10 Most Underrated Horror Movie Villains
9. The Robesons (Everett McGill And Wendy Robie) - The People Under The Stairs
Wes Craven's subversive and underrated movie provides not one antagonist but two in the form of this twisted couple. With most movies, as in real life, the burglars are the bad guys. But In this 1991 chiller/dark comedy hybrid the couple being robbed are the real villains.
Although they're able to maintain a veneer of politeness, dress smartly and have managed to amass a fortune through successful business practices, the Robesons are a far cry from normalcy, or even sanity. "Mommy" and "Daddy" are actually brother and sister, descended from a long line of inbreeding. Daddy is a shotgun-toting, gimp suit-wearing maniac and Mommy is a cruel homemaker who likes to crochet lovely aphorisms like "Children should be seen and not heard" when she's not forcing daughter Alice into scalding baths for talking to boys.
If that wasn't bad enough, their booby-trapped home holds a legion of deformed boys imprisoned in the basement. Poor souls who are fed on the butchered remains of home invaders and presumably anyone else unfortunate enough to come knocking at that reinforced door.
Intended as a satirical commentary on the conservative values of Reagan-era America, the Robesons are actually a timeless reminder that sometimes the worst villains are hiding in plain sight, their secrets lurking behind closed doors.