Why Are Basements Scary? Underground Spaces in Movies and TV

  Рет қаралды 84,116

Now You See It

Now You See It

3 жыл бұрын

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

Пікірлер: 218
@NowYouSeeIt
@NowYouSeeIt 3 жыл бұрын
What's your favorite underground space in Film/TV that I didn't talk about?
@Alphae21
@Alphae21 3 жыл бұрын
patter and craic!
@Alphae21
@Alphae21 3 жыл бұрын
Still game basement!!!
@NowYouSeeIt
@NowYouSeeIt 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Us. For me comes to mind. Also does the sunken place count from Get Out because that works as my favorite
@Aiviymatoc
@Aiviymatoc 3 жыл бұрын
to me the giant alien egg room in the hammerhead ship always was like a basement
@BioshadowX
@BioshadowX 3 жыл бұрын
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
@princessthyemis
@princessthyemis 3 жыл бұрын
Oooo!
@IantheDugan
@IantheDugan 3 жыл бұрын
4:56 Now You See It lives in his moms basement confirmed
@curiousworld7912
@curiousworld7912 3 жыл бұрын
'Home Alone' and 'Silence of the Lambs' are not two movies one often hears in the same sentence...
@eoincampbell1584
@eoincampbell1584 3 жыл бұрын
They both feature horrific violence committed by psychopathic antiheros.
@cybersludge
@cybersludge 3 жыл бұрын
@@eoincampbell1584 comment of the year.
@kimeraclan3135
@kimeraclan3135 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Or ever! Wow!
@Bandstand
@Bandstand 3 жыл бұрын
Now I see it...
@leafreya2896
@leafreya2896 3 жыл бұрын
Hahaha
@Alphae21
@Alphae21 3 жыл бұрын
Still game patter!
@Lucas-jf5zu
@Lucas-jf5zu 3 жыл бұрын
*insert family guy ostrich*
@aniket8671
@aniket8671 3 жыл бұрын
Again!!!
@bensikcz
@bensikcz 3 жыл бұрын
-_-
@donalkennedy6393
@donalkennedy6393 3 жыл бұрын
That scene in Zodiac is one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen.
@fuadpsaneen
@fuadpsaneen 3 жыл бұрын
Yes Yes Yes!
@la.woman.
@la.woman. 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Fifteen minutes that felt like a one-hour documentary.
@AxxLAfriku
@AxxLAfriku 3 жыл бұрын
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 KZfaqr 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 жыл бұрын
@@AxxLAfriku is this a copypasta..
@eoincampbell1584
@eoincampbell1584 3 жыл бұрын
@@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 жыл бұрын
Fifteen minutes that I wish were a one hour documentary.
@RobPanico
@RobPanico 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Just remember, David Fincher did that. It was him getting ready for Seven, Gone Girl and Zodiac
@cowslane1
@cowslane1 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
The hatch in Lost
@NowYouSeeIt
@NowYouSeeIt 3 жыл бұрын
Yesssss
@hurricaneofcats
@hurricaneofcats 3 жыл бұрын
God that scene from Parasite made a pit open up in my stomach. Genuinely chilling.
@arranbeattie3542
@arranbeattie3542 3 жыл бұрын
"The prophet Orpheus entering the treacherous underworld to rescue Yoorie-dicey"
@cirquedude123
@cirquedude123 3 жыл бұрын
Stole my comment 🤣🤣🤣
@LG-qm9zp
@LG-qm9zp 3 жыл бұрын
Same. Literally had to stop and replay to make sure of what I heard lol
@rawkhawk414
@rawkhawk414 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Not mentioned: "Underground" being used in the sense of being alternative to the mainstream or resistance against injustice.
@TheLamphouseBCP
@TheLamphouseBCP 3 жыл бұрын
Silence of the Lambs has a basement within a basement lol
@josiahp.6960
@josiahp.6960 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
@@rawkhawk414 just that there were a lot of them with no alert.
@sifatshams1113
@sifatshams1113 3 жыл бұрын
"Skyler...WHERE IS THE MONEY???!!!"
@gradyjohnson6565
@gradyjohnson6565 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Not many people have basements... in California.
@Alphae21
@Alphae21 3 жыл бұрын
Or in craiglang osprey heights! (Google it!!)
@jay4.166
@jay4.166 3 жыл бұрын
I do
@thedumbdog1964
@thedumbdog1964 3 жыл бұрын
I do
@luuketaylor
@luuketaylor 3 жыл бұрын
Or Arizona, for that matter. Never knew anyone with one.
