People Under the Stairs (1991)

As I mentioned in my last post, I had plans to roll this out much sooner than I actually did. Oh well, this is my blog my rules, even if I have a hard time accepting that.

Ok, so this post is a throw back movie but one that was a first watch for me. I’m also partnering on this review with the wonderfully talented, and smart Sarah Sin. We did a review together for her podcast: Sinnful Sarah’s Horror Menagerie. The link for the show here is to Apple Podcasts, my previous post, Favorite Things Part 2, had the link to Spotify. I use Apple so thought I would link it too.

Here is the episode I was a guest on if you want to listen and not read my own personal opinion:

Episode 111: The People Under the Stairs (1991)

Synopsis: The movie follows our protagonist “Fool” who is a 13 year old boy living in the ghetto. The landlords of his building are itching to throw his family and every other tenant out and tear it down. As luck would have it, a friend of Fool’s sister, Leroy, played by Ving Rhames finds out who the landlords are and that they have a treasure stored at their home. Fool goes a long to help find and steal these coins. While at the house Fool gets trapped and has to fight for not only his life in an attempt to get out of the house.

First of all, I love Wes Craven and i was shocked to find out there was a movie of his I hadn’t seen. Bigger shock, when I found out there are a bunch of movies I didn’t even know he directed that I hadn’t seen. Second, this had a few faces in it I was happy to see. Ving Rhames obviously, the main character Fool (Brandon Quintin Adams) who i knew from The Mighty Ducks movies, Roach (Sean Whalen) who is a character actor in all kinds of things. IMDB has him credited to 137 projects, and of course Grandpa (Bill Cobbs). Bill cobbs is one of those character actors that immediately make you like a movie more just by seeing him. There are to many movies to list that he has had a part in that rank in some of my repeat watches.

Fool gets trapped in this house that looks like the perfect family home on the outside and up top, but the basement is a whole creepy world all on it’s own. The people under the stairs is a story that develops over the course of the movie and feels almost like a side plot.

The main story is really about Fool doing what is necessary to help save his family from being thrown on the street. While doing the wrong this, but for the right reason, he becomes trapped in this horrific family secret.

I’m going to stop the post here since the bulk of the review as well as the deep dive into themes is all on the podcast. Check it out for more on this 90’s classic. I give this move 🥃🥃🥃🥃 out of 5.