Wes Craven’s 1991 film The People Under the Stairs is best known for its blend of horror and surprisingly bizarre, off-the-wall humor. Who better then to direct a remake than Jordan Peele, who got his start as a comedian, and has recently broken into the horror film business with projects including Us, Candyman, and the massively successful Get Out. While Peele’s company, Monkeypaw, is confirmed to be producing the remake, fans hope that Peele will step into the role of director, writer, or perhaps even actor – or all of the above.
The film tells the story of a young boy appropriately nicknamed “Fool” (Brandon Adams) who breaks into the home of his too-cheerful landlords the Robesons in hopes of preventing his upcoming eviction. Fool soon discovers that the “squeaky-clean” Robesons are not what they appear, but are in fact a pair of psychotic incestuous lovers who keep a tribe of cannibal children – the titular “people under the stairs” – locked up in their house. Fool is forced to use his wits and every tool at his disposal in order to escape from the house alive.
Peele’s horror films have been particularly praised for their biting, accurate social commentary. A remake of The People Under the Stairs would be the perfect opportunity for Peele to showcase this talent, as the villainous Robesons could easily be molded into a satire of any numbers of celebrities or political figures.
While Craven himself passed in 2015, he was known to be working on a TV adaptation of this film prior to his death. Hopefully, he would approve of Peele and Monkeypaw bringing his vision back to the big screen.
The People Under the Stairs is currently 29 years old, leading fans to theorize that Peele’s remake may be released sometime in 2021 to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is not yet known whether this would be possible.
