Why Are Basements Scary? Underground Spaces in Movies and TV

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  • Опубліковано 27 лис 2020
  • Get exclusive access to the Now You Hear It Podcast at / nowyouseeit
    The Basement is the classic location for a horror movie's terrifying climax. But why? Let's take a look at what makes a basement scary, and see how it actually goes much, much deeper.
    To learn more, I highly recommend reading Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane
    Twitter: bit.ly/2JPgFT2
    First FREE Podcast Episode: bit.ly/3ctSY1e
    #Basements #BreakingBad #Parasite

КОМЕНТАРІ • 218

  • @NowYouSeeIt
    @NowYouSeeIt  3 роки тому +77

    What's your favorite underground space in Film/TV that I didn't talk about?

    • @Alphae21
      @Alphae21 3 роки тому +1

      patter and craic!

    • @Alphae21
      @Alphae21 3 роки тому +1

      Still game basement!!!

    • @NowYouSeeIt
      @NowYouSeeIt  3 роки тому +26

      In the miniseries Queen's Gambit, Harmon learns chess in an underground space, an example of using the underground to yield valuable information!

    • @762x69
      @762x69 3 роки тому +10

      Us. For me comes to mind. Also does the sunken place count from Get Out because that works as my favorite

    • @Aiviymatoc
      @Aiviymatoc 3 роки тому

      to me the giant alien egg room in the hammerhead ship always was like a basement

  • @BioshadowX
    @BioshadowX 3 роки тому +343

    There's also the idea that basements are also often unfinished. Something being unfinished means you haven't laid claim fully to it, allowing something else to move it and claim it for itself

  • @IantheDugan
    @IantheDugan 3 роки тому +277

    4:56
    Now You See It lives in his moms basement confirmed

  • @curiousworld7912
    @curiousworld7912 3 роки тому +170

    'Home Alone' and 'Silence of the Lambs' are not two movies one often hears in the same sentence...

    • @eoincampbell1584
      @eoincampbell1584 3 роки тому +27

      They both feature horrific violence committed by psychopathic antiheros.

    • @cybersludge
      @cybersludge 3 роки тому +6

      @@eoincampbell1584 comment of the year.

    • @kimeraclan3135
      @kimeraclan3135 3 роки тому +7

      Kevin McCallister: "The knuckleheads puts the lotion on their skins, or else they get the paint bucket in the face again!"
      Harry Lime: "Get us out of here you little creep!"
      Kevin McCallister: "Okay, you asked for it!" And so drops the paint bucket on Marvs head.

    • @princessthyemis
      @princessthyemis 3 роки тому +2

      Or ever! Wow!

  • @Bandstand
    @Bandstand 3 роки тому +485

    Now I see it...

  • @donalkennedy6393
    @donalkennedy6393 3 роки тому +69

    That scene in Zodiac is one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen.

    • @fuadpsaneen
      @fuadpsaneen 3 роки тому +1

      Yes Yes Yes!

    • @la.woman.
      @la.woman. 3 роки тому +6

      the directing and the performance that they deliver are just out of this world. It's obvious that everyone was having fun filming this and they wanted to make it as perfect as possible. And they did. What a movie.

  • @mebamme
    @mebamme 3 роки тому +202

    Fifteen minutes that felt like a one-hour documentary.

    • @AxxLAfriku
      @AxxLAfriku 3 роки тому +1

      Let me get this straight: You comment something that is unrelated to the fact that I have two DANGEROUSLY DASHING girlfriends? Considering that I am the unprettiest UA-camr ever, having two hot girlfriends is really incredible. Yet you did not mention that at all. I am quite disappointed, dear meb

    • @kristoffersvik7564
      @kristoffersvik7564 3 роки тому +3

      @@AxxLAfriku is this a copypasta..

    • @eoincampbell1584
      @eoincampbell1584 3 роки тому +4

      @@kristoffersvik7564 Pretty much, he replies this everywhere all over youtube. I think it's meant to be ironic but it's still really annoying.

    • @Imichipi
      @Imichipi 3 роки тому +2

      Fifteen minutes that I wish were a one hour documentary.

  • @RobPanico
    @RobPanico 3 роки тому +28

    There's a great moment in "Alien 3" where Ripley decides to confront the creature and says to Aaron "It's just down there. In the basement." To which Aaron replies: "This whole place is a basement!" She chuckles and retorts "It's a metaphor" Soooooo good, excellent essay as always!

