whitney's past, and the film hints that Whitney will control the monster. That never happens, which is a missed opportunity.

There is plenty of gore and skin, and more than enough exposition. The minor characters are quirky, if two-dimensional, and the ending does not make a whole lot of sense. Even so, I enjoyed Cellar Dweller, which runs a brisk 77 minutes. A final title card suggests that evil lives in the imagination, an interesting idea for a schlocky horror film. This was apparently shot in less than two weeks for almost no money, so I can forgive the flaws. *** out of *****

Catacombs:

As boring as Cellar Dweller is fun, Catacombs is the inferior film in this double feature. The Inquisition attempts to exorcise a man in the 1500s, only to lock the offending demon away for centuries in the catacombs under an Italian monastery. Invited to stay at the monastery during her studies in Italy, American schoolteacher Elizabeth Magrino (Laura Schaefer) becomes entangled in a supernatural mess when the demon is awakened.

This incredibly dull possession thriller spends its first hour spinning its wheels. Watch the monks walk around and talk about things completely unrelated to the story! Dirt moves, Elizabeth hears strange noises, and I almost fell asleep. The bigger problem is that none of the conflict is interesting or logical. Catacombs keeps its supposedly powerful demon caged in the basement. Why the hell does the creature not leave the catacombs and starting killing people outside the monastery walls? There is no backstory on the demon, and no promise of any real destruction should it be freed.

There is one screwed up scene that jolted me to attention: an animated Christ figure descends the cross, takes the stake out of his foot and stabs a monk to death. This is the only devilish fright to be found in Catacombs, which culminates in a laughable climax so full of teased hair and fog machines that it could be mistaken for a Whitesnake music video. * out of *****

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

The 1.78:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image for Cellar Dweller is not bad despite the warning that it was pulled from a film print in MGM's vaults. There are, of course, a number of scratches and some dirt, but the image is reasonable steady. There is decent fine-object detail, OK black levels and proper skin tones. The image looks a bit washed out at times, with heavy shadows, but it lacks unnecessary digital tweaking.

Catacombs also receives a 1.78:1/1080p/AVC-encoded image, which features good detail and clarity, well-saturated colors and good black levels. There are some minor film defects, but this one definitely has that "HD pop," which is impressive considering the low-budget origins.

SOUND:

Each film receives a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio mix. Both are clear and reasonably immersive, with expansive stereo sound fields and good effects separation. Dialogue is clear and without distortion, and the music is reasonably weighty. English subtitles are included.

PACKAGING AND EXTRAS:

This single-disc release is packed in a standard case with dual-sided artwork. There are no extras included for Cellar Dweller, but Catacombs gets a Commentary by Director David Schmoeller.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Horror fans can appreciate Scream Factory releasing Cellar Dweller and Catacombs in HD. The former is far superior, but each film looks and sounds good in HD. Few extras are included, but this double feature is reasonably priced. I think my Rent It recommendation will allow viewers to decide whether it is worth picking up this Blu-ray double feature.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.