Review of The People Under the Stairs (1991) by Tyler M — 17 Dec 2007
Just keep this with those people.
If you were a Wes Craven fan before, you won't be after... Yeah, it's that bad.
The Story: A couple of amateur thieves, one of which is a young boy, break into a house only to find the owners have a few skeletons in the closet. The whole film is pretty much just a game of cat and mouse as the young boy attempts to get out from the creepy old house laced with death traps. It's got some of that Wes Craven gore, and it's got some of that usual bad early 90s acting, and it's even got some of that really strange humor that we've all grown accustomed to from Mr. Craven, but sadly that's about it. This film attempts to create a creepy atmosphere, but falls short on almost every front, not only that, but it's so absurd that it's impossible to take seriously... I don't know if that's what Craven was going for with this outing, but if it is, than job well done... Cheap laughs, cheap special effects, cheap scares, incredibly week and implausible script, combined with a slow pace that makes your 110 year old grandmother look fast make this one a film to pass on, even for the most die hard Craven fans.
The Cast: Brandon Quintin Adams, Ving Rhames, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie... Good acting doesn't exist in this film... Brandon Quintin Adams, is Fool... Yes, you read that right, his name is Fool... He's a kid trapped inside a creepy house with creepy people. He's... Well... He's not a good actor here... I mean, he's bad even for an early 90's child actor... And that's pretty bad. Ving Rhames is Leroy, he's the other guy trapped in the house, he's... Well... He's about useless here... I know he's a good actor, but this film doesn't do him any justice at all. Everett McGill, is Man/Dad, yeah, that's his name Man/Dad... He's like a cheap version of Jim Carey here, seriously, if this film was to ever be remade, Jim Carey would be perfect for this role. But lets just hope this film is never remade. No one should have to be forced to relive such awful filmmaking. Wendy Robie, is Woman/Mom... Okay, one quick question for Craven...WT mate?!?! What was going through your mind when you named these characters? Fool, Man, Woman?
One to Five Scale: 2.
It's bad... Very very bad... In fact it's so bad... I can't live with myself giving this a 2 out of 5...
One to Five Scale: 1.
Ah, much better.
Tyler.
This review of The People Under the Stairs (1991) was written by Tyler M on 17 Dec 2007.
The People Under the Stairs has generally received positive reviews.
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