Do You Like My Basement? tracks how one man's creative frustration bore a need to make the perfect horror film. Stanley Farmer was rejected universally by the film world. His frustration provoked a darker side and soon cunning, guile, devilish charm and a sociopath's streak compelled him to produce a home-made magnum opus. A film that blurs the lines between reality and fiction and demands the attention of the very world that spurned him.—Roger Sewhcomar
Do You Like My Basement? is a dark, comic horror film with a unique voyeuristic approach to fear and a subtle commentary on actors and filmmakers. The story begins with a cameraman entering a middle-class home, he introduces himself as: "Stanley Farmer - a filmmaker." As he unpacks the contents of his rather large bag, he is disturbed by a noise at the front door. It immediately becomes obvious that he is an intruder. After the clinical disposal of an unfortunate couple, Stanley transforms the apartment, particularly its dank basement, into a homemade studio and places several hidden cameras around the space.
Soon Chad, a cheerful actor, arrives at the house for a casting session and is surprised when Stanley films everything he does. When questioned about his approach, Stanley explains he is attempting to: achieve a sense of unequaled realism." It's only when we are midway through the first of his auditions that we realize what a truly original film this will be.
Stanley creates a spontaneous, dark, comic, narrative, spun from the auditions of innocent actors who arrive at his apartment and agree to play along with his homemade horror project. We are sucked into his film-within-a-film as we bear witness to the actors candid interviews that evolve into terrifying basement auditions. The unfortunate timing of innocent callers heightens the tension as Stanley juggles the devilish drama in the basement with home improvements and nosy neighbors, all while still wielding his camera to create an improvised cinematic masterpiece.
