34 Years Later, Wes Craven's Most Unsettling Horror Gem Jordan Peele Adores Found Its Streaming Home
This underrated work by the great horror director, lost among his other big hits, deserves more attention from fans of the genre.
Jordan Peele's 2017 directorial debut won the hearts of critics and viewers alike. The former comedian who gave up acting directed the satirical horror film Get Out, which earned four Oscar nominations, including a rare combination for a debutant: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
It's hard to find a horror director who has escaped the influence of Wes Craven, and Jordan Peele is no exception. As a reference point for his debut, he chose a lesser-known but no less worthy classic of the genre – The People Under the Stairs.
What Is The People Under the Stairs About?
A Black boy nicknamed Fool wants to help his dying mother, so he is ready for anything for money. Together with an adult accomplice, he breaks into the huge house of a rich White couple. However, the couple returns and puts on a real bloody show for the robbers.
The boy discovers the terrible truth: the house consists of hellish traps and secret passages, and in the basement under the stairs the spouses keep kidnapped children who gradually lose their human appearance.
The People Under the Stairs Is Still Relevant Today
Horror movies usually do not stand the test of time very well. What was scary thirty years ago is now just laughable, and gallons of blood on the screen are no longer terrifying.
Not surprisingly, the genre is now trying to find a balance between form and content. Almost all modern horror gems, from The Babadook to It Follows, use more complex mechanisms.
If The People Under the Stairs were released today, it would fit perfectly into this "quiet" trend. Like many of Wes Craven's early works, the movie does not look like a hopelessly outdated artifact of the 90s.
This movie is not filled with jump scares and creepy ghosts, but it disturbs, digs into the viewer, pulling out hidden phobias that you do not want to talk about out loud.
The People Under the Stairs Is Wes Craven's Underrated Gem That Deserves More Attention
The People Under the Stairs is often lost among the director's other outstanding works – Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street – but it deserves a special place in Craven's filmography.
Not only does the director create a bloody Guignol out of the wild premise, but he also turns the horror into an acute social message in which the problems of class inequality and gentrification come to the fore. Without The People Under the Stairs, there would have been no The Collector, Don't Breathe, or Get Out.
Where to Watch The People Under the Stairs?
The People Under the Stairs will be available for streaming on Tubi on April 1st.
