Wes Craven’s “The People Under The Stairs” is a promising horror movie, yet works on some levels but not others. It’s an interesting concept. A gang of burglars (two men and a small boy) break into a house, believing there to be a huge fortune in stolen gold coins. However, when they arrive, the men are killed and the boy discovers a terrible secret.
Poindexter “Fool” Williams discovers that the two adults in the house have been stealing children, looking for the perfect child. He finds Alice, scared to death of her “parents” who abuse her, and all of the rejected children who were living in the basement. This is with the exception of one named Roach who has escaped from the basement and now roams in between the walls of the house. His tongue has been cut out for using bad language, and he now makes horrible cries, angering his “father”, who tries to shoot him periodically through the walls. Fool also discovers that the “parents” of the children are actually brother and sister, are both totally insane, and trying to kill him!
The main problem with this film is that virtually all of the action is filmed in almost complete darkness, so it can be very hard to see what is going on most of the time! This is understandable to a degree as the locations were mainly in the basement and between the walls where you don’t expect to see much light, although this does make it hard work for the viewer.
The performances of the “parents” though are wonderfully surreal and stylised, and the idea of the movie is very original. However, due to it’s drawbacks, I think this would be a story better read than watched.
My conclusion is to buy the book, and let your own imagination do the work!
Poindexter “Fool” Williams discovers that the two adults in the house have been stealing children, looking for the perfect child. He finds Alice, scared to death of her “parents” who abuse her, and all of the rejected children who were living in the basement. This is with the exception of one named Roach who has escaped from the basement and now roams in between the walls of the house. His tongue has been cut out for using bad language, and he now makes horrible cries, angering his “father”, who tries to shoot him periodically through the walls. Fool also discovers that the “parents” of the children are actually brother and sister, are both totally insane, and trying to kill him!
The main problem with this film is that virtually all of the action is filmed in almost complete darkness, so it can be very hard to see what is going on most of the time! This is understandable to a degree as the locations were mainly in the basement and between the walls where you don’t expect to see much light, although this does make it hard work for the viewer.
The performances of the “parents” though are wonderfully surreal and stylised, and the idea of the movie is very original. However, due to it’s drawbacks, I think this would be a story better read than watched.
My conclusion is to buy the book, and let your own imagination do the work!
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