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39 out of 45 people found the following review useful: A classic fairy tale!, 27 December 1998 Author: Paula O'Keefe (angelynx_prime@geocities.com) from Washington DC
I really think people who describe this as a comedy or even a horror comedy are missing the point - it's a classic fairy/folk tale, right down to the theme of the kid having to earn manhood and a "real name" by doing a heroic deed. Wicked step-parents, hidden treasure (gold coins, even!), creepy house with secret passages and monsters in the basement, captive maiden to be rescued, innocent villagers held in slavery by evil (land)lords - it's all there! I know this could be said of a lot of fantasy/horror films, but this one seems to be more clearly derived than most. Loved it!
25 out of 30 people found the following review useful: A Home Alone For Adults., 7 March 2004 Author: fibreoptic from England
I found The People Under The Stairs very entertaining as it combines comedy with suspense. The Mum and Dad character were really creepy but provided the most laughs in the movie which is kind of odd in a way. The kid (who is kind of annoying) is similar to Macauley Culkin's character in Home Alone and the Ma and Pa characters are similar to the burglars from Home Alone too but instead of the bad guys invading the good guys house the good guys are invading the bad guys house. The house is cool as heck with loads of secret passages and gizmos, it's a child's dream play house! It has thrills, suspense, laughs and gore! There is not much bad to say against it but don't go in to this thinking it's a horror movie because it isn't. A darned good flick! 9/10
18 out of 19 people found the following review useful: Ambitious, Exceptional, Well-Written Sociological Horror Flick, 7 August 2005 Author: ShootingShark from Dundee, Scotland
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Fool is a ghetto kid about to evicted who decides to break into the house of the greedy landlords and steal enough to pay the rent. Big mistake - the landlords turn out to be a loony-toon brother-and-sister act who live in a labyrinthine mansion and literally eat little boys for breakfast. Can Fool get out alive, rescue the imprisoned Alice and save his neighbourhood from the bulldozers ? This is a terrific film, one of Craven's best, and one of a handful of great little horror movies made in the late eighties / early nineties by Shep Gordon's Alive Films company. It works wonderfully on several different levels; it's basically a great horror-adventure film with lots of action and scares, but it's also a weird culture-clash drama, a mythic adventure with a princess to be freed and golden treasure at the end, and even a lefty citizens' rights story. It's gloriously all over the place. The cast are excellent, especially young Adams, who holds the movie squarely on his small shoulders, and McGill and Robie (who played husband and wife on the TV show Twin Peaks) as the thoroughly psychotic Mom and Dad. A great visceral movie with lots of horrible moments - Adams battles with the vicious rottweiler, McGill gleefully chewing bits of Rhames' corpse, the ominous piles of dead flies in the kitchen. The art direction is tremendous; the gigantic, gruesome Bad Place of a house is horrifically cavernous and foreboding, crammed full of crawlspaces, archaic plumbing, ghoulish brickdust and crumbling plasterboard. Full of intriguing ideas and sociological riffs (gun culture, S&M tendencies, incest, racism, class exploitation), this is a movie bursting at the seams with cinematic creativity. Brilliantly written and directed by Craven, this is a fine example of the rare breed of multi-layered movie I adore which is automatically derided by snooty film critics who want to keep entertaining films and intelligent films mutually exclusive - may they burn in hell !!
23 out of 31 people found the following review useful: Horrible Indeed, 2 August 2002 Author: Big Movie Fan from England
The People Under The Stairs was a creepy film. How creepy? Well, as creepy as it can get when it features a young lad trapped inside a house hiding a dark secret.Wendy Robie and Everett McGill are the owners of the house and they hide a dark secret. I won't tell you what but the title itself is a clue. A young lad finds himself trapped in the house after a burglary goes wrong and in a very creepy sequence of events he discovers the horrible secret of the house.The People Under The Stairs was my favourite horror of 1991. The hero was a young boy in a hopeless situation and like most good horrors it was set in a big nasty house. Wendy Robie and Everett McGill did a brilliant job as the evil owners of the house.I recommend The People Under The Stairs to any big horror fans.
17 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Fun, creepy, and exciting!, 20 June 2006 Author: ddmp8 from midwest
Now Wes Craven may not talk about this one too much, but you know what? I bet he's more proud of this film than most of his films. You know why? He went back to his original roots of storytelling as such how he made "Last House On The Left". The film is an exploitation film, but you would never guess it by the stylish way he fits it into the urban setting, and the wretched display of the villains. You know what? This film tops the last few films he's ever done. I think so, because he uses the old school style of scares, and yes, this film delivers some real moments. It has a very light sense of adventure and humor, but it's all for not without the scares. What would you do if you were a 13 year old boy, tapped in a big, strange house, which is a death trap for all burglars and juveniles? Not only that, but the owners who live their are not only your landlords, but also total psychotics! Well, with a few paths within the house, walkways in the walls, and trap doors in the oven and heater, you might have a chance at living. Brandon Adams, A.J. Langer, Wendie Robie, and Everett McGill are great, and work well together. I hope Universal releases a special edition DVD of this one soon. We need it.
