The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Directed by Wes Craven
Trapped inside a fortified home owned by a mysterious couple, a young boy quickly learns the true nature of the homicidal inhabitants, and secret creatures hidden deep within the walls.
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7 films that influenced The People Under the Stairs
What critics say influenced The People Under the Stairs
"The People Under the Stairs" is an odd mix of "Old Dark House" mysteries from the '30s and '40s, the spate of cannibal-family horror films that followed "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in the mid-to-late '70s and the zombie movies influenced by "Night of the Living Dead" and its sequels.
(See John Boorman’s 1977 film Exorcist II: The Heretic to understand what happens when that horror content isn’t there.)
In something of a departure, Craven has cast as the 13-year-old hero, Fool, a young African American actor, Brandon Adams (costar of Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" video).
Young Mr. Adams, who was featured in Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" video, is a small but resourceful hero.
The others -- George “Night of the Living Dead” Romero, Tobe “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” Hooper, John “Halloween” Carpenter and David “Rabid” Cronenberg -- are still with us; still active in the industry, to varying degrees; and still hugely influential.
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Imagine The Goonies via Alice in Wonderland but with mild gore, swearing, deviant sexual imagery and a laughable subtext about class struggle, and you have some idea of the confusion plaguing this 1991 Craven misfire, which can’t decide whether it’s a kid’s film (replete with Home Alone-style slapstick gags) or one designed to terrify adults.
As is the case with most nineties movies it even has a touch of “Home Alone” sprinkled within its “Alice in Wonderland” themed narrative.
The Hills Have Eyes Part II Casebusters The Serpent and the Rainbow Shocker The People Under the Stairs Wes Craven's New Nightmare Vampire in Brooklyn Scream (April 2/11) Directed by Wes Craven, Scream follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) as she and her friends are stalked by a mask-wearing psychopath known only as Ghostface.
Imagine The Goonies via Alice in Wonderland but with mild gore, swearing, deviant sexual imagery and a laughable subtext about class struggle, and you have some idea of the confusion plaguing this 1991 Craven misfire, which can’t decide whether it’s a kid’s film (replete with Home Alone-style slapstick gags) or one designed to terrify adults.