Why so much hype?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Yes I see the Pulp Fiction stuff. Yes I see the Annihilator the bands cover so called Allison In Hell. It's a different kind of movie. Still just an average movie. 5 stars not above.

In an L.A. Neighborhood, 13 year old boy named Fool (Brandon Adams) has problems as he just turn 13 and has a dying mother, there the landlords want to kick him and his family out. Leroy (Ving Rhames) who is a family friend wants to help Fool break into the wealthy greedy landlords (Everett McGille and Wendy Robie) where a fortune of gold coins is rumored to be inside the house. Yet what they discover once inside the house is terror like the dog that would attack them to finding out that they kidnapped and tortured boys to put them in the cellar like animals who are turned into deformed creatures. Fool must find a way to get out of the house with the help of the adopted daughter of the couple named Alice (AJ Linder).Very entertaining, unsual and well made horror comedy thriller from Wes Craven is one of his finest films. He was inspired to write this film after reading a real-life news story about burglars breaking into a house. When authorities arrived, the burglars had disappeared but they discovered locked doors with noises coming from behind. Children had been locked up inside the rooms by their parents, never allowed to go outside. This movie deals with the themes of incest since the evil couple in this movie are siblings and cannibalism thrown into it along with the themes of abuse and all. Wes's direction is quite fine for this movie and i like how suspensful and thrilling this movie is including about the screwed up darkside of some neighborhoods especially the Robeson couple being an incestious one who likes to kidnap young males to torture them even cut off their tounges or eyes or ears for speak no evil hear no evil or see no evil which is quite messed up subject matter. The performance by the lead kid who plays Fool is quite likable and does a solid job as this is one of the rare horror movies that has a kid for a lead and i like that aspect of it. The couple from Twin Peaks in this movie does a solid job as the psycho mother and father, you actually despise the evil characters in this movie and want them to die because they are totally despicable pieces of inhuman monster crap. Sean Whalen did a great job playing Roach the mute deformed young man in this movie who helps Fool. Saw this in theaters as a kid and enjoyed it, this movie became a hit and a cult fave that influenced many films even the recent Resident Evil 7 as one of it's influences. Recommended if you want something fun.Similar movies recommended: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2", "Leatherface Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning", "The Burbs", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003", "Flowers in The Attic", "House by The Cemetery", "House (1986)", "Fright Night", "Day of the Dead", "Basket Case", "Motel Hell", "Mother's Day (1980)", "Isand of Lost Souls (1932)", "House of 1000 Corpses", "The Devil's Rejects", "Hellraiser", "Crawlspace", "The Unseen".

In desperate need of money to pay the rent, a teenager breaks into his landlord's home, only to discover it booby-trapped and full of 'prisoners' who live within the walls and under the floorboards in this darkly comic horror movie from the mind of Wes Craven. As others have noted, the film is structured as a fairy-tale with the young protagonist taking it upon himself to liberate the prisoners and foil the evil landlord and landlady so that the poor folks in his neighbourhood can survive, yet the film works best when Craven concentrates less on the story and more of the sheer strangeness of the situation. The narrative has quite a few gaps (most strikingly, why the landlord and landlady feed their prisoners, give them flashlights and let them survive) but the absolutely uncanny nature of the story keeps things afloat and this is one of few films equally as funny as it is scary. While much of the humour is very dark, give or take Everett McGill and Wendy Robie's deliberately accentuated performances, there is some highly amusing slapstick humour in the mix such a dog sliding out of the laundry chute like a kid on an amusement park ride! The architecture of the house is also a wonder to be hold with hidden passageways, rigged staircases and electric shock door handles. Whether the film has a lot to say as a satire is debatable, but the central concept works fairly well with the landlord and landlady literally driven insane by their greed and their greed finally reaching such an extent that it leads to their downfall. As mentioned, the film is a fairy-tale of sorts. Imagine 'Hansel and Gretel' meets 'Robin Hood' and you will have half an idea of what to expect, though nothing matches the experience of actually watching this bizarre little gem.

It's a horror movie in concept, but not entirely in execution. I'd call it kooky and bizarre, with some social and political commentary thrown in around the margins.A young boy and two older criminals break into their landlord's mansion, hoping to score a loot that will help them pay off the increased rent. To get more than they bargained for would be an understatement. Personally, I got most of my enjoyment from the reunion of Twin Peak's Big Ed and Nadine, doing their best to bring the camp levels through the roof. Big Ed running around the house dressed in a gimp suit with a shotgun in tow screaming bloody murder is a sight to behold.While the story is fun in a backwards Home Alone sort of way, I thought Craven really struggled balancing the right tone. There are scenes that are too gruesome and scary for children, but the tension never materialized and the titular people under the stairs are never used to incite fear. I guess I just couldn't get a grip on what it was exactly trying to do, and it hampered my enjoyment.It's still a decently fun watch, something I wish I experienced at a younger age, to be sure.