    • @Jorge_Ambruster
      @Jorge_Ambruster 3 роки тому

      Just remember, David Fincher did that. It was him getting ready for Seven, Gone Girl and Zodiac

  • @cowslane1
    @cowslane1 3 роки тому +60

    I'm Thinking of Ending Things, The 6th Sense, and The Orphanage are all movies that use a basement to hide a truth that the characters can't face. Great video, thanks!

  • @tayniloalves7089
    @tayniloalves7089 3 роки тому +61

    The hatch in Lost

  • @hurricaneofcats
    @hurricaneofcats 3 роки тому +15

    God that scene from Parasite made a pit open up in my stomach. Genuinely chilling.

  • @arranbeattie3542
    @arranbeattie3542 3 роки тому +43

    "The prophet Orpheus entering the treacherous underworld to rescue Yoorie-dicey"

    • @cirquedude123
      @cirquedude123 3 роки тому +2

      Stole my comment 🤣🤣🤣

    • @LG-qm9zp
      @LG-qm9zp 3 роки тому +1

      Same. Literally had to stop and replay to make sure of what I heard lol

    • @rawkhawk414
      @rawkhawk414 3 роки тому +2

      I had to stop and google the pronunciation lol. The closest english rhyme I could come up with is "You're a DJ". Yuri-dee-cheh

  • @shuckacuck
    @shuckacuck 3 роки тому +37

    The line "They can let you make meth without the cops finding out" would have an entirely different energy if you hadn't shown the Breaking Bad clip.

  • @MetFanMac
    @MetFanMac 3 роки тому +15

    Not mentioned: "Underground" being used in the sense of being alternative to the mainstream or resistance against injustice.

  • @TheLamphouseBCP
    @TheLamphouseBCP 3 роки тому +5

    Silence of the Lambs has a basement within a basement lol

  • @josiahp.6960
    @josiahp.6960 3 роки тому +16

    That spoiler alert was a little dry. As someone who just finished season two of Breaking Bad, this opened a lot of doors.

    • @rawkhawk414
      @rawkhawk414 3 роки тому

      I have seen all of Breaking Bad but I was thinking the same thing lol. What about the Breaking Bad spoilers?

    • @josiahp.6960
      @josiahp.6960 3 роки тому +1

      @@rawkhawk414 just that there were a lot of them with no alert.

  • @sifatshams1113
    @sifatshams1113 3 роки тому +33

    "Skyler...WHERE IS THE MONEY???!!!"

  • @gradyjohnson6565
    @gradyjohnson6565 3 роки тому +3

    One thing to note on the comfort of basements is the Freudian symbol of caves as womb regression and the comfort he theorized it provided! Loved the video.

  • @Dr170
    @Dr170 3 роки тому +33

    Not many people have basements... in California.

    • @Alphae21
      @Alphae21 3 роки тому

      Or in craiglang osprey heights! (Google it!!)

    • @jay4.166
      @jay4.166 3 роки тому

      I do

    • @thedumbdog1964
      @thedumbdog1964 3 роки тому

      I do

    • @luuketaylor
      @luuketaylor 3 роки тому +1

      Or Arizona, for that matter. Never knew anyone with one.

  • @gyro6181
    @gyro6181 3 роки тому +3

    The basement in attack on titan is also one of my favorite examples and is used as the beginning of a climax very well

  • @jdunlapmusic
    @jdunlapmusic 3 роки тому +3

    The fly episode of Breaking Bad was also a bottle episode where Walt spends time wrestling with the fact that Jessie has been dealing on the side. At the end of the episode after he defeats the fly, he also addresses the issue he has with Jessie. The use of the underground lab is integral to the episode. Walt doesn't get to leave until he's dealt with both issues.

  • @TheLazyReviewer
    @TheLazyReviewer 3 роки тому +2

    Another great example of the use of a basement is in The Sopranos. Whenever Tony meets his associates at his house to talk about business, they head to the basement to talk where its safe for them to talk about their business. Showing the two worlds of Tony Soprano one as a caring father, husband who's a hardworker upstaits and the other which represents the basement the dark side, his criminal career where he makes some of his decisions that could even let to the murder of someone. One example is when Christopher comes to tell Tony about Adriana being an informant, which will lead to her murder.

  • @AnnoyingMoose
    @AnnoyingMoose 3 роки тому +1

    It's great to see that you tout the positive aspects of basements here as well as their usual negative connotations. In the script that I am currently working on a building has a basement window that not only provides a non-obvious exit point for one of the characters at the start of Act 2 but also an entry point for the villain at the mid-point reversal.

