There's something nasty lurking in the cellar� something that the Delta Zeta Kappa students have been worshipping for decades� something reptilian� Machida.

Let's face it: there's always something nasty in the cellar. If it isn't Beryl Reid and Flora Robson's deformed brother (The Beast In The Cellar, 1971) or a moldering zombie mother (Peter Jackson's Braindead,1992) it must be a fraternity's reptile god.

Writer David Greenwalt's script adds some new twists to a well-worn theme, but it proved to be a bit too ambitious for Greenwalt as director, necessitating a scaling-down of the lizard action towards the end.

British viewers are likely to feel a little alienated by the fraternity system so beloved by American colleges and American filmmakers. It's all rather baffling, and perhaps prevents a fair evaluation.

Whilst there's fun to be had from seeing Xander dressed as a woman or Buffy dancing, the episode never never quite strikes the right balance between the light and dark elements of the plot.