Customer Reviews

People Under the Stairs [VHS]

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've always gotten a kick out of this movie. The story line is original (or at least it seems so to me). The gore is startling in a couple of scenes but isn't overpowering. The acting is outrageously over the top but also is endearing.

Thirteen-year-old Fool (Brandon Ames) finds himself in a large suburban house owned by the two slum lords who are about to evict his sick mother and others from a ghetto tenement. He's in the house because he agreed to help two burglars make a score on treasure they heard was hidden there. Unfortunately for Fool (and his two grown-up accomplices), the owners are a brother and sister who call each other Mommy and Daddy. The man (Everett McGill) is a homicidal maniac who goes in for head-to-toe, studded, black leather bondage suits and pump action, single barrel shotguns. His sister (Wendy Robie) is just as looney and just as murderous, a screaming dominatrix. They also have a large vicious dog you wouldn't want to hand feed...that is, unless you had a hand to feed it.

Fool finds hidden in the house a young girl, Alice, who he thinks is the pair's daughter. He also finds a number of boys, stolen when they were children and a few perhaps the product of Mommy and Daddy themselves. They've had their tongues cut off and ears chopped. Seems they were part of Mommy and Daddy's deep need for a perfect child...and when they didn't measure up, off with the tongues so they couldn't shout for help, and down they were put to the basement. They seem to have been fed by Daddy on the butchered parts of unfortunate salesmen and meter readers. It becomes a race for Fool to find a way out, rescue Alice and the people under the stairs, locate the treasure and see that Mommy and Daddy get what's coming to them. And after him is a relentless Daddy, with Mommy urging Daddy on.

What makes this movie work for me are three things. First, the set-up in which the hero is a kid, and the horror is what has happened to other kids. Second, Brandon Adams' performance as Fool. He does an excellent job playing a fast-thinking, brave, resourceful young boy. And last, there is the Grand Guignol performances of Everett McGill and Wendy Robie. They are so over the top, so demented and so murderous that I never know whether to laugh or sit stunned at their doings.

Once the premise is established and the characters are known, the movie does become one long set of narrow escapes through the house, and the house appears to have an infinite number of secret openings, narrow passages, sliding stair cases and slamming doors. Still, the movie works for me.

The DVD's picture is very good; so's the sound.

An earlier review I read of this movie seems to be horribly off. It mentions that it follows a horror-movie cliche where the cops are offered food and then give up the search.

However, this reviewer is dead wrong on several accounts. One, they are not policemen at all, but rather are child services. Two, the horror movie cliche would be having the policemen not believe the little boy crying wolf. Three, instead of following cliches, this movie instead turns around and breaks all of the cliches.

Instead of being afraid, only being able to scream, and seemingly always frozen in place, Fool instead doesn't ever really scream, either runs away or TURNS AROUND, FED UP, AND ATTACKS THE VILLAINS HIMSELF. At one point, he turns around, says "I'm through running" and tackles a man-eating dog that is bigger than him.

Is a character who isn't afraid of the villains, a character who fights back, a cliche? No.

This movie was hilarious, captivating, and one of Wes Craven's hidden gems, in my opinion.

I got a real kick out of some of the previous reviews treating "People Under the Stairs" as a serious horror film! The thing with this odd movie is that it should be awful...the premise is just so goofy, but somehow things just click and it's just too damn fun! If you like horror-humor, along the lines of the second two Evil Dead films or Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, then you will enjoy "People Under the Stairs". You can't treat this film seriously, if you go into this movie expecting to be scared or frightened you are going to be sorely disappointed. There really are no tense scenes, and anytime the film approaches anything the may be deemed as frightening, something so absurd will happen that you will be smiling immediately. This movie is quite a bit of fun, just don't take it too seriously.

Anyone that gives this a bad reveiw because of the lack of horror really needs to go get a sense of humor!! The people under the stairs is the kind of movie you watch when you just dont want to do any deep thinking its fun and relaxing. I thought when I first started watching it on tv one night that it would be the typical wes craven scare fest but ten minutes into it I was laughing out loud. Its really worth atleast renting if not buying!

