The Forgotten (1973)

Director:

S.F. Brownrigg

Writer:

Tim Pope (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

September 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The Day The Insane Took Over The Asylum!

Plot:

A young psychiatric nurse goes to work at a lonesome asylum following a murder. There, she experiences varying degrees of torment from the patients.

Plot Keywords:

Patient | Nurse | Sanitarium | Asylum | Running

Cast

Bill McGhee	...	Sam (as William Bill McGhee)
Jessie Lee Fulton	...	Jane St. Claire
Robert Dracup	...	Ray Daniels
Harryette Warren	...	Jennifer D.
Michael Harvey	...	Dr. Stephens
Jessie Kirby	...	Danny
Hugh Feagin	...	Sgt. Jaffee
Betty Chandler	...	Allyson King
Camilla Carr	...	Harriet
Gene Ross	...	Judge Oliver W. Cameron
Annabelle Weenick	...	Dr. Geraldine S. Masters (as Anne MacAdams)
Rosie Holotik	...	Nurse Charlotte Beale
Rhea MacAdams	...	Mrs. Callingham

Directed by
S.F. Brownrigg

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Thomas Pope		uncredited
Tim Pope		writer

Produced by
S.F. Brownrigg	....	producer
Walter L. Krusz	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Robert Farrar

Cinematography by
Robert B. Alcott		(as Robert Alcott)

Film Editing by
Jerry Caraway

Art Direction by
Lynda Pendleton

Makeup Department
Jill Esmond	....	makeup artist
Jackie Hughes	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
John Jacobie	....	unit manager

Sound Department
Brian H. Hooper	....	sound effects (as Brian Hooper)
Edward Motteram	....	sound

Special Effects by
Jack Bennett	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Bethea	....	grip
David Cejka	....	assistant camera
Robert Dracup	....	gaffer
Dale Johnson	....	camera operator
Doug Reynolds	....	grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Florence Baker	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Lynn Lenau	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Joe Copeland	....	location coordinator
Joe Eakin	....	location coordinator
C.J. Feagin	....	continuity
Calvin Praytor	....	location coordinator
Annabelle Weenick	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Camera 2 Productions
• Century Films

Distributors

• Cine Globe (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hallmark Releasing (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• Ambassador Film Distributors (1974) (Canada) (theatrical)
• VCI Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Rajon Vision (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• St. Clair Vision (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• St. Clair Vision (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• HHO Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Stax Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• VCI Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Brentwood Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Gorgon Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Lost Domain (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Pan-Canadian Video Presentations (????) (Canada) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Don't Look in the Basement" - UK (new title), USA (reissue title)
"Death Ward #13" - USA (alternative title)
"The Snake Pit" - USA (alternative title)

Runtime:

89 min | Australia:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Iceland:(Banned) | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:X (1977) | USA:R | UK:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Tehuacana, Texas, USA

Company:

Camera 2 Productions

Trivia:

The UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to remove a closeup shot of an axe blow to a woman's body and the film later found itself on the banned list of video nasties. The cut version was released on the UK HHO label in 2005 and the full uncut version (now rated 15) was released on the Stax label later the same year.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the people are chopping someone up with axes, one of the heads of the axes fall off.

Quotes:

[Ray is fixing the asylum's telephone]
Allyson King:You know, I used to live in this place where the phone man was always coming around.
Ray Daniels:That bad, huh?
Allyson King:Uh uh... that good.
Ray Daniels:Oh, I thought that you meant that you'd had a lot of phone trouble.
Allyson King:Hell, I didn't even have a phone!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grindhouse (2007)

A lovely little low-budget chiller

Charlotte Beal arrives at an isolated country mental hospital to become a full-time nurse there. She is confronted with a motley group of crazies and a seemingly crazier supervisor. Is Dr. Masters all she seems to be?

DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT is one of the best low-budget movies in the genre and why people always put it down is beyond me. The acting is excellent, my favorite performance being by Betty Chandler as Allyson the nymphomaniac. The chills just jump right off the screen. You probably won't have to say "It's only a movie, it's only a movie", it isn't that scary, but it should appeal to any horror fan who respects the low-budget horror genre, which I do. It is very hard to make a creepy film on a low budget and few actually succeed. AXE is another cheap film that is looked down upon. Maybe people are so spoiled by the big budgets of recent films that any movie that doesn't have excellent effects and/or isn't considered a classic doesn't have a chance with an audience. But I think that after people see this movie, they will see how important the low-budget horror genre is and this movie is a classic that stands out among the other rubbish.