The People Under the Stairs (1991)

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1. 

   EssexMutant

   Of all the things I might suspect to see in a horror film, Everett McGill running around in a gimp suit isn't one of them. 11 years 6 months ago
2. 

   Siskoid

   If I were to guess at Wes Craven's intentions with The People Under the Stairs, I'd say he wanted to give kids a transgressive "shh, don't tell mom I watched this" experience. It definitely plays like a kids movie, with child protagonists, cartoonish villains, and a Goonies-like adventure inside a Dutch-angled house with shades of Peter Pan... if Captain Hook were a crazy cannibal gimp. And that's where it gets transgressive. The gore, while fairly rare, is still pretty intense, too intense for the age group it seems to be pitched at and might thus never reach. As an older member of the audience, I was often frustrated with the Home Aloneness of it (especially all the shouting) and yet found many of the gags clever (the bit with the gold coins at the end, for example). Thrumming in the background is a story of gentrification and racial strife, which for adults is probably the more interesting aspect of this gonzo flick. I definitely wanted to like it more, but its crazy mix of tones didn't really work for me. 2 years 6 months ago
3. 

   Monteyn

   It has its 90's latenight TV charm. If I was a kid I could have been scared. 7 years 1 month ago

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