First of all, don't catch this on tv. Rent it or buy it so you can see the R rated version so the entire effect can be had from this extremely hard to describe movie. Comedy, Horror, Urban Fairy Tale with a Moral? You'll have to watch and figure out for yourself. Personally I think there's all of the above in this movie but the Horror parts stick out the most and so I'd label it a Horror film just to categorize. When a young boy accompanies two thiefs to the home of the slumlords who are about to evict him and his cancer-riddled mother, he finds greed is not the only evil that the insane duo possess.

There's homicidal tendencies, domestic and child abuse, kidnapping and madness all around. An extremely twisted view on religious zeal accompanying a leather bound-shotgun toting madman who shoots holes in the walls in vain attempts at killing a mute escapee! A rottweiler who's very good at chewing arms, a very determined youth with more lives than a caffeinated cat and some very chilling scenes that must have done some serious psychological damage to the young actors in this movie. Catch Ving Rhames (pre-Pulp Fiction and Rosewood) getting filleted and fed to the People Under the Stairs and pay close attention to the sadistic "parents" as their performances are what makes this such a funny and disturbing film. Not a movie to watch under the influence of mind altering drugs or cough medicine with alcohol in it. But a movie to watch nonetheless, especially if you've ever experienced poverty first hand.

This is probably one of the greatest horror movies of all time, atleast thats what I believe. How can they justify putting 1980's B movies on DVD, but not this movie? I don't even know who "they" are, but please, for the love of film and everything holy, give us a People Under the Stairs DVD and pronto.

Wes Craven has had quite an odd career when you really break down his filmography. He's made so many classics, but he can also be very uneven and make some very weak movies. At times it seems Wes Craven is very hit or miss from one movie to the next. But his status as an Icon of the horror genre is very deserved for all he has done for horror movies. And in my opinion The People Under the Stairs is one of Craven's best of his career.

It took Wes a long time before he broke the big time while Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes are seen as classics; they weren't mainstream when first released. It wasn't until 1984 with A Nightmare on Elm Street when he really had big success and after that it seemed he was hit or miss. Bad deals and studio politics did play a part in that, but here everything that makes Wes Craven great is presented in this movie.

I love the idea of the backwoods killers only not set in the backwoods The People Under the Stairs is set in an average neighborhood over-looking the ghetto. This isn't a straight up horror movie it's also a comedy and even in some bizarre way a twisted fairy tale. While this isn't my favorite Craven movie hands down in my top 3 of his movies. Despite the comedy the movie is sort of creepy at times. And even in the comedic scenes that is also what elevates to being creepy.

While a movie like The People Under the Stairs isn't the most realistic something like this is sort of possible. Craven apparently got the idea from reading a newspaper about a couple of people who kept their children locked up and never allowed to leave the house. And how many times how we heard about a person or in this case a couple who were seemingly normal that did these terrible things behind closed doors? So in that regard this movie is sort of possible, but of course it plays out differently in cinema.

The script was written by Wes Craven and it was excellent; the characters are great even the ones with lesser screen time are well written for and his villains are great. Craven is a good writer for the most part the only problem that can be seen is some of his dialogue is dated based on certain words he uses, but I always thought Craven had a really good grasp on his characters when writing and I loved what he did here. He took a basic concept we've seen done so many times since the 60s and put a nice spin on the idea.

As director Craven creates a great deal of suspense and tension and was able to mix the comedy in and not ruin the atmosphere of his movie, which often happens when a filmmaker tries to mix the two together. More often than not it breaks up the tension. A lot of the running time takes place inside a house and to Craven's credit he manages to always keep it interesting and never lets the pace slag at all. He creates a great nightmarish world with some excellent suspense and tension and again with some good touches of comedy that work very well in the movie.

The cast is excellent and is filled with many known actors, while some of them you may not know by name, but you know by face. The acting is very solid. Some are serious and some a bit campy, it's tough in this kinda flick. Too serious might hurt, but too campy can as well, but the actors all are excellent and play their roles perfectly.

Brandon Adams delivers an excellent performance as Fool, normally I dislike kids in horror movies I can actually count on one hand how many horror films with a child was in the lead that I felt worked. And Brandon Adams is one of those kids that is the exception. He delivers a solid performance and was quite likeable as well in the role of the young hero trapped in the house and trying to stay alive.

