Andy Howlett My main reason for writing this is to ask if there is another version of this story, possibly as an episode of an anthology series like 'One Step Beyond' (another Newland triumph)? The story is very familiar - the neurotic wife, the creatures that come from the bowels of the house to attack her, the disbelieving husband etc. Yet I don't think I have ever seen this telefilm, and the title does not ring a bell. Confused. I've given it a score of 8 as with Newland at the helm it can't miss!

Joxerlives Interesting film but let down by some very leaden and unimaginative production values and direction. It would have been better had they left the creatures more in the darkness, once you actually see them then they lose all credibility. Also they seem to be not that formidable, they retreat from light so why doesn't Kim Darby just dump a can of petrol down the chimney and fry them? Why doesn't she just buy herself a shotgun and blow them away? And in the immortal words of Eddie Murphy why the blazes doesn't she just get out of the house?Kim Darby is extremely good just as she was in True Grit but she's by far the best thing in it, the other actors are very weak. It's interesting to see it all in retrospect in terms of the feminist revolution, this is the very beginning of woman's lib (which is even referred to in passing)and the patronising attitude everyone exhibits towards housewife Sally is quite startling.The ending is probably the reason why everyone remembers this film, for a TV movie of the week to have an ending where the heroine actually 'joins' the bad guys must have been quite daring at the time. So what happens next? Does Sally's husband and her friends try to rescue her? Or do they just brick up the chimney and make sure no one ever opens it again? Has she actually become one of the creatures or is she their queen and do they feed off her soul (one of the creatures says they want Sally's 'spirit'). What about the photos she took as she was being dragged towards the chimney?Interesting but really doesn't live up to its' reputation.

AaronCapenBanner This was the film that gave nightmares to a whole generation of children, who were afraid of what might be in the closest, behind the door, or under the bed: mysterious and evil little creatures who laugh maniacally to each other as they plan to harm a young newlywed couple(played by Jim Hutton & Kim Darby) who have moved into their home, after the wife foolishly opens the grate in the cellar, releasing them from their underground prison.Though short in length, and threadbare on character development and plot detail, this creates an unsettling mood of fear, and atmosphere of dread, that it overcomes these issues to be an effective little gem; and of course there is that ending, the stuff of said nightmares...

garythemessage Thankfully this has been released on DVD. I never saw it on its TV release, so unlike so many others I didn't watch this as a child. I'm in my 40s. I watched this on my laptop, alone, in bed with the lights off. It was really awkward in places with cliché remarks from an old man about leaving things alone, don't go there, I'm warning you, etc. Other difficulties with this movie is the same with many other movies of this nature: just get out of the dang house already. Why continue to stay when all this is going on? But all that aside, this movie disturbed me. I had trouble sleeping with the lights off afterward. That is the ultimate tape by which any horror movie should be judged. And this was indeed "horror," because there were no "feel good" threads, no comic relief, no happy endings where some cute child saves the day. It's dark the whole way through, I mean that literally as well: the house always seemed dark or too dimly lit. And the music was very well done.My pet peeve with modern horror is that the genre has become nothing more than gory comedies with large waves of laughter and cheers ringing through the theater over and over. That is not horror. I also hate the constant "gotchas" that litter modern "horror" films. The old school horror films always make you think something crazy is about to happen, but it never does. This is "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" in a nutshell. You are constantly worried about something jumping out at you, but the director never uses such cheap "gotchas" to fool you. So the suspense rides and rides and rides. That's not to say that this movie doesn't show you some creepy things, it surely does. Even if it is dated, I found some of the images exceedingly disturbing.Bottom line: if you like modern horror/comedies you will not care for this film. If you like dialog and increasingly building suspense, dark and non-comedic film... try it.(and it was very weird seeing Mattie Ross through the shower curtain. I felt like a dirty peeping tom.)