Aware of the first half of the decade being a time where the Horror genre appeared to have died, I started digging for 1991 Horror titles to view for an ICM poll on the best films of the year. Recently viewing their very good Blu-Ray of the 2009 Henri-Georges Clouzot doc Inferno,I was pleased to find that Arrow has put out a rather overlooked Wes Craven '91 flick out,which led to me going under the stairs.
View on the film:
Bringing a bundle of detailed extras up the stairs, Arrow present an excellent transfer,with the audio being crisp,and the picture transfer being sharp,but retaining a film grain. Only the second time he had gotten the "final cut" right to his own work, (the first was Shocker) writer/ director Wes Craven is joined by cinematographer Sandi Sissel in taking advantage of this,by departing from the Slasher era with a macabre Gothic Horror atmosphere. Crawling round the house at Fool's height, Craven & Sissel stylishly use flash lights and slivers of light between the wooden walls to give the house the appearance of a castle, complete with hidden mazes/corridors and a moat.
Done as the first Bush era was nearing an end, the screenplay by Craven displays a surprising edge of maturity,as Craven opens not with a shock,but spending time with Fool and his family in The Projects. Continuing the major theme across his films of chipping away at the white picket fence of the middle class, Craven makes the baddies be embodiment's of Greed is Good,which works well with sadistic glee as Craven sends Fool into a funhouse of a blood-thirsty couple and mysterious people under the stairs, but becomes too on the nose,as the greed gets blown open and shared to da Hood. Bringing the weird vibes they shared in Twin Peaks, Everett McGill and Everett McGill give delirious Pantomime villain performances as the nutty couple, whilst in his movie debut, Brandon Quintin Adams gives a terrific energetic performance, capturing the mad-dash Fool makes to escape the people under the stairs.
View on the film:
Bringing a bundle of detailed extras up the stairs, Arrow present an excellent transfer,with the audio being crisp,and the picture transfer being sharp,but retaining a film grain. Only the second time he had gotten the "final cut" right to his own work, (the first was Shocker) writer/ director Wes Craven is joined by cinematographer Sandi Sissel in taking advantage of this,by departing from the Slasher era with a macabre Gothic Horror atmosphere. Crawling round the house at Fool's height, Craven & Sissel stylishly use flash lights and slivers of light between the wooden walls to give the house the appearance of a castle, complete with hidden mazes/corridors and a moat.
Done as the first Bush era was nearing an end, the screenplay by Craven displays a surprising edge of maturity,as Craven opens not with a shock,but spending time with Fool and his family in The Projects. Continuing the major theme across his films of chipping away at the white picket fence of the middle class, Craven makes the baddies be embodiment's of Greed is Good,which works well with sadistic glee as Craven sends Fool into a funhouse of a blood-thirsty couple and mysterious people under the stairs, but becomes too on the nose,as the greed gets blown open and shared to da Hood. Bringing the weird vibes they shared in Twin Peaks, Everett McGill and Everett McGill give delirious Pantomime villain performances as the nutty couple, whilst in his movie debut, Brandon Quintin Adams gives a terrific energetic performance, capturing the mad-dash Fool makes to escape the people under the stairs.