Based on director Brendan Muldowney’s 2004 short film, The Ten Steps (which I’ve never seen), this film tells the standard story of a family moving into an old home after snagging it for a bargain price at auction. Of course, when you combine a good deal with an old house that usually means it’s haunted (will these families ever learn?) and naturally that seems to be the case here after the family’s teen daughter mysteriously disappears while traversing the home’s cellar one night.

The police shrug it off as the girl simply running away (as teenage girls apparently often do), leaving the frantic mother (played by Elisha Cuthbert) no choice but to look into the home’s history, which she believes may be key into the daughter's disappearance. She ultimately uncovers the previous owners dark past and their study and interest in other dimensions (which may also explain all the weird symbols around the house). Now she must figure out how to get her daughter back before she loses her forever.

The movie starts out with a pretty basic premise and as it goes on doesn’t really offer much we haven’t already seen, but things do get a little interesting once we learn more about the house’s history and we’re introduced to the idea of multiple dimensions. Unfortunately, even that doesn’t lead to anything new despite having potential early on. In fact, the first hour relied mostly on atmosphere alone, which sadly results in pacing issues and normally I don’t mind it if done right, but here it just didn’t quite work as well as it should have.

It’s not until heavily into the third act that the movie really picks up, eventually leading to a surprisingly satisfying finale, which makes up for some of the film’s failings. In the end, the flick proved to be a semi-decent watch, despite delivering little in terms of scares or anything else new to the genre. As it stands, it's a basic haunted house tale; I've seen a lot better and I've seen a whole lot worse.

The Cellar will be in theaters and will stream on Shudder April 15th.