@jdunlapmusic
@jdunlapmusic 3 жыл бұрын
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.
@gyro6181
@gyro6181 3 жыл бұрын
The basement in attack on titan is also one of my favorite examples and is used as the beginning of a climax very well
@TheLazyReviewer
@TheLazyReviewer 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
That's why here in Mexico they're so rare, the up word is already scary and a basement would be too much
@sildaz
@sildaz 3 жыл бұрын
Mucho miedo
@littlebodybigheart7515
@littlebodybigheart7515 3 жыл бұрын
yo nunca vi un sotano en latam XD
@Locadel2003
@Locadel2003 3 жыл бұрын
Ah finally another brilliant video by this amazing channel
@Alphae21
@Alphae21 3 жыл бұрын
Craic! Mon the patter!
@jarroddobben
@jarroddobben 3 жыл бұрын
There's so many readings of the fly episode of BB, this was good man
@munkey_2634
@munkey_2634 3 жыл бұрын
Watching this from the basement I live in and enjoying the video mate 👍
@horrorhabit8421
@horrorhabit8421 2 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Psycho is a great example of the house used as metaphor for human mind
@daniellu8104
@daniellu8104 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Yo maybe you could leave a spoiler warning for Breaking Bad too?
@magicspiral3323
@magicspiral3323 2 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Carl Jung concept of the “shadow” might be of service here. Also, the deep, dark collective unconscious and archetypes.
@corro202
@corro202 3 жыл бұрын
Great video.
@stephensenez6240
@stephensenez6240 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Love this channel
@rabnerd28
@rabnerd28 3 жыл бұрын
I literally live in a basement, so I would greatly appreciate if films stopped trying to make them seem so scary.
@loganwelty7094
@loganwelty7094 3 жыл бұрын
Excellent video mate! It’s shocking how great of a movie Parasite is, and I still have yet to watch Breaking Bad
@guillegarcia7146
@guillegarcia7146 3 жыл бұрын
Please watch it
@dcalder9266
@dcalder9266 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
I'll watch this in the morning.
@mrflipperinvader7922
@mrflipperinvader7922 2 жыл бұрын
1:25 ive always wanted to see Chris Columbus make a horror film after seeing those furnace shots, and now he's doing FNAF
@adikravets3632
@adikravets3632 3 жыл бұрын
10:23 Damm capitalism
@angelikaskoroszyn8495
@angelikaskoroszyn8495 3 жыл бұрын
Capitalism poisons everything smh
@adikravets3632
@adikravets3632 3 жыл бұрын
@@angelikaskoroszyn8495 Damm right
@rojansfandoms
@rojansfandoms 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
The fly symbolizes the best use of a metaphor for the entire series in one simple episode.
@somebodyoncetoldme1704
@somebodyoncetoldme1704 2 жыл бұрын
Fighting in a basement offers a lot of difficulties. Number one being, you're fighting in a basement.
@carolannhook554
@carolannhook554 3 жыл бұрын
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.
@Icieyou
@Icieyou 3 жыл бұрын
The id not only holds our deepest fears but also our darkest desires
@kjanjusz7007
@kjanjusz7007 3 жыл бұрын
You know, fighting in the basement offers a lot of difficulties. Number one being, you're fighting in the basement!
@taler987
@taler987 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
But I haven't seen parasite yet! I guess I'll watch this some other time...
@ze_rubenator
@ze_rubenator 3 жыл бұрын
Go watch Parasite right now!
@lucalamanna-vg2bz
@lucalamanna-vg2bz 3 жыл бұрын
WATCH IT
@Luxury_Pepsi
@Luxury_Pepsi 3 жыл бұрын
Watch it or I’ll steal your alligator
@basserman
@basserman 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Because they're unnatural - a Floridian
@Comalv
@Comalv 3 жыл бұрын
The Fly episode is probably the best episode in BB
@zebster101
@zebster101 3 жыл бұрын
The. Best. Parasite. Analysis. Yet. (and in the least amount of time)
@rickydo6572
@rickydo6572 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
The Platform would also have been a perfect example for the class hierarchy theory.
