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Movies / On DVD / The People Under the Stairs
The People Under the Stairs

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The People Under the Stairs (1991)

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69 %
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Reviews Counted: 13

Fresh: 9

Rotten:4

Average Rating: 5.8/10

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Synopsis: Fool, a 13-year-old boy, lives in the ghetto with his sister and sick mother. When his family doesn't have enough money to pay the rent, Fool is persuaded by Leroy (Ving Rhames) to break into his... Fool, a 13-year-old boy, lives in the ghetto with his sister and sick mother. When his family doesn't have enough money to pay the rent, Fool is persuaded by Leroy (Ving Rhames) to break into his landlord's house to steal a valuable coin collection. Once Fool and Leroy are inside the huge and heavily fortified house, they realize they've gotten more than they bargained for, as the landlords turn out to be an insane brother and sister couple (Everett McGill and Wendy Robie) who murder visitors and keep their kidnapped "sons" locked up in the basement as deformed monsters. Only Alice, an imprisoned girl, can save Fool from the horrors within, and a frantic chase begins between the walls of the bizarre house as Fool tries to save himself, Alice, and his community from the evil landlords. A unique and inventive horror film, THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS combines the structure of a classic fairy tale with modern social criticism and imaginative production design. Director Wes Craven based his film on real-life news reports of parents who kept their children locked up at home. [More]

Starring: Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, Brandon Quinton Adams, A.J. Langer

Starring: Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, Brandon Quinton Adams, A.J. Langer, Ving Rhames, Bill Cobbs, Kelly Jo Minter, Sean Whalen, Jeremy Roberts

Director: Wes Craven

Director: Wes Craven

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Oct 7, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The People Under the Stairs

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1 - 19 (sorted by date)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Time Out

No review available.

comment Comment
09/09/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Perhaps the most staggeringly incompetent movie in the director’s uneven canon.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
06/03/05
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

A very uneven but interesting horror thriller with a social message that's somewhat lost in a script with some effective terror and less working humour and slapstick.

Full Review Source: Slasherpool | comment Comment
10/28/04
Andreas Samuelson
Slasherpool
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Craven toils under the influence of Lynch and Raimi, but below the surface hyperactivity the results are the same.

comment Comment
06/08/04
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

comment Comment
09/06/03
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Hysterically vicious Reagan-Bush parody dressed up as a horror movie.

comment Comment
08/24/03
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Goofy fun for fans of schlocky horror films.

comment Comment
03/05/03
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

No review available.

comment Comment
02/09/03
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Very good Wes Craven thriller

comment Comment
12/27/02
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

No review available.

comment Comment
10/13/02
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/25/02
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Mike Bracken's Horror Films | comment Comment
05/23/01
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken's Horror Films
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
N/R

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Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Richard Harrington
Washington Post
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1 - 19 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for The People Under the Stairs

April 24, 2007: "Nightmare" Not Part of Craven's Remakes
Wes Craven may be on a roll producing remakes of "The Hills Have Eyes," "Last House on the Left," and even "The People Under the Stairs," but he... More...

April 21, 2007: Craven to Produce "People Under the Stairs" Remake
Under his new deal with Rogue Pictures, Wes Craven is going to continue producing remakes of his own movies like "The Hills Have Eyes" and "Last House on the... More...

September 28, 2006: Wes Craven To Write and Direct Again; Also Plans Horror Remakes…Of His Own Movies
Horror auteur Wes Craven has announced his return to making his original horror films, and is currently writing his first writing-directing project since 1994's "New... More...

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