The People Under the Stairs
| The People Under the Stairs | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Wes Craven |
| Written by | Wes Craven |
| Produced by | Stuart M. Besser Marianne Maddalena |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sandi Sissel |
| Edited by | James Coblentz |
| Music by | Don Peake Graeme Revell |
Production company | Alive Films |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $31.3 million |
The People Under the Stairs is a 1991 American comedy horror film written and directed by Wes Craven, and starring Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A. J. Langer and Ving Rhames. The plot follows a young boy and two adult robbers who become trapped in a house belonging to a neighborhood's crooked landlords after breaking in to steal their collection of gold coins as the boy learns a dark secret about them and what also lurks in their house.
Craven has stated that The People Under the Stairs was partially inspired by a news story from the late 1970s, in which two burglars broke into a Los Angeles household, inadvertently causing the police to discover two children who had been locked away by their parents. The film was a surprise commercial success, and has been analyzed for its satirical depiction of gentrification, class warfare, and capitalism.