text: ... but you probably have seen it or else you wouldn't be here. It's so obscure that you probably stumbled onto it like I did because this little known gem receives no word-of-mouth.<br /><br />From the very beginning you know how the storyline will shake out but watching as our innocent redheaded nurse puts the pieces of the puzzle together is high quality entertainment. Most horror films bombard viewers with graphic displays of torture but Don't Look in the Basement plays it subtle, which makes for superior suspense. Note to horror filmmakers: some of us do like subtlety! Lovely and homely nurse Charlotte takes a job at a sanitarium but is dismayed when she learns that the head doctor who hired her had a gruesome accident and she is now the subordinate to a mysterious doctor, who we all know isn't a doctor at all. The suspense is built through Charlotte's unraveling of events with assistance from many of the patients, but which of the patients can Charlotte trust? This is a gem and is my absolute favorite TRUE HORROR movie. I love Re-Animator and Evil Dead but they play more for the HORROR-COMEDY crowd.<br /><br />VIOLENCE: $$$ (Quite tame for horror standards but there is a decent sprinkling of gore throughout the film. The opening scene is classic; no other horror film starts out better, and the end has its fair share of gore as well).<br /><br />NUDITY: $$$$ (Eager to fall in love Allyson (Betty Chandler) spends a good deal of time naked, attempting to seduce half the men at the sanitarium. Betty Chandler is a knockout and I am shocked that this is her only film credit).<br /><br />STORY: $$$$ (The story is well handled despite the premise getting a lot of mileage in Hollywood. The script has a knack for building suspense and never fails to place poor Charlotte in a precarious situation).<br /><br />ACTING: $$$$ (Betty Chandler does the best job here as Allyson, capturing dementia with naiveté in an ethereal form. The Judge was splendid as well, weighing facts before he came to a verdict while Rosie Holotik as Charlotte gives a genuine performance as you will feel for her character.