The villains were played by Everett McGill credited only as Man and Wendy Robie credited only as Woman. Both actors are brilliant. They manage to be both really creepy and really funny at the same time and never once does it not work. They are a little silly at times and over the top, but it's very believable. I think the fact at times they're kinda funny and over the top only add to their creepiness. I really loved both performances and they both help really elevate this movie so much.

A.J. Langer in I believe her first feature film is excellent as Alice. She's quite sympathetic and really provides a top notch performance and Ving Rhames delivers a fun performance as Leroy. Kelly Jo Minter best know to horror fans from A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child gives a solid performance as Ruby and Bill Cobbs is solid in the small role of Grandpa Booker. But it's Sean Whalen as Roach who simply steals the show.

What I love about The People Under the Stairs is that there is actually a lot of social commentary and not just some horror flick. It deals with child abuse, racism and how the poor are treated in the United States. There really is a lot more happening than you might think. Some of this might be lost on some viewers, but The People Under the Stairs is a much smarter horror movie than its given credit for.

While The People Under the Stairs is a popular flick in Craven's career I also feel it's quite often over-looked. I rarely give 5-stars, even movies I love and consider all time favorites I often give 4-stars. But I really think this movie is deserving of the 5-star treatment. It's a little creepy, a little funny and a strong social message delivered. The People Under the Stairs is Wes Craven at his best.

This movie you are looking at is MOST CERTAINLY NOT your typical horror or slasher film. It is a mix of real horrors,dark comedy,and fairytale.

When I got this movie my expectations were very high, and I was glad they weren't let down. I expected alot from this movie, I had heard it was VERY scary, and I'm into horror movies VERY MUCH!!! The bad reviews on here, don't listen to them, see the movie yourself!!!

So Adam is a boy with his family living in some rundown tennant houses, his momma's dying of cancer. Well the kid hears about a treasure, locked up in the bottom of the basement of the house. The sad thing is no one ever comes out of this house alive, and unfortenately for him its not just a myth its the truth!!! Getting in may be a pain, but getting out is 10x's the fun!!! "Hear no evil,speak no evil,and see no evil" is a saying of the mother. Which holds to secret of the basement inhabitants.

There is a girl hidden upstairs though, and is violently abused. The scenes where she is abused truely terrified me, my friend was asking what was wrong with me. Abusive scenes always get me like that. Violent abuse, and I mean angry abuse. And on top of those ingredients there is a man running screaming through the house shooting at the walls in a black&spiked leather suite.

The acting is wonderfull, especially for those playing the parents, they play the rules perfectly and make them two truely terrifying characters to see on flm!!!

This is maybe an uneven film, but it is still one of the best horror movies I've come across. A good story, good acting, a happy ending, and terrifying scenes. If that isn't what a horror movie is supposed to be(not neccisarily the good ending part), then I don't know WHAT ONE IS!!!!

God Bless ~Amy

Though Craven should be forced to live out his own horror scenes for creating a movie like "Scream", one must acknowledge his past, less dubious, achievements. The People Under The Stairs portrays a wicked little "fun" house where the insane whims of a self righteous "family" reap havoc inside. The concept of this film is remarkably unique, with a sharp tongue-in-cheek humor wired throughout.

This movie is not scary in the traditional, slasher-zombie-ghost story sort of way. Rather, it bases it's terror on the absurb (like a gun-wielding, S&M clad maniac), as well as the all too real, like the issues of child abuse and poverty.

Craven really hit the perfect combination of elements in People Under The Stairs. The movie is visually compelling with freakish and surreal images, the acting is fun and devilishly brash, and the social commentary is obvious, but light-hearted.

Imagine that you're a young boy. Imagine yourself trapped in a house with two psychos and a Doberman who are all trying to kill you. Now imagine that this house is the most twisted house in history, with every orifice leading to passageways within the walls, the vents becoming a mode of transportation. There is one poor girl who has retained some semblance of sanity whom you must rescue from the clutches of this house. And there are PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. Mad people, vicious people. Oh, yes, there are booby traps placed everywhere as well. Don't go in the cellar. There is a crazy man in a leather suit chasing you with a shotgun. There is a crazy lady screaming "Burn in hell!" incessantly.

This is the twisted world Wes Craven puts you in. This movie is pretty inventive, and I give it an extra star for the time, effort, and creativity that must have gone into building the set.

And yes, there's also that Have/Have-Nots thing, but that's beside the point.