A new twist on the rich feeding off the poor

Normally, I dislike Wes Craven. I find a lot of his films annoyingly formulaic and, well, boring.

Nonetheless, I love People Under the Stairs. The plot revolves around a 13-year-old boy named Fool who agrees to help rob a house to get money for his mother's operation. The house in question belongs to the landlord who is trying to foreclose on his apartment building, leaving Fool and his family homeless. Unfortunately for Fool (and even more unfortunately for his companions in crime), the landlord and his wife are not even close to what they appear to be. You see, they've been trying to raise a family -- but when the kids don't behave "properly," it's under the stairs for them with a diet of human flesh and only television for company.

This movie is one big, darkly humorous parable about the rich feeding off of the poor, literally and figuratively. It features a number of warped and weird plot twists, as well as any number of memorably funny scenes, especially between the landlord, his domineering and demented wife and his psychotic dog.

If you are easily offended or part of the politically correct set, this movie may not be for you. Craven seems to have deliberately set out to press as many taboos as possible -- child abuse, racial issues, class issues, and the list goes on -- but he does so though skilled dark comedy and easy-to-follow allegory. The plot is a little thin at some points, but generally forgivable for its many other hilariously gruesome moments.

Fans of movies like *Heathers* or *Apartment Zero* will probably find much to like in this movie.