  • @cyrxl
    @cyrxl 3 роки тому +1

    Great as usual. My favourite example of this in Parasite is when the family flees the home of the rich family and descends further and further.

  • @notoriouswhitemoth
    @notoriouswhitemoth 3 роки тому +2

    I'd argue that's less Freud's id, more Jung's shadow.
    Basements combine the existential horror of caves with the uncanniness of artifice. Alternatively, *all* land animals bury things to hide them - either to get rid of them or to keep them safe.

  • @gretarotcard
    @gretarotcard 3 роки тому

    omg this is such a cool video i’ve been waiting for something like this,, basements and attics are one of my biggest fears and this was such an interesting analysis

  • @marieln5527
    @marieln5527 3 роки тому +14

    That's why here in Mexico they're so rare, the up word is already scary and a basement would be too much

  • @Locadel2003
    @Locadel2003 3 роки тому +13

    Ah finally another brilliant video by this amazing channel

    • @Alphae21
      @Alphae21 3 роки тому

      Craic! Mon the patter!

  • @jarroddobben
    @jarroddobben 3 роки тому +2

    There's so many readings of the fly episode of BB, this was good man

  • @munkey_2634
    @munkey_2634 3 роки тому

    Watching this from the basement I live in and enjoying the video mate 👍

  • @horrorhabit8421
    @horrorhabit8421 2 роки тому

    There are quite a few low budget horror movies that use basements, like American Gothic (1987, I think,) and Don't Look in the Basement (1976 or so,) and The People Under the Stairs. In these kinds of stories, the basement is almost inevitably the place where the worst horrors are hidden. Also, I think the denouement of the web series "Daisy Brown" took place in a basement, if I remember correctly. Daisy getting to the root of the problem, you might say.

  • @ripred42
    @ripred42 3 роки тому

    Psycho is a great example of the house used as metaphor for human mind

  • @daniellu8104
    @daniellu8104 3 роки тому +1

    Joseph Campbell distinguishes between The Belly of the Whale, where a character enters a new world, and The Abyss where a character faces their ultimate fears. Basements may serve those two different purposes, even in the same story.

  • @sorenolsen9281
    @sorenolsen9281 3 роки тому +10

    Yo maybe you could leave a spoiler warning for Breaking Bad too?

  • @magicspiral3323
    @magicspiral3323 2 роки тому +1

    Night of the Living Dead. The dramatic tension of that film is whether or not the characters should take refuge in the cellar.

  • @TriColoredTiger
    @TriColoredTiger 3 роки тому +11

    Carl Jung concept of the “shadow” might be of service here. Also, the deep, dark collective unconscious and archetypes.

  • @corro202
    @corro202 3 роки тому

    Great video.

  • @stephensenez6240
    @stephensenez6240 3 роки тому +1

    Great video. I wonder if there is a natural selection reason for fear of the underground as well. Fear of snakes for example.

  • @yodaiam6960
    @yodaiam6960 3 роки тому

    Love this channel

  • @rabnerd28
    @rabnerd28 3 роки тому +3

    I literally live in a basement, so I would greatly appreciate if films stopped trying to make them seem so scary.

  • @loganwelty7094
    @loganwelty7094 3 роки тому +2

    Excellent video mate! It’s shocking how great of a movie Parasite is, and I still have yet to watch Breaking Bad

  • @dcalder9266
    @dcalder9266 3 роки тому

    This perfectly describes my desire to have a basement for potential safety reasons, but also my desire for a slab on grade home, as basements scare the heck out of me.

  • @d34dsYnt4x
    @d34dsYnt4x 3 роки тому

    I'll watch this in the morning.

  • @adikravets3632
    @adikravets3632 3 роки тому +17

    10:23 Damm capitalism

  • @mrflipperinvader7922
    @mrflipperinvader7922 2 роки тому

    1:25 ive always wanted to see Chris Columbus make a horror film after seeing those furnace shots, and now he's doing FNAF

  • @rojansfandoms
    @rojansfandoms 3 роки тому

    I love your analyses could you plz do one about the classic cult movie withnail and i? Ive never seen one and i love how you talk about movies with so many details. Thank you so much

  • @shaha9
    @shaha9 3 роки тому

    The fly symbolizes the best use of a metaphor for the entire series in one simple episode.

  • @carolannhook554
    @carolannhook554 3 роки тому

    Love the inclusion of SotL, and I think it's interesting to think about Buffalo Bill's character and the fact that HE set up in the basement. Seems like an extension of the ideas you've expressed here. Beyond avoiding being seen and caught, BB's use of the basement could represent a confused desire and suppressed set of emotions.

