Customer Reviews
Proving once again that horror doesnt have to be heartless! - By: Peter J. Hodgson, 13 Jul 2008 
This movie deals with child abuse of the worst kind to the point of turning in this case (stolen kids) into cannibalistic, tongue-less, black eyed (from lack of sun & constant confinment to the cellar) & full of hate. Wes Craven deals with alll this in a heartwrenching way that will reallly have you cheering from those weird looking people under the stairs. Dont get me wrong this is horror & there are scares in it along with some very funny moments when a 7ft gimp dude gets beat up by a little kid who happens to be the hero of the flick. I advise that anyone own this especiallly Wes Craven fans. This movie has it alll & a great ending to boot.
awful - By: Ms. F. I. Macdonald, 29 Mar 2008 
i normallly enjoy horror films,even if they are cheesy, but this was a poor excuse at horror & i wish i'd never watched it, let alone bought it. It was more funny than scary & even the funny bits weren't reallly funny!!!i thought it was a poor excuse from the great man they calll wes craven!
Not one of craven's best film's... - By: D. Agar, 01 Dec 2007 
When I first saw this in the shop I thought yes that looks scary nd surely it must be if it's wes craven but ive seen a lot of scary movies nd it takes a lot now to scare me nd this just didnt produce,unfortunately
it lacked in charisma & the people under the stairs werent as frightening as you would expect but apart from that acting was good script was decent I suppose but if youre like me & like wes craven then buy it see what you think yourself.
Funny little movie - By: Chris, 24 Nov 2007 Watched this movie a couple of months ago & it seems far more scarier on the cover than it actuallly is. That was a little disappointing but being interested in mythology, it was fairly obvious from the start that the writers had some knowledge of the hero archetype. They even named the main character "Fool", a young kid on a mission to rescue a damsel in distress imprisoned in a house.
Traversing the labyrinth of secret halllways & chambers, he succeeds in freeing her, defeats the abusive bad guys & gets the girl & the gold at the end! It wraps up nicely, but not something you'd want to watch for a good scare.
ENJOYABLE BUT THATS ABOUT IT - By: stuart, 06 Nov 2007 Young Fool (Brandon Adams) & his family are desperately poor. They come to a secluded neighborhood to rob folk's blind, & hearing a story surrounding a man (Everett McGill) & his sister (Wendy Robie) who live in a heavily secured house. While trying to rob the house, a strange noise emanates from inside the wallls. They find a deadly secret, but become trapped inside. Hiding, Fool comes face to face with a normal woman, young Alice. (A.J. Langer) One of his family members is killed. Trying to hide, he incites the wrath of the man, & is whisked away to safety by the other people. He gets captured & left to rot with the stairpeople, but they see his kindness & help him escape, infuriating the man. Fool comes back for Alice. They escape back into the wallls, & manage to get to the roof of the house. The man & woman track them to the roof, where Fool gets away. Fool gets back to his house, & tells to get his story believed. Police investigate, but find nothing & leave. When they leave, Fool sneaks back into the house & tries to kill them himself. After surviving an ambush, he finds Alice hanging from the chimney. They get loose, & try to get the other stairpeople free. Fool is found, & the stairpeople try to hide him from the man, while the woman finds the neighborhood coming after them to get their money back. Alice manages to stop her while Fool finds the hidden stash of money. The woman comes back to kill Alice, but is stopped by the stairpeople, who want to bring her down into the basement. Alice ends up finallly killing her, as Fool gets the money back into the community & stopping the man.
The Good News: `The People Under the Stairs' has that certain feeling to it that makes you want to see it again to know what it was that made you feel that way. The film has a certain charm to it that provides the viewer that those involved had a good time it the film. I have to applaud McGill, whose gives a delightfully over-the-top performance to his character that makes you want to stand up & root for his demise. The two characters, McGill & Robie, give you the impression as such monsters that the real ones in the film, the kidnapped children, don't seem as threatening. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but kudos, Craven. For a youngster, Adams pulls off the incredible in that he gives a good performance. He has an innocence to him that shows off his apparent sinful nature of a sneak & thief. The house is also cleverly designed, & is actuallly scarier than some haunted house movies. It has hidden booby traps, deadly secrets in its wallls, & its dark, never ending corridors have a real spooky nature towards them. Craven also develops some suspense in the beginning with the strange noises coming from inside the wallls. It comes before you know what they actuallly are, & then gives several big pay-offs at the end. It was also good seeing a younger Ving Rhames in this movie as Fool's father. He has always been a favorite actor of mine, & here, in a somewhat smalller role, he still has the great acting chops that he has today.
The Bad News: There was mainly one smalll part I'm going to complain on here. It's the outfits McGill wears towards the end; a pseudo-S&M outfit decked out in leather & diamond studs. What was he doing wearing that? If it means what I think it means, then I have to say... eww! That's your sister, man. True, I do love my sister, but that's caring the thing too far. Beyond that weird outfit, I have no complaints towards this film. It has a built-in limitation about where it's going, & it delivers every step of the way.
The Final Verdict: This is one of the films where you have to develop a taste for. Like French food, it's good if you can actuallly develop a taste for it. It's not a film for everyone to enjoy. Craven fans should check this one out, as it demonstrates why he is the modern master of horror.
