The People Under the Stairs – Review

I always had such a strange impression of this film as growing up I would only catch scattered portions of it on cable TV from time to time. It definitely creeped me out and I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Watching the entire flick in one sitting while older doesn’t solve all the strangeness, but it does help a bit.

Poindexter Williams, aka Fool (Adams) awakens in his cramped room to his mother’s coughing and crying and his sister Ruby trying to help. Leroy (Rhames) sits at the kitchen table. He informs Fool that they are getting evicted over a 3-days late payment. They are the last family in the building, and the landlord wants to tear it down. The lease also says if payment is late, then a 3x amount is due.

The landlords themselves, Eldon (McGill) and “Mommy” (Robie) want condos and “clean people” and more money. Their daughter asks what happens to all the evicted people, and her mother tells her to shut her face. These people are total winners, still fitting right into modern day’s capitalistic values.

Fool is off when daylight hits, looking to make some ends through a job from Leroy. After making a quick run, Leroy tells Fool and Ruby the landlord’s address and about a score in their home, which he happens to have the location of.

As Fool looks to help his mama, sister and himself while taking down evil landlords, shit kicks off in even more unexpected ways. Fool is clever and brave, but he will have to use all of his wits to make it through the presented peril. Enter the insane-o horror in suburbia and find out what lurks below the floorboards.

Wes Craven crafted an offbeat horror film with The People Under the Stairs. It is darkly comic at times, despite following pragmatic themes and dark story beats. The horrible landlords are all too real, despite aggressively disturbing behavior presented in the movie. If you can get into the oddball atmosphere and vibe of this film, you’ll have a pretty good time.

If you watch this film while young, it will probably confuse you and scar you for life, so definitely show it to your tiny kids, if possible.

Side note: People Under the Stairs was also a great rap duo outta Los Angeles, unrelated to this other than name.