The People Under the Stairs
1991 · Movie · R · 103 min · ★ 6.6 · 64% critics
A cash-strapped kid joins two would-be burglars to break into a wealthy landlord’s heavily secured home, only to get trapped inside. As the night turns into a frantic game of hide-and-seek through booby-trapped rooms and hidden passages, they uncover disturbing secrets and desperate captives concealed within the house.
Also known as Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs
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Details
- Years
- 1991
- Release date
- 1991-11-01
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Critic score
- 64/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.6/10 (758 votes)
- Box office
- $31,300,000
- Budget
- $6,000,000
About
If you want a weird, darkly comic horror-thriller with booby-traps, secret passages, and social bite, this delivers; Not for you if you dislike campy brutality, implausible setups, or tonal whiplash—try Motel Hell or Parents for similar offbeat unease.
Pros: darkly funny scares; inventive trapped-in-house setup; creepy villain couple | Cons: uneven tone shifts; some plot holes; ending feels cheesy
Themes
- child abuse
- escape
- shotgun
- serial killer
- landlord
- wrongful imprisonment
- cannibal
- incest
- blunt
- mental illness
- break in
- psychotic
- +19 more
Cast & crew
Brandon Quintin Adams
as Fool
Everett McGill
as Man
Wendy Robie
as Woman
A. J. Langer
as Alice
Ving Rhames
as Leroy
Sean Whalen
as Roach
Bill Cobbs
as Grandpa Booker
Kelly Jo Minter
as Ruby Williams
Jeremy Roberts
as Spencer
Conni Marie Brazelton
as Mary
Directed by Wes Craven