@satyasyasatyasya5746
@satyasyasatyasya5746 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Amazing as always.
@NowYouSeeIt
@NowYouSeeIt 3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@Yes-by3fq
@Yes-by3fq 3 жыл бұрын
Basements before knowing what creepypastas were: eh not that bad Basement after watching creepypastas and scary myths: *hell*
@uncomfortablecat
@uncomfortablecat 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Oh now I see it
@djschuby04
@djschuby04 3 жыл бұрын
Adam Sandler in The Wedding SInger "I live in my sisters BASSSSSSSSSSSSSMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENT!"
@neonerfilms
@neonerfilms 3 жыл бұрын
Came here as fast as I could
@Alphae21
@Alphae21 3 жыл бұрын
Still game howay!
@Nikko231
@Nikko231 3 жыл бұрын
The basement in attack on titan ..
@kierandavis5884
@kierandavis5884 3 жыл бұрын
Something tells me you wanted to mention The Hateful 8 around 13:00
@samuelberton3778
@samuelberton3778 3 жыл бұрын
The basement in The IT crowd
@rastas4766
@rastas4766 3 жыл бұрын
Parasite is such a fucking amazing film.
@davidchavez7242
@davidchavez7242 3 жыл бұрын
The basement in The Babadook
@user-mm1xp4sh8r
@user-mm1xp4sh8r 3 жыл бұрын
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 ай бұрын
Martyrs is the ultimate underground!
@aaronclift
@aaronclift 3 жыл бұрын
*looks at houses in Texas* . . . we don’t have basements in our homes.
@johnnytheratface
@johnnytheratface 3 жыл бұрын
Marcus Ellwood from the Benchwarmers lived in his basement
@markohudler9149
@markohudler9149 3 жыл бұрын
the only basement that actually feels save is the one from that 70's Show
@christinalittleton5773
@christinalittleton5773 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
13:01 voice crack 😂
@thepoobandit2850
@thepoobandit2850 3 жыл бұрын
Is the bat cave really a basement?
@lichtfilme
@lichtfilme 3 жыл бұрын
Also seen in I‘m thinking of ending things
@wrecklisseve
@wrecklisseve 3 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
I think I should watch 'Psycho' again. I were sure the body of the mother was in the attic.
@HelloBeast
@HelloBeast 3 жыл бұрын
Oh shit, you just made me realize i still haven't watched Parasite. Gotta fix that.
@arimichelle2460
@arimichelle2460 3 жыл бұрын
Love
@knight.99
@knight.99 3 жыл бұрын
Basements are scary ever since I watched evil dead
@adrianbarajas8338
@adrianbarajas8338 3 жыл бұрын
yesss
@762x69
@762x69 3 жыл бұрын
The Sunken Place comes to mind...yikes
@EmeraldEyeProductions
@EmeraldEyeProductions 3 жыл бұрын
If this man doesn’t include the clip from Zodiac...
@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs
@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs 3 жыл бұрын
_Zodiac,_ nuff said
@adikravets3632
@adikravets3632 3 жыл бұрын
People need to watch more then just parasite of Bong Joon Ho movies. Check out "Mother"
@itsQuilow
@itsQuilow 3 жыл бұрын
Contains a major spoiler to Hone Alone
@Drudenfusz
@Drudenfusz 3 жыл бұрын
Basements? Why does my mind go straight to dungeons and thinks about D&D and not about films?
@LucasPreti
@LucasPreti 3 жыл бұрын
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
@Luxury_Pepsi
@Luxury_Pepsi 3 жыл бұрын
Too long didn’t read
@S1nwar
@S1nwar 3 жыл бұрын
aww man why didnt you mention LOST
@TheEFVG
@TheEFVG 2 жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
Now do attics!
@bs4e
@bs4e 3 жыл бұрын
I never understood horror movies making basements scary because in my country, most houses have basements that are functional spaces.
@weirdofromhalo
@weirdofromhalo 3 жыл бұрын
Underground = underworld because that's where you bury people.
@shrinidhi6920
@shrinidhi6920 3 жыл бұрын
Narrator, pls take a breath. You are not in a basement. BTW, good video.
@douglascampos7818
@douglascampos7818 Жыл бұрын
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 жыл бұрын
You only said spoilers for Parasite but also spoiled a lot of Breaking Bad
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