The People Under the Stairs (1991)
By: Craig Villinger.
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| Universal (Australia). Region 2 & 4, PAL. 1.85:1 (16:9 enhnaced). English DD 2.0. English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish subtitles. 97 Minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A.J. Langer, Sean Whalen, Bill Cobbs, Kelly Jo Minter
Screenplay: Wes Craven
Country: USA |
Despite the fact that many
hardcore horror fans despise his latter work, director
Wes Craven is seen as one of the true masters
of the horror genre. Creator of the hugely
successful Nightmare on Elm Street franchise,
and director of the Scream trilogy, he
does have an impressive record when it comes to
producing crowd pleasing horror movies, although The People Under the Stairs is
a long way off being one of his biggest box office
hits.
The story
centres on Fool (Brandon Adams). Fast approaching
his thirteenth birthday, he has very little to
celebrate, with his mother dying of cancer and
his family facing imminent eviction from their
apartment for being late with the rent.
However, local hoodlum Leroy (played by the always
likeable Ving Rhames) has a plan that may solve
all their problems. Together with his partner
in crime Spenser, the three plan to break into
the home of the landlord who is so cruelly evicting
Fool's family, and steal a prized collection of
gold coins that will net them all a small fortune.
This proves to be easier said than done, with
the strange looking house itself being so tightly
sealed up that the guys have quite a time trying
to break in. Once inside however, they find
that getting in was the easy part. It's
getting back out again that will be the real test
of their abilities! To make matters worse,
the occupants of the house could only be described
as "seriously disturbed", and it isn't long before
Fool begins to discover the horrible atrocities
that take place within its walls, and will soon
find out just who "The People Under the Stairs"
really are, and how they came to be there.
This is
definitely one of Wes Craven's more bizarre efforts,
and has little of the commercial appeal of some
of his more recent films. The nameless occupants
of the house (played by Everett McGill and Wendy
Robie) take insanity to new extremes, and in many
other films could have appeared as being "over
the top". Their performances however seem
to fit right in with the overall look and feel
of this particular movie. Craven keeps
things moving at a steady rate, and manages to
milk quite a bit of suspense from the film's numerous
"cat and mouse" sequences. If you are expecting
a slick, teen friendly horror film in the style
of Scream, then you may be disappointed,
but if you are looking for something a bit different,
then The People Under The stairs is well
worth a look. |
| Video |
| The
People Under the Stairs is presented in
a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with 16x9 enhancement.
At times, the image quality appeared less than impressive,
particularly during the darker moments of the film,
although this was perhaps due more to the source
material than the transfer quality. Shadow
detail appeared to be lacking slightly, but overall,
the transfer has no real faults, and is best described
as adequate rather than an outstanding. |
| Audio |
| A Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is the
only audio option on the disc. Dialogue is
always clear and easy to understand, and the musical
score, which plays a fairly important part in films
of this sort, sounds impressive enough. Although
there certainly aren't any real problems in the
audio department, the numerous off- camera sound
effects and creepy noises emerging from different
parts of the house (footsteps, creaking floorboards
etc) cry out for a full surround sound mix, and
this disc would have benefited greatly from a 5.1
channel audio track. |
| Extra Features |
| Apart from the various subtitling
options, a theatrical trailer for the film is the
only extra feature on offer. |
| The Verdict |
| This is by no means an outstanding
disc, but Craven fans should be happy with what
is on offer here. Considering the disc's low
price tag (AU$19.95), it may make for an interesting
addition to any horror fans DVD collection. |
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