Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The People Under the Stairs’

Written by Scott Edwards 

It is always difficult for people to stay ahead these days, no matter what the situation is.  As the price of living keeps going up, salaries fail to keep pace forcing families to take odd jobs to make ends meet. If you are able to find a job that can keep you in the green and your family well off, it is more of a blessing, but when you are replaced with somebody that will work for cheaper, it is easy for the business to make the decision to let you go. Most jobs are looking for the brightest new talent that they don’t have to pay that much for and as the job market gets smaller, it is difficult to find the right one that can help you make ends meet, especially if you are trying to take care of a family.

Times are tough for young Fool who has just found out that he and his family are about to be evicted. With his mother fighting cancer, she is not able to work, and his sister is doing what she can, but it is not enough to make ends meet. But there are always opportunities as Fool quickly finds out from Leroy who has a plan on how to get even with the stingy landlord, a treasure map that will lead to the end of all of their problems. Fool wants nothing to do with this, but when he sees that there is no other choice, he must take up with his sister’s boyfriend on a job that will make his life much easier.

Scouting the house of the landlord, Leroy, Spenser and Fool see that the front end seems to be unprotected, but when making his way to the back, Fool sees that it is covered in steel bars. Not being able to get inside as the Woman does not allow visitors into her house, Spenser needs to know what the group will be up against. Posing as a gas man, he is able to get into the house, but when he is in there long after the Woman leaves, Leroy and Fool have to find him to ensure that he is not taking the treasure for himself. Gaining entrance to the house the two start making their way through trying to find their friend, and much more, the treasure.

As Leroy ventures upstairs, Fool checks the basement that has a lock on the door. Walking down the stairs, he sees people in the shadows, but also Spenser lying face down on the floor. Seeing that the man is dead, Fool tries to get out of the basement as quickly as possible, but the group down below do not want him to leave. Being released from the basement by Alice, Fool knows that he will be forced to hide as he sees the owners of the house returning. Seeing Leroy face down like Spenser was, Fool fears for the worst, but when he sees that he is okay, he knows that the two of them have to get out of the house before they are discovered. As the Man and Woman of the house make it inside, they find that the house has intruders and lock the entire house down. With no chance of escape, hiding will not be enough for the two as they quickly find out. Leroy takes many shots to the chest and tries to get some time for the young Fool to escape, but there is no escaping the house and its vengeful ways.

Talk about one disturbing movie as the villains seem to be more psycho than advertised. I liked how the Man and Woman changed throughout the movie and the excitement that death brought them was just magical. If you don’t feel for Alice being locked away in the house, you may not have any emotions at all, since she was not there by choice, but forced to stay indoors at all time. As the Man and Woman are searching for the most perfect children that they can have, the kids must hear no evil, see no evil and of course, speak no evil, and if they do, they get punished pretty severely. The addition of Roach to the group is a nice way of showing that not all of the people in the house have gone insane just yet, and being able to show that Fool and Alice are not like the two adults upstairs, the boys that have been locked away for years know who to help when the time is right.  Stay Scared.

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