Subject: REVIEW: THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS

From: [email-masked] (Brian L. Johnson)
Date: 7 Nov 91 16:05:30 GMT

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                       THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS
                      A film review by Ken Johnson
                       Copyright 1991 Ken Johnson

95 min., R, Horror, 1991
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendie Robie, A.J. Langer, Bill Cobb,
      Kelly Jo Minter

     Brandon Adams's family is being evicted from their ghetto apartment
by the cruel landlord because they are three days late on the rent
payment.  Adams and two other older boys, to get the money for the rent,
plan to rob the landlord's house.  They go and case the house and one of
the boys goes in to get a layout of any alarm systems.  When he does not
come out and the landlord leaves the house, they suspect him of trying
to steal all the money for himself.  They break into the house to find
him and find that they are trapped by the house, and those who lurk in
it.

     THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS is rated R for explicit language and
graphic violence.  I give the film a five on a zero to five scale.  THE
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS is a definite must see for any fan of horror or
any fan of Wes Craven's work while it is still in the theaters.  I
recommend the film at full price.

     Being a big fan of Wes Craven's work I rushed out to the theater to
see THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS.  Wes Craven is the director of great
horror works such as DEADLY BLESSING a horror film about a girl that is
being terrorized by a religious group, THE SERPENT & THE RAINBOW a
voodoo horror film, SHOCKER a horror film about a man who was killed and
can travel through television sets and kill people, a television film
called CHILLER about a man who was cryogenically frozen who defreezes
and starts killing people, the now famous original A NIGHTMARE ON ELM
STREET film, and many others.  Each of Wes Craven's works are unique and
this one is no different.

     Craven's films, instead of being slasher films, have substance to
them.  I'm not saying that I dislike slasher films, I'm just saying that
Craven's films are different than most of the "modern horror films."
THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS does have graphic violence, but the main
point of the film is not to see how many people can be slaughtered; the
emphasis is more on the actual scare factor.  So, I recommend THE PEOPLE
UNDER THE STAIRS to anyone who wishes to see a good horror film but does
not like slasher films.  Like some of Wes Craven's work--excluding
SHOCKER, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, DEADLY FRIEND, and SWAMP THING--THE
PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS could possibly happen, which makes the movie all
the better.

     THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS, like most films, will lose some of its
impact when seen on a small screen television.  The special effects in
the film are very well done.  The house has a sinister look to it even
in the daytime.  Did anyone else who saw the film notice that the house
has the same basic floor plan of Freddy's house from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM
STREET?   The actors all put in good performances.  In a horror film
most people think that how good the actor's performance is has nothing
to do with the quality of the horror film, but it does.  If an actor
doesn't believe what he's acting then the people watching the film will
never believe it either.  So often, to save money, the actors in a
horror film have no ability which, in my opinion, harms the finished
product.  However, even though the cast of this film was mostly unknown
to me, the actors in the film have real ability.  The only actor in the
film that I recognized was Kelly Jo Minter.  I have seen her in films
like HOUSE PARTY, NEW JACK CITY, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM
CHILD, and POPCORN.

     So go out and see this film; night time is always the best time to
see a horror film.