The rent is too damn high

THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

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Wes Craven's "The People Under the Stairs" is either a laugh riot or just tongue-in-cheek comedy-horror, but I can't say one way or the other. Despite its subject matter, the movie is a wild freak show with elements of horror but, mostly, it will make you laugh. Intentionally or not, I can't say for sure.

A young kid from the ghetto, Fool (Brandon Adams), is living in an apartment with a sick mother dying of cancer and an older sister (Kelly Jo Minter) who merely watches over the family and hooks on the side. They are about to be evicted by their landlords, a pair of Ronald and Nancy Reagan lookalikes named the Robesons (Everett McGill and Wendy Robie), who are racist and certainly exclusionary to everyone except themselves. They live in a house guarded by a vicious dog that also holds other occupants, namely a frightened daughter who stays in her room and mutants who live in the cellar who need a dose of Vitamin D. The smooth-talking Leroy (Ving Rhames) is a thief and pimp who gets wind that the Robesons' domicile hides a treasure of valuable gold coins, which could be used to pay the rent and pay for Fool's mother's cancer. The only problem is gaining entrance to the house, not to mention dealing with a growling, vicious dog and more hidden passageways and secret doors than one can count.

There is a sense of menace to the roughly first forty minutes of the film, but then Wes Craven aims to shock and heighten every moment without pausing for much story development. The barking dog jumps out at our heroes, and sometimes the Vitamin D-deficient humans from the cellar attack from some lurking corner. "The People Under the Stairs" becomes a relentless chase picture inside a house where exiting and entering rooms is all the tyke Fool can do. Sometimes McGill's Robeson character dresses up in an S&M outfit and is armed with a shotgun, and sometimes he carves up a corpse and feeds the entrails to the people under the stairs. There is scant explanation on why these poor kids are kept in the house and why they have turned into cannibals, and why the neighborhood never hears them ranting and raving like lunatics.

I mostly laughed at the absurdity of it all in the middle of the film, and grew restless by the time the hectic climax arrives. Fool is an engaging hero and Brandon Adams makes us care for his misadventures. I'll also say that Wes Craven can come up with some clever, original ideas yet, as was the case with the overcooked "The Serpent and the Rainbow," he loses our interest by not fully investing himself in the story. 'The People Under the Stairs" is funny and diverting enough but I have no real clue what Craven is attempting here. I suppose it is nothing more than a case of the Haves and Have Nots. Or maybe just steal from the rich landlords so you can pay your rent.