  • @somebodyoncetoldme1704
    @somebodyoncetoldme1704 2 роки тому

    Fighting in a basement offers a lot of difficulties.
    Number one being, you're fighting in a basement.

  • @Icieyou
    @Icieyou 3 роки тому +12

    The id not only holds our deepest fears but also our darkest desires

  • @kjanjusz7007
    @kjanjusz7007 3 роки тому +1

    You know, fighting in the basement offers a lot of difficulties. Number one being, you're fighting in the basement!

  • @taler987
    @taler987 3 роки тому +1

    I know, it is not a basement, but I feel like Metropolis should have been mentioned, as soon as you talked about the socio-economic hierarchical structures. Nonetheless, great video as always.

  • @superposition3717
    @superposition3717 3 роки тому

    Just watched the Sutherland/Churchill Painting portrait scene from the Crown. I'm not sure why I like it but it seems such an extremely well-written scene and beautiful acting that I think you should at least watch it and see if it could become a video.

  • @chestersnap
    @chestersnap 3 роки тому +6

    But I haven't seen parasite yet! I guess I'll watch this some other time...

  • @basserman
    @basserman 3 роки тому

    I would say the same about attics being scary, unexplored and not often used parts of the house, an unknown place because of the lack of presence there by you or anyone else in the house. A place unused means it's unknown (generally), and the unknown loves to take hold of mankind's oldest fear, the fear of that unknown. Or something like that, idk.

  • @chestersnap
    @chestersnap 3 роки тому +17

    Because they're unnatural - a Floridian

  • @Comalv
    @Comalv 3 роки тому +1

    The Fly episode is probably the best episode in BB

  • @zebster101
    @zebster101 3 роки тому

    The. Best. Parasite. Analysis. Yet.
    (and in the least amount of time)

  • @rickydo6572
    @rickydo6572 3 роки тому

    I was locked up inside
    the basement's basement.
    It was so small and dark,
    and I was so afraid.
    I dropped my precious ring.
    But I'll never,
    ever go back there...

  • @FilmscoreMetaler
    @FilmscoreMetaler 3 роки тому

    The Platform would also have been a perfect example for the class hierarchy theory.

  • @satyasyasatyasya5746
    @satyasyasatyasya5746 3 роки тому +2

    Because our brains are still much like the monkeys and apes to which we are related. We are diurnal and we prefer heights to escape from predators. We're animals of the trees, remember.
    Thus, there is something about going underground into the darkness that is just 'wrong' in a primal, subconscious way.

  • @some-nerd
    @some-nerd 3 роки тому +2

    Amazing as always.

  • @Yes-by3fq
    @Yes-by3fq 3 роки тому

    Basements before knowing what creepypastas were: eh not that bad
    Basement after watching creepypastas and scary myths: *hell*

  • @uncomfortablecat
    @uncomfortablecat 3 роки тому

    Hey, so i know that you have made few videos on Dave and one amazing video on Bo but, can you make a video on Bill Burr?

  • @Gichini
    @Gichini 3 роки тому +1

    Oh now I see it

  • @djschuby04
    @djschuby04 3 роки тому +2

    Adam Sandler in The Wedding SInger "I live in my sisters BASSSSSSSSSSSSSMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENT!"

  • @neonerfilms
    @neonerfilms 3 роки тому +19

    Came here as fast as I could

    • @Alphae21
      @Alphae21 3 роки тому +1

      Still game howay!

  • @kierandavis5884
    @kierandavis5884 3 роки тому

    Something tells me you wanted to mention The Hateful 8 around 13:00

  • @Nikko231
    @Nikko231 3 роки тому +2

    The basement in attack on titan ..

  • @samuelberton3778
    @samuelberton3778 3 роки тому +1

    The basement in The IT crowd

  • @rastas4766
    @rastas4766 3 роки тому

    Parasite is such a fucking amazing film.

  • @davidchavez7242
    @davidchavez7242 3 роки тому +1

    The basement in The Babadook

  • @user-mm1xp4sh8r
    @user-mm1xp4sh8r 3 роки тому

    Every time one of these comes out I try to guess which clips will feature. This time I'm guessing home alone and the girl with the dragon tattoo basement

  • @TheChugg11
    @TheChugg11 5 місяців тому

    Martyrs is the ultimate underground!

  • @aaronclift
    @aaronclift 3 роки тому +1

    *looks at houses in Texas* . . . we don’t have basements in our homes.