17 out of 24 people found the following review useful: I liked it, 6 October 2004 Author: Ilona Hyvaettinen (kameleontti) from Kotka, Finland
Many people dislike this movie but it's good enough for watching, if maybe not several times then at least once. "Don't damage the face", says Mother and leaves Father to punish Alice for being a bad girl. That's it, I'm hooked to the screen. First time I saw this movie I missed the beginning but it works well without it. Actually you can skip the background story with the financial problems and society issues and stick to the horror - and it's comical side. I specially liked the kid called Roach, who had his tongue cut out for bad words. Alice was also great, a shy little girl that tries to be nice for Mommy and not soil her pretty dress, though she feeds the basement people and guides Fool around when the time comes. When you watch a doll being pulled away from you on a string, you must follow it... Find a candle in the darkness. You know you must get out but the door is locked. The only way out is upwards.There is a lot of nice visual stuff like the old bathroom or running inside the walls and the light drifting in from bullet holes. Mother and Father live in a fantasy where children are supposed to be pretty and behave. Now a few decades ago that was reality, but they are pulling it over the edge by mutilating their children and locking them in the basement if they're naughty. I recall that the kids weren't really theirs but kidnapped from around the area. Many people writing down the plot have misunderstood it somehow. It is quite poor but in this case it's not supposed to be a main attraction. I bet the writer came up with the idea of a sick mother and burglary in order to get money for medical treatment only after inventing the main idea about the house and the brother and sister living together as a couple, herding a bunch of insane children. Well they must have some reason to get Fool into the house, so why not...
15 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Funny but scary, 31 October 2004 Author: morbidcorpse from Melbourne, Australia
I saw this movie today on "Showtime Greats" and I found it very entertaining. The movie was kinda scary, and definitely gruesome. In a way, it was kind of funny as well. Throughout the movie the two insane siblings that own the house are calling each other "Mummy" and "Daddy", which sounded pretty funny, and they kept repeating the phrase "Burn in hell" ie. "Well she can burn in hell" "aaaaah! BURN IN HELL!" Their inbred offspring who ate children and animals were good for a laugh but scary at the same time. A particularly gruesome part in the movie was when the kid had his tongue cut off. Overall it is very compelling and suspenseful, and I give it a 8/10.
14 out of 22 people found the following review useful: All in the name of perfection., 7 January 2004 Author: Michael O'Keefe from Muskogee OK
Once again director/writer Wes Craven delivers the thrills and chills. A young boy(Brandon Adams)is persuaded by a hapless crook(Ving Rhames) to break into his landlord's house to steal a gold coin collection. The house turns out to be an overly secured mansion that was formerly a funeral home. The demented landlord(Everett McGill)and his wife(Wendy Robie) and daughter(A.J. Langer)are not the only weirdness to be found. There is the mangled denizens under the stairs...in the basement...between the walls. The husband and wife are actually brother and sister. This tale of horror turns into a campy riot and easy to gain a cult following.
14 out of 23 people found the following review useful: very stylish, 2 April 2004 Author: (callanvass@hotmail.com) from victoria b.c canada
fast paced fun and very stylish little horror flick is very well acted and is kinda creepy in spots i really liked the settings in this one and the dialog is intelligent and it is always interesting and quite stunning at times oh and ya get to see Ving Rhames that is always a pleasure there is lots of blood and a creepy looking basement with lots of weird images and other great delights the direction is awesome tons of stylish shots and it has a great happy ending the movie is at times horrifying and with Wes Craven directing that makes it even better so all in all a great little film that i highly highly recommend i give this movie a ***1/2 out of 5
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Funny, sometimes silly but over all GREAT!!, 21 March 2005 Author: sugar-bear from Anywhere
A thirteen-year-old boy, nicknamed Fool(Brandon Adams), lives in the ghetto with his sister and sick mother. When his family doesn't have enough money to pay the rent or his mother's operation, Fool is persuaded by a family friend, Leroy(Ving Rhames), to break into the landlord's house to steal a valuable coin collection. Once Fool and Leroy are inside the huge and heavily fortified house, they realize they've gotten more than they bargained for. The landlords turn out to be an insane brother and sister couple who kidnap boys and keep them locked in their basement. Alice(A.J. Langer), the couple's kidnapped daughter, doesn't live in the basement, but is constantly sexually and physically abused by them. A frantic chase begins as Fool tries to save himself, Alice, the boys and his community from the evil landlords. The ending was satisfying and over all the movie was very well acted, although the plot was a bit silly at times. Wendy Robie did a great job and I love her acting. Brandon Adams couldn't have done a better job.
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