The People Under the Stairs (1991)

The People Under the Stairs is a 1991 horror film directed by Wes Craven.

Plot
A thirteen- year old boy nicknamed Fool lives in the ghetto and has found out his family is going to get evicted from their run-down apartment. On top of that, he learns his Mother is dying of cancer. Fool is persuaded by a family friend, Leroy to sneak into the landlords' home to steal a prized coin collection rumored to be in their home. Desperate to help save his Mother's life and the family from being thrown into the streets, Fool goes with Leroy and Leroy's friend, Spenser to the house. They use all sorts of disguises to get in, but it doesn't work. Once they force their way into the house, they realize they got a lot more than they were looking for. After Spenser and Leroy are tragically killed, Fool tries to escape. Running for his life, he bumps into the landlords' daughter, Alice, a young abused girl full of nothing but scars and fear. Fool feels sympathy towards Alice and persuades her to escape with him. Fool then finds out that the evil and sadistic landlords are not a married couple but brother and sister who keep trying to give birth to the perfect child.

Cast

 * Brandon Adams as Poindexter "Fool" Williams
 * Everett McGill as Man / "Daddy" / Eldon Robeson
 * Wendy Robie as Woman / "Mommy" / Ms. Robeson
 * A. J. Langer as Alice Robeson
 * Ving Rhames as Leroy
 * Bill Cobbs as Grandpa Booker
 * Kelly Jo Minter as Ruby Williams
 * Sean Whalen as Roach
 * Jeremy Roberts as Spencer
 * Conni Marie Brazelton as Mary
 * Joshua Cox as Young Cop
 * John Hostetter as Veteran Cop
 * John Mahon as Police Sergeant
 * Yan Birch as Stairmaster

Production
According to writer-director Craven, the film's story was partially inspired by a real-life news story from 1978. The case involved two African-American burglars who made a forced entry into a house in Los Angeles, California, which unintentionally led to the local law enforcement discovering a pair of children who had been locked away by their parents.

The film was made on a relatively low budget of $6 million, without significant studio interference. The Thomas W. Phillips residence, located at 2215 S. Harvard Blvd in Los Angeles, was used in the film as the house of the Robesons. Everett McGill and Wendy Robie were cast as the Robesons after having starred together as the married couple "Big" Ed and Nadine Hurley in the television series Twin Peaks.

Box office
The film opened at the No. 1 spot at the box office, taking in over $5.5 million that weekend, and stayed in the top 10 for a month until early December. The film went on to gross over $24,204,154 domestically (U.S.) and $7,143,000 internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $31,347,154.

Critical reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 68% of 31 critic gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6/10. Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle wrote that "this is the work of the Wes Craven we came to admire". Vincent Canby, writing for The New York Times, described The People Under the Stairs as "an affirmative-action horror film", containing "its share of blood and gore", and lauded the film for being "mostly creepy and, considering the bizarre circumstances, surprisingly funny" in that "it's impossible not to like fiends who, having just dispatched someone in an especially nasty way, can't contain their natural high spirits. They dance."

Chicago-based Siskel & Ebert had mixed responses to the movie on their TV show. Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the movie a "thumbs down" review and admitted a distaste for gory horror films but nonetheless gave Craven credit for "creating a distinctive visual world" featuring dark humor and biting social commentary. Gene Siskel of The Chicago Tribune gave The People Under the Stairs a reserved "thumbs up", warning viewers about some disturbing material but also saying "if you like this kind of picture, [Craven] does it as well as you can imagine."

Richard Harrington of The Washington Post criticized Craven's directing, going on to state that "Craven also wrote the script here, based on a news story about California parents who kept their children locked in the basement for many years. That's scary -- and so is how far Craven has fallen." Nigel Floyd of Time Out wrote of the film that "There are a few push-button frights, but a total dearth of mind-disturbing terror; the humour, too, is broad, crowd-pleasing stuff".

S.C. Dacy of Empire gave the film four out of five possible stars and called it "brilliantly deceptive", writing that it is "Not just a disturbing ride but also a hard-hitting political statement". Brent McKnight of PopMatters wrote that the film "is a careful synthesis of genres, steeped in horror, with a satiric bite, and action and thriller traits thrown in just for the hell of it", calling it "easily one of the director's most original, deranged, and off the wall films".