The Cellar

The Cellar is a 1989 American monster film directed by Kevin Tenney, based on a short story by David Henry Keller. It stars Patrick Kilpatrick, Chris Miller, Suzanne Savoy, and Ford Rainey. Plot Comanche Indians have trapped the evil of their land in a monster made up of a mixture of other animals. The Comanche have placed a protective spear in the ground to contain the evil, along with a rabbit foot talisman for good luck. A young boy pulls the spear from the ground while pocketing the talisman. He starts to play with the spear. A Comanche catches the boy, and startled, he runs away with the rabbit's foot. The Native American places the spear back, realizing too late that the rabbits foot is now gone. After that, white men come and start drilling for oil. Skip to current time, a divorced father, Mance Cashen, moves to the area with his new wife and baby. His son from his first marriage, Willy, is visiting. Willy notices something peculiar in the house and tries to warn his father and step-mother. They do not believe him. Willy is attacked while on a tire swing over a small water hole. The creature grabs his foot and Willy struggles, eventually getting away. He eventually befriends the local drunk, T. C. van Houten, the same man who rented the house to Mance and his wife. A nice old man with some bad memories who knows something about the evil near the oil well and was in a situation similar to Willy's. In the meantime a Comanche Indian chief, Chief Sam John, comes to warn Mance of the evil and the need to keep it contained. Sam John informs Mance the evil was originally intended to stop the white man, but it is indiscriminate in whom it kills instead. Mance will have none of it. Willy eventually takes a spear he finds on his property to Sam John and tries to find out what is going on. Sam John convinces Willy to promise to stay out of the cellar and come get him if anything happens. Sam John is later dragged into the cellar by the monster.