It's a simple story: Just turned thirteen, Fool has some grown-up problems. His mother is sick and there's no money for a doctor and his family is about to be evicted by uncaring landlords. So when his sister's boyfriend comes up with a crazy plot (steal gold coins from said landlords to help pay for rent and a doctor) Fool decides it's time to be a man and fight his fears and do it. Trouble is, the landlords aren't just uncaring, they're downright insane, and soon Fool is trapped in their house of horrors with little chance of escape. Will he be able to overcome his fear and save the day? Now, here's the million dollar question: does all of that make this movie sound like more of a kid's adventure story than a horror movie? Well, like it or not, I don't see a problem with that because that's how I see this movie...how I've always seen it. I'll admit my bias here, it's going to be almost impossible for me to be objective about this movie, since I've loved it since I was a kid, but I'll try to explain why I love it so much without TOO much gushing.

Remember those movies you love as a kid, then when you go to re-watch them you gag and can't BELIEVE you ever liked them? Well, I was worried that might happen, but this movie held up so well I wanted to cheer at the end (ok, I DID cheer...but not too loudly, wouldn't want to wake the neighbors...) We open with an introduction that should be shown in film schools everywhere since it so effectively sucks people into the story...You see it in that conversation quoted at the beginning of this review; Fool is getting a birthday Tarot card  reading from his sister, and their conversation serves both as an introduction and a foreshadowing of what will happen throughout the rest of the film. We see right away how much Fools and his sister love each other in that brother-sister way, and how everyone seems to discount Fool's opinion because he's so young and naive. We see Fool's living situation, his loving but troubled family, and then we cut to a deranged and annoying man and woman and their tortured daughter. We soon learn that these people own the building form which Fool's family is soon to be evicted.

Don't look for gritty realism here, try to let your heart regress back to the age of twelve or so and just enjoy the ride, because there's lots of fun to be had if you do. The acting from the villains is over-the-top, and again, I think it's meant to be. In contrast, Fool and Alice, the deranged couple's daughter, give realistic, down-to-earth performances that balance out the film. The man and woman are like villains from a live-action Disney film, bumbling, purely evil, ridiculous... yet they kill, maim, and torture like villains from a... well, from a Wes Craven movie. Imagine that. Once Fool is in the house, the tension mounts as he discovers it truly IS a house of horrors: secret passageways, weapons, a vicious dog, and a horde of subhuman creatures in the basement and in the walls make for a foreboding atmosphere. How will he escape? Will he be able to convince Alice, the tortured daughter, to escape with him? Why are the cops completely unhelpful at every turn? Oh right...this is a Wes Craven movie.

There's not much to astound in the way of special effects for most of the movie. A phony-looking severed hand, a bright white skeleton chained in the basement, and a hokey animatronics dog are a few lowlights. But the brutality of the man and woman make them frightening without the need of special effects. And once the secret of the people under the stairs and in the walls is revealed, it's sufficiently creepy. Plus the violence near the end is better and one particular bloody corpse is gruesomely effective. Everything is resolved in an almost fairy-tale style in a climax that most reviewers seem to hate (judging form the reviews I've read) but I think fits perfectly with the tone of the rest of the movie. It's the way of all
journey stories, outlined clearly from the first lines of dialog: the hero must go on a quest, meet magical companions along the way, fight evil and overcome trials, and emerge on the other side as a changed man, stronger and wiser for having completed his quest. And that's exactly what happens throughout the course of this film. Long live Fool!

When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to watch horror movies, but my brother and I would often watch them when my mom was asleep or at work. Well, I remember watching this movie alone on TV when suddenly my mom walked in near the end of the film and asked, "What is this? Is it a horror movie?" to which I replied "...um...no..." Not just saving face, I make the same assertion here. It's not really a horror film, it's a movie tailor made for watching with your kids near Halloween. We care about the heroes, we hate the bad guys, we cheer at the end, and it's got enough brutality that I never forgot it was a Wes Craven film. Much is made of the heavy-handed social commentary, where the rich are evil and the poor (and ethnic!) are valiant and heroic, and I won't deny that, but I think it's more about keeping a "Robin Hood," "steal from the rich" adventure theme than anything else, or at least it seems that way to me. I repeat, I love this movie, so maybe I'm not objective, but I find so much to love here that I have a hard time believing YOU won't find something to love here, too. Like I said, it's just as cool as I remember it; I can't wait to watch it with my kids someday.

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