{"id":16093,"date":"2015-08-12T22:29:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T02:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=16093"},"modified":"2015-08-12T22:29:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-13T02:29:03","slug":"the-people-under-the-stairs-collectors-edition-1991-blu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/12\/the-people-under-the-stairs-collectors-edition-1991-blu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"The People Under the Stairs: Collector\u2019s Edition (1991) [Blu-Ray]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I think it\u2019s because of the inherent madness and weirdness of \u201cThe People Under the Stairs\u201d that it\u2019s managed to age so much more than previous Wes Craven outings. On the surface it looks like a typical horror movie, but deep down it\u2019s a wacky, darkly comic, and obscenely weird horror movie with some truly great performances. As is the case with most nineties movies it even has a touch of \u201cHome Alone\u201d sprinkled within its \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d themed narrative. I\u2019m surprised that I really liked \u201cThe People Under the Stairs\u201d since years ago when my dad bought it on VHS back in 1991, I thought it was absolutely terrible. Thankfully the movie has held up a great deal and is one of the most original films in Craven output of very unique horror offerings.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe People Under the Stairs\u201d is a sly play on the underbelly of suburban America that also comments on the class structure. Its pair of villains don\u2019t just try to keep down minorities in hellholes that are supposed to be apartment complexes, but they literally have a society of forgotten monsters beneath their feet and in their walls that they keep suppressed and out of sight from normal society. Within the bowels of the house is a mythical fortune that has been accumulated from years of murder, thievery, and corruption. Brandon Adams is a poverty stricken young boy nicknamed Fool, who lives with his single mother and sickly grandmother.<\/p>\n

Because of renovations being made to his apartment complex, he and his family are about to be put on the street, thanks to their rent being raised astronomically by their slumlords. Fool is made aware of a potential fortune lying within the house hold of the slumlords The Robesons. They\u2019re an insanely religious pair of individuals that keep their house built and equipped like a fortress. Fool learns that when he teams up with his mom\u2019s boyfriend Leroy to break in and steal a priceless coin collection they have stored. But things take a turn for the insane, when Leroy and Fool come across a plethora of obstacles, including booby traps, mysterious shadows within the belly of the house\u2019s walls, and the Robesons odd daughter who they keep trapped inside.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe People Under the Stairs\u201d watches like a twisted fantasy film with Fool seemingly pushed in to an utterly inescapable abyss that is the Robesons\u2019 house. Craven transforms their house in to its own character filled to the brim with unusual hidden areas, and vaults, all of which will help Fool escape, or spell his doom. Brandon Adams gives a very solid performance as the film\u2019s inadvertent hero, who finds himself planted in the middle of the couple\u2019s twisted machinations. Wendy Robie and Everett McGill are fantastic as the Robesons, both of whom delight in murder and mayhem, and turn in to our very own wicked villains as the film progresses. \u201cThe People Under the Stairs\u201d is a really solid and entertaining Wes Craven offering, one that really hasn\u2019t aged much and is still very original.<\/p>\n

Featured in the packed Blu-Ray release from Scream Factory is \u201cHouse Mother with Wendy Robie\u201d a nineteen minute an interview with Wendy Robie who offers articulate insight in to her villain in the film, and considerable back story. She also discusses her history with Shakespearian theater and \u201cTwin Peaks.\u201d \u201cWhat Lies Beneath – The Effects of “The People Under the Stairs”\u201d is a fifteen minute series of interviews with Howard Berger, Robert Kurtzman, and Greg Nicotero, all of whom discuss their careers and how they accomplished the film\u2019s unique special effects on such a miniscule budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouse of Horrors with Director of Photography Sandi Sissel\u201d is a sixteen minute interview with cinematographer Sandi Sissell, who discusses her background with film, and how she became a cinematographer. There\u2019s seven minutes of Behind the Scenes Footage is classic video footage that shows some candid footage, and a look at Rhames\u2019 fake body. There\u2019s the original theatrical trailer, TV Spots, a Vintage Making of Featurette, Original Storyboards, and a Still Gallery. Finally there are two audio commentaries. There\u2019s one with director Wes Craven and Red Shirt Pictures’ Michael Felsher, both of whom discuss the history of the film, issues related to the film, the inspiration for the film, and some fun discussion about Tarot. Finally, there\u2019s an audio commentary with Brandon Adams, A.J. Langer, Sean Whalen and Yan Burg. It\u2019s a decent commentary with some interesting anecdotes from the cast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think it\u2019s because of the inherent madness and weirdness of \u201cThe People Under the Stairs\u201d that it\u2019s managed to age so much more than previous Wes Craven outings. On the surface it looks like a typical horror movie, but deep down it\u2019s a wacky, darkly comic, and obscenely weird horror movie with some truly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[58,259,349,703,752,1087,1248],"class_list":["post-16093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-packed-april","category-movie-reviews","tag-action","tag-dark-comedy","tag-fantasy","tag-mystery","tag-p","tag-thriller","tag-wes-craven-horror"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16093"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16095,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16093\/revisions\/16095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}