  • @johnnytheratface
    @johnnytheratface 3 роки тому

    Marcus Ellwood from the Benchwarmers lived in his basement

  • @markohudler9149
    @markohudler9149 3 роки тому +1

    the only basement that actually feels save is the one from that 70's Show

    • @christinalittleton5773
      @christinalittleton5773 3 роки тому

      Unless if Red catches you, then he'll wish to be turned into an octopus so he can kick your ass eight times.

  • @EVIL1KS4
    @EVIL1KS4 3 роки тому

    13:01 voice crack 😂

  • @lichtfilme
    @lichtfilme 3 роки тому

    Also seen in I‘m thinking of ending things

  • @thepoobandit2850
    @thepoobandit2850 3 роки тому

    Is the bat cave really a basement?

  • @wrecklisseve
    @wrecklisseve 3 роки тому

    What about "Psycho" and finding/revealing Mother in the basement? I'd call it the OG basement! Yeah, basements are dark places where we hide our secrets and store things we don't want to deal with. A metaphor for our subconscious and the unpleasant things we keep there. Attics also can be metaphors for a creepy spaces where we store scary and unwanted things/feelings in fictional works (Flowers in the Attic, Picture of Dorian Gray, others?).

    • @marshallgibson89
      @marshallgibson89 3 роки тому

      I think I should watch 'Psycho' again. I were sure the body of the mother was in the attic.

  • @HelloBeast
    @HelloBeast 3 роки тому

    Oh shit, you just made me realize i still haven't watched Parasite. Gotta fix that.

  • @arimichelle2460
    @arimichelle2460 3 роки тому

    Love

  • @knight.99
    @knight.99 3 роки тому +1

    Basements are scary ever since I watched evil dead

  • @adrianbarajas8338
    @adrianbarajas8338 3 роки тому

    yesss

  • @762x69
    @762x69 3 роки тому +1

    The Sunken Place comes to mind...yikes

  • @EmeraldEyeProductions
    @EmeraldEyeProductions 3 роки тому +2

    If this man doesn’t include the clip from Zodiac...

  • @WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs
    @WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs 3 роки тому

    _Zodiac,_ nuff said

  • @adikravets3632
    @adikravets3632 3 роки тому

    People need to watch more then just parasite of Bong Joon Ho movies. Check out "Mother"

  • @itsQuilow
    @itsQuilow 3 роки тому

    Contains a major spoiler to Hone Alone

  • @Drudenfusz
    @Drudenfusz 3 роки тому +1

    Basements? Why does my mind go straight to dungeons and thinks about D&D and not about films?

  • @LucasPreti
    @LucasPreti 3 роки тому +1

    I have some constructive criticism that might be useful: in your videos, there's always a characteristic transition between the video and the "ad" at the end, usually punctuated by music. The problem is that at 13:50 I thought we transitioned to an ad, and took me about 20 seconds to pay attention again. Maybe because I didn't want to be fooled into listening to an ad, maybe because I didn't think it was worth listening to. But it took me out of the video. That's probably a consequence of trying to not shoehorn the ad into the video. But a simple change like syncing que start of the ad with the patreon names, or writing credits, a subscribe button, or any visual queue could make the ad -- and the video -- more transparent, and maybe keep people engaged until the very end. Sorry for the long comment hahaha

  • @S1nwar
    @S1nwar 3 роки тому

    aww man why didnt you mention LOST

  • @TheEFVG
    @TheEFVG 2 роки тому +1

    Wait, you talk about basements as a symbol without using the word "death"?
    I think you missed a big part of what basements are in our subconsciousness...

  • @jackhisatomii
    @jackhisatomii 3 роки тому

    Now do attics!

  • @bs4e
    @bs4e 3 роки тому

    I never understood horror movies making basements scary because in my country, most houses have basements that are functional spaces.

  • @weirdofromhalo
    @weirdofromhalo 3 роки тому

    Underground = underworld because that's where you bury people.

  • @shrinidhi6920
    @shrinidhi6920 3 роки тому +4

    Narrator, pls take a breath. You are not in a basement.
    BTW, good video.

  • @douglascampos7818
    @douglascampos7818 Рік тому

    Freud's "it" has very little to do with fear. What is repressed are instincts. You can simplify as the society (superego) suppressing the animal (it).

  • @juliajozsa2724
    @juliajozsa2724 3 роки тому

    You only said spoilers for Parasite but also spoiled a lot of Breaking Bad