You're a Fool, Boy...

Boy, what a long week this was.  We had a big fight on Tuesday, that started in my room no less, but that passed and was taken care of pretty quickly.  Wednesday and Thursday were block periods, so they were long, and today was my first Friday at school in weeks (thanks to being out for medical testing and what not) so it just dragged on and on.  But instruction-wise, it was an easy to handle week.  I guess I can't really complain...but boy am I ever glad that this weekend is a three day weekend.  I won't have to be back to school till Tuesday, very nice.  And this weekend has already started off well.  I got a haircut and a new iPhone from AT&T, they offered me a really good deal on an upgrade...so I've got all kinds of new things to play with this weekend.  The only downside is that this weekend is the first weekend that Patrick and I aren't gonna see each other.  Its too bad, but its necessary I guess.  I mean, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.  Anyway, tonight I'm revisiting a fun horror film from the 90s that is equal parts horror, comedy, and children's adventure.  If it wasn't so gory, I think it could have passed as a cousin to the dark fantasies of the 80s.  Anyway, enjoy a dark ride with me as we visit The People Under The Stairs.

Poindexter 'Fool' Williams is celebrating his 13th birthday today...though his day isn't exactly the best.  He and his family live in a slum, are about to be evicted by their landlords, and are dealing with a mother who has cancer.  They are too poor to pay the rent and too poor to care for their mother, so Fool agrees to burgle the landlord's home.  Getting in is pretty easy, but once he and his mentor in crime are inside, they find that stealing is the least of their worries.  Apparently, the landlord and his wife...known as Man and Woman in the credits...have turned the house into a maze of booby traps, secret passages, and things that go bump in the night in order to keep out the world.  Soon, Fool is trapped in the house alone and trying to outrun the crazed couple...as well as the strange people that live in their cellar.  The only one who can help him to escape is a girl named Alice who the Man and Woman are keeping as their daughter.  She is the only one who also knows the ins and outs of the house as well as Man and Woman, and the only one that they won't kill.

Wes Craven crafted a modern fairy tale worthy of Grimm's when he made The People Under the Stairs.  It combines Gothic horror with and old fashioned treasure hunt and the comedy of a children's movie and it is that whimsical nature that makes the film so easy to digest.  Frankly, the actual 'horror' isn't all that intense and the only reason its rated R is for gore and language.  If Craven had made the movie a little tamer he could have sold it to families...but instead he made a film that's too tame for hardcore audiences and too grown up for kids.  Its too bad too, because the story and the performances are really good.  Oh well, its a fine film for a Friday night...and its certainly worth seeing if you haven't already.  Its perfect for lightweights...so even Mom and Miss J could watch it.  Give it a whirl if you'd like a good haunted house style ride.

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