The People Under the Stairs (1991)
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A young boy and two robbers discover a horrific secret hidden within a house owned by crooked landlords.
The story
Poindexter "Fool" Williams, a resident of a Los Angeles ghetto, is being evicted by his landlords, the Robesons. To pay for his mother's cancer treatment, Fool is convinced by a man named Leroy to help him commit a burglary. Leroy, his associate Spenser, and Fool break into the Robesons' house. While searching for Spenser, Fool discovers his body and a group of strange, pale children locked in a dungeon-like basement. The Robesons return, and Fool is forced to flee into another section of the house where he encounters Alice, the Robesons' abused daughter, who reveals the dark truth about the children.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Poindexter "Fool" Williams, a resident of a Los Angeles ghetto, joins Leroy and Spenser to rob the Robesons, crooked landlords who evict tenants to sell buildings to gentrifiers. After breaking in, Spenser is killed, and Fool finds a basement filled with pale, cannibalistic children. Fool meets Alice, the Robesons' abused daughter, who explains the children were punished for breaking 'see/hear/speak no evil' rules. Fool is captured and thrown to the children but is saved by Roach, a boy hiding in the walls. Roach gives Fool gold coins and a plea to save Alice before dying. Fool and Alice escape through wall passageways, narrowly avoiding the Robesons' Rottweiler, Prince. Fool eventually learns the Robesons are inbred siblings who built their fortune through a funeral home. Fool reports them to child welfare. When Mommy tries to kill Alice, a crowd of evictees witnesses the crime. Fool frees the children, who kill Mommy. Fool then sets off explosives in the vault, destroying the house and blowing the money into the crowd, killing Daddy. Alice and Fool reunite in the basement as the freed children venture out.
- First release year
- 1991
- Runtime (minutes)
- 102
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Wes Craven
- Writers
- Wes Craven · writer
- Cast and characters
- Brandon Adams · Fool; Everett McGill · Daddy; Wendy Robie · Mommy; A. J. Langer · Alice; Ving Rhames
- Genres
- comedy horror; satire; exploitation; heist
- Themes
- gentrification; class warfare; capitalism; child abuse; cannibalism; incest
- Tone and mood
- satirical; dark humor; horror; raw
- Premise and plot tags
- social marginalization; home invasion; heist
- Source material / true-story basis
- A news story from the late 1970s about two burglars who broke into a Los Angeles household and discovered children locked away by their parents.
- Content notes
- cannibalism; child abuse; incest
- Reception
- The film was a surprise commercial success and received mixed or average reviews from critics. It was noted for its distinctive visual world, dark humor, and biting social commentary, though some critics found the humor broad and the terror lacking.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 57 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Production trivia
- The Robesons' house was the Thomas W. Phillips residence in Los Angeles.; The film was notable for its protagonist being a working-class Black child.; The film influenced Gerard Johnstone's horror comedy Housebound (2014).
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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