10 Fun Horror Movies You Need To See

One of the horror genre's unassailable maestros, Wes Craven directed genre gems such as the early Scream movies, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes, and Red Eye. One effort of his that does not get enough attention compared to its (deserving) ilk is 1991's The People Under the Stairs, a hilarious horror feature that has a lot on its mind, and therefore a lot to say.

The plot follows Poindexter "Fool" Williams (Brandon Adams), a young resident of a Los Angeles slum who is facing eviction alongside his family at the hands of the Robesons (Everett McGill and Wendy Robie), a landlord couple who intend to sell Fool's home to gentrifiers. 

Understandably at his wits' end (compounded by his mother's need for surgery), Fool joins a burglary attempt in the Robesons' home alongside Leroy (Ving Rhames) and Spenser (Jeremy Roberts), and terrifying events featuring cannibalism, home invasions and a search for gold ensue.

Awash in gallows humour, The People Under the Stairs earns its laughs through the over-the-top nature of the Robesons, whose actors relish their cartoonishly evil personas and the subtext that accompanies their characterisations. Craven's script also has multiple flashes of humour, with its characters often espousing absurd but still amusing pieces of dialogue to highlight the wild nature of the story.