#4 - The People Under the Stairs (1991)

The People Under the Stairs (1991)

This movie was, well... not what I expected, to say the least. The family of a young boy who lives in the ghetto faces eviction, so he and a couple of adult burglars attempt to break into the house of the landlord to steal some gold coins. Once inside, they are trapped and have to fight off the huge guard dog as well as the creepy... things... that live in the basement. However, things quickly take a turn for the insane, and the film becomes a sort of fucked up and gory "Home Alone". The tone constantly careens back and forth between straight and slapstick, with ridiculously over-the-top villains and Tom & Jerry style chase scenes that end in pretty graphic gore.

I'm not really sure what Wes Craven was going for here. It is definitely intentionally funny, but it almost feels like a kid's movie sometimes - that is, right up until someone gets eviscerated and fed to the horde of abused and neglected children living in the walls. Bizarre, but also pretty entertaining.