Wes Craven is most well-known for A Nightmare on Elm Street but he actually has a ton of other films, some were hits, some were not. I had actually forgotten that I had even seen this movie because I was quite young. Since it is rated "R" I likely wasn't supposed to be watching it but you know, we had our ways.

This is another one of those situations where there was no internet to get an idea about a film and I wouldn't have been subjected to the movie trailer because I was too young in 1991 to be exposed to it. I likely saw the cover art in a video rental shop and thought the art was cool and that was all it took for me to want to see it. Basically anything with a skull on it piqued my interest. I think it still does.

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The story is about a feared house in the "hood" that a group of thieves decide to burgle one day. They use a young boy nicknamed "Fool" (terrible nickname) in order to gain access to the house and well, since obviously the people inside the house are the horror aspect of this movie, things go terribly wrong for the would-be-criminals.

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As it turns out the owners of the house, named "Mommy" and "Daddy" are inbred psychopaths that have, as the title would suggest, a bunch of monstrous prisoners under their stairs. The house is also outfitted with a bunch of deadly traps and secret passageways, which are completely impractical given the exterior shots that show the house is nowhere near as big as it appears in the scenes. However, it's fiction and we just have to roll with it.

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This film likely acheived its "R" rating because it is extremely bloody and graphic. The language isn't too course but it is a bloodbath. The twist in the film might not surprise everyone, but for barely teenage me I found it shocking.

While this is by no means a kid's movie, it was a kid's movie for me and I have fond memories of it. I really think it stands up to the test of time and is still entertaining today. The movie (as I mentioned) was a surprise hit as it ended up making 5 times the budget back at the box office. If you are a gore / horror fan and you haven't seen this one, i suggest you get a hold of it soon. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

7/ 10