Burn in hell for gettin’ free, and burn in hell for showin’ the way! – Man
We’re continuing Wes Craven Week with one of his more unusual films. This one is interesting in that almost nothing in it happens the way you might think. As a horror movie, it doesn’t always stick to the normal conventions, somewhat like Craven’s later film Scream. And so, on we go with the show!
We open on our main character, Fool, getting his birthday tarot card reading from his sister, Ruby (Fool’s real name, we find out later, is Poindexter, Dexter for short, but everyone calls him by his nickname, Fool). The reading isn’t an especially good one, with the Devil and Death cards popping up. Fool’s sister warns him to be careful, and to use his brain to avoid trouble.
We find out Fool’s mother is sick, and we soon meet Leroy, a friend of Fool’s sister, who informs him that they’re the last family in their tenement and they’ve just been served an eviction notice. Leroy has a plan, though, to break into Fool’s landlords’ house and rob them of some gold coins they’re rumored to have.
We also meet the landlords as they’re enjoying a nice evening in, along with their daughter, Alice. Alice is standing to the side as the woman makes her a dress and the man is enjoying a nice cut of meat… that he occasionally pulls buckshot out of. The adults talk about what they’ll do with the land once the last family’s kicked out. When Alice asks what will happen to the family, the woman scolds her for speaking when not spoken to.
The People Under the Stairs can best be summed up in a word: family. It’s the possibility of his family being kicked out onto the streets that makes Fool go into the strange house in the first place. It’s the couple who lives there’s search for family that leads to their downfall.
The acting was really good in this film. Brandon Quintin Adams (Fool) has gone on to have a pretty good career, going on to The Mighty Ducks series and voicing Raijin in Kingdom Hearts II. Everett McGill (Man) has been in a few genre pieces, like Stephen King’s Silver Bullet, and he was also a regular on Twin Peaks. Wendy Robie (Woman) was also on Twin Peaks, as well as Vampire in Brooklyn and The Dentist 2. Ving Rhames (Leroy) is a very well-known actor who has done a LOT of films including the remakes of Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead.
This was definitely a fun film, one that I’m glad to give a 5 out of 5. I hope you’ve found this review entertaining. Tune in next time, when we go over the rules of horror movies. Until then, take care of yourselves, and this is Red Hawk signing out!