30 Best Hidden Gem Horror Movies Perfect For Halloween

Wes Craven’s earlier horror movies, Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, packed a punch in shock value and scares, but were also fueled by biting political commentary on 1970s society. As Craven’s career grew more successful, so did the bite lessen, until this early ’90s effort that might be his most viciously satirical yet.

In The People Under the Stairs, a trio of underprivileged young men from a Los Angeles ghetto attempts to rob their merciless landlords in a home invasion, but the tide turns when they discover the house is a fortified mansion filled with booby traps, bloodthirsty residents, and ghoulish creatures living in the basement.

Part of the fun of this overlooked film is how a seemingly grounded, grimy tale transforms into almost a fairy-tale fable. 13-year-old protagonist Brandon Quintin Adams makes a solid lead - the naïve tagalong who steps up into the role of full-blown hero - facing off against the wickedly paired Everett McGill and Wendy Robie, both genre veterans who had played off each other for years in the Twin Peaks TV show and ham it up deliciously here.

Craven delivers his trademark tension and set pieces, with the topsy-turvy location playing a major part in the thrills. He also offers one of the era’s most scathing commentaries; as Los Angeles reeled from the Rodney King beating and the unrest that followed, the director channels a cathartic anger that runs through the entire film, whilst also delivering just a good old time for horror fans.