The People Under the Stairs is a strange film concerning some ghetto burglars and a house full of freaks. The ghetto folk break in and are quickly dispatched, all except for the kid, who is unfortunately the most irritating aspect of the film. Clearly they have picked the wrong house to turn over as this one is quite freaky. The setting is good, the gimp suit man and his sister are excellently cast and very disturbing. Even their daughter puts in a good turn and is well cast. Unfortunately the 'whatchatalkinboutwillis' jive talking kid is less fun to watch. What follows is mildly diverting but the repetitive crawling around in the attic and basement scenes quickly get boring. The people under the stairs themselves are freakish and alarming until you actually see them in full daylight when they look so unconvincing that you wish they'd stayed under the stairs and retained an element of menace. It's hard to sympathies with 'fool' the main character who is after all a little robber, personally I was cheering for the dog. Excellent casting (except for fool) and initially tense atmosphere gives way to an overly long film with very little substance and a silly ending. Not bad though, certainly worth watching.
Review of The People Under the Stairs
