As the patients’ behavior becomes more violent and erratic, it is eventually revealed that Dr. Masters is actually a patient herself, playing the role of a doctor after the original staff were killed.
" Don’t Look in the Basement " (1973), also known as The Forgotten , is a quintessential piece of low-budget, Texas-shot grindhouse horror. Directed by S.F. Brownrigg on a budget of less than $100,000, it became a cult classic through the drive-in circuit, often double-billed with Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left . Don't Look in the Basement
The film is set at Stephens Sanitarium, an isolated mental institute where the chief doctor, Dr. Stephens, believes the best therapy is for patients to freely act out their delusions. As the patients’ behavior becomes more violent and
Nurse Charlotte Beale arrives for a new job, only to discover Dr. Stephens has been killed by an axe-wielding patient. Directed by S
The new administrator, Dr. Geraldine Masters, reluctantly hires Charlotte but maintains a tyrannical and suspicious grip on the facility.
Despite the title’s warning, the basement holds a final gruesome secret: the original Dr. Stephens is still alive down there, though severely wounded. Key Characters & Performances The film is noted for its "eccentric" ensemble of patients: