Movie Review: The People Under the Stairs (1991)

The People Under the Stairs is a 1991 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A.J. Langer, Ving Rhames, and Sean Whalen. The movie revolves around a young boy named 'Fool" who stumbles upon a house where two sadistic adults kidnap and imprison people in their basement. The film has a very creepy concept and going into this movie I had very high expectations and was pleased with all of them. This is actually a very good movie, as the perspective of a child enhances this story line's meaning. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about a kid going into the house and seeing all these imprisoned hostages. It actually is highly logical though and proved to be very entertaining. People Under the Stairs is a very entertaining and exciting film. The tone is very urgent and every minute of film counts. Brandon Adams was terrific in his role, so was Ving Rhames in the screen time that he's given. This movie works so well because not only is this a fantastic horror concept, but it's also powerful when we see that this said house actually has almost an entire universe of hostages living in their house. The movie has a sheer scope and power that really hit home for me and made this a successful horror film. As far as flaws go, there is only one that really stood out to me. As we discover these people hiding underneath the stairs, we see that they are very fictionalized. Nothing about this situation feels real or like it actually happened (even though I believe reading somewhere that this movie was constructed around a true event). We can tell we're watching a film that like Nightmare On Elm Street is very creepy, but just isn't that realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's actually very clever and doesn't let you down. Overall, The People Under the Stairs was a good movie with relentless entertainment, a creepy story, and had very good performances. Three stars= B