The People Under the Stairs isn't even one of those Wes Craven films that's weak because it was a popular or critical disaster, like some of his best films were (such as The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes), this movie was just goofy camp. Structurally, the film is very good. Craven has a very well written plot fighting for families in the inner city that are victimized by greedy landlords, but it gets goofy along the way, mostly because the father, one of the main characters, is trying to be Leatherface and Ash from The Evil Dead at the same time rather than creating an original character. Seriously, if you combine Leatherface and Ash, this guy is exactly what you get. Exactly.
Speaking of the father, it's odd that the IMDb lists the two main characters as Man; Dad, and Woman; Mom, since they are revealed to be brother and sister late in the movie. Nevertheless, they are clearly a severely disturbed couple, whatever their relationship, as is made clear as one minor character explains to his grandson, curiously named Fool and the star of the film, that the family has been filthy rich and completely insane for generations, each generation crazier than the last. It seems that the one featured in this film has been kidnapping children for years and adopting them as their own, then forcing them to live in the basement for all eternity if they misbehave. As was the case with those two girls abducted in the first act of The Hillside Strangler, it is indeed odd that no one ever caught on.
At one point in the film we learn that the police have been trying for years to be able to look deeper into the mysterious case surrounding these two people, yet when they find a stolen van in their driveway, they just say they haven't seen anyone in the house and the cops tell them to have a nice day and drive off, not having even investigated why there was a stolen van in their driveway. What was that? The biggest problem with the people under the stairs is that not only are the people under the stairs not supposed to be scary, they're supposed to be victims. Actually, maybe they were meant to be scary. That would certainly explain why the plot leads us to believe that they're still alive down there, surviving only on the random scraps thrown to them and a seemingly insatiably appetite for watching the news about Iraq War I, but the makeup artists make us believe that they're zombies. No way are those people still alive, their skin is rotting off their bones.
Even better are the characters of Alice and Roach, played by Sean Whalen in his film debut. It seems that Roach has escaped the basement and spends his time wandering the huge hallways that exist inside the walls in this massively inefficiently built house, avoiding his "father," who is uncontrollably furious that he has escaped the basement. When the cops show up to investigate complaints they've received about gunshots in the area, they walk through the house, not seeing the huge holes that Dad has blasted in the walls throughout the house, because they have somehow managed to fix them instantaneously, and leaving happily after a few cups of coffee and some cookies. Everything seemed fine to them. If nothing else, I would have been mildly curious as to why, in a house with elegant furniture and mahogany walls, the kitchen was protected by an industrial steel wall.
Ving Rhames plays the part of LeRoy, a family friend so close to the family that he brings Fool on a trip to rob the landlords, who are rumored to have buried treasure in their house. Yes, buried treasure. Fool's mom has cancer and they're being evicted for being all of three days late with their rent (more proof that the movie has more to say about the plight of the inner cities than anything else), so it's up to Fool to save the day. Sadly, the only thing scary about this movie is that it is based, albeit loosely, on a true story about parents that locked their kids in the basement for many years.
Speaking of the father, it's odd that the IMDb lists the two main characters as Man; Dad, and Woman; Mom, since they are revealed to be brother and sister late in the movie. Nevertheless, they are clearly a severely disturbed couple, whatever their relationship, as is made clear as one minor character explains to his grandson, curiously named Fool and the star of the film, that the family has been filthy rich and completely insane for generations, each generation crazier than the last. It seems that the one featured in this film has been kidnapping children for years and adopting them as their own, then forcing them to live in the basement for all eternity if they misbehave. As was the case with those two girls abducted in the first act of The Hillside Strangler, it is indeed odd that no one ever caught on.
At one point in the film we learn that the police have been trying for years to be able to look deeper into the mysterious case surrounding these two people, yet when they find a stolen van in their driveway, they just say they haven't seen anyone in the house and the cops tell them to have a nice day and drive off, not having even investigated why there was a stolen van in their driveway. What was that? The biggest problem with the people under the stairs is that not only are the people under the stairs not supposed to be scary, they're supposed to be victims. Actually, maybe they were meant to be scary. That would certainly explain why the plot leads us to believe that they're still alive down there, surviving only on the random scraps thrown to them and a seemingly insatiably appetite for watching the news about Iraq War I, but the makeup artists make us believe that they're zombies. No way are those people still alive, their skin is rotting off their bones.
Even better are the characters of Alice and Roach, played by Sean Whalen in his film debut. It seems that Roach has escaped the basement and spends his time wandering the huge hallways that exist inside the walls in this massively inefficiently built house, avoiding his "father," who is uncontrollably furious that he has escaped the basement. When the cops show up to investigate complaints they've received about gunshots in the area, they walk through the house, not seeing the huge holes that Dad has blasted in the walls throughout the house, because they have somehow managed to fix them instantaneously, and leaving happily after a few cups of coffee and some cookies. Everything seemed fine to them. If nothing else, I would have been mildly curious as to why, in a house with elegant furniture and mahogany walls, the kitchen was protected by an industrial steel wall.
Ving Rhames plays the part of LeRoy, a family friend so close to the family that he brings Fool on a trip to rob the landlords, who are rumored to have buried treasure in their house. Yes, buried treasure. Fool's mom has cancer and they're being evicted for being all of three days late with their rent (more proof that the movie has more to say about the plight of the inner cities than anything else), so it's up to Fool to save the day. Sadly, the only thing scary about this movie is that it is based, albeit loosely, on a true story about parents that locked their kids in the basement for many years.