Review of The People Under the Stairs (1991) by Kyle F — 18 Jan 2010

The People Under the Stairs is a horror film directed by Wes Craven and starring Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A. J. Langer, Ving Rhames and Sean Whalen. The People Under the Stairs is the story of a young boy named Poindexter (Brandon Adams), whom everyone calls "Fool" because of a tarot card reading his older sister did for him, and lives in the ghetto of Los Angeles. At the start of the movie, Fool learns that he and his family have been evicted from their apartment by their cruel, bigoted, cannibalistic, religion-crazed, incestuous brother-and-sister landlords, the Robesons (Everett McGill as "Daddy" and Wendy Robie as "Mommy", whose given names are never revealed in the film), for being three days late on the rent. Fool's older sister, Ruby (Kelly Jo Minter), is dating a street thug named Leroy (Ving Rhames), who offers to help Fool take care of his family by planning a joint burglary of the Robesons' residence, rumored to contain a wealth of gold coins.

Fool agrees to join Leroy and his accomplice Spencer (Jeremy Roberts). He also starts hearing disturbing rumors about his former landlords. Grandfather Booker (Bill Cobbs) tells Fool that the Robesons' house used to be a funeral home, and adds that the Robeson family have been incestuously procreating for many years, becoming increasingly insane with each generation.

A damn masterpeice!!!!! One of my favorite movies as a kid, and still is to this day. The Story is very interesting and so are the characters. I think this movie is one of Wes Craven's underated movies ever. Its a creepy story but it never gets boring and after almost two decades, it's still very entertaining. I HIGHLY Recommended. 5 STARS OUT OF 5 FOR ME!!!!!