Maybe I shouldn’t have watched The People Under the Stairs so soon after all the killings of unarmed black men by police? While The People Under the Stairs is clearly a dated horror film with an obnoxiously intrusive soundtrack and not one of the best films made by the great Wes Craven, it is also an insightful allegory/modern take on a fairy tale about the historically problematic issues of race, gender and class in this country. The system is built to see the victims as criminals and the perpetrators as needing protection despite their literal and metaphorical cannibalistic and abusive tendencies against the broader community for their own twisted satisfaction. By the end, you wonder if the police will see the truth even though it is now exposed for everyone to see or will the community and the victims’ celebration abruptly come to an end?
Side note: Am I the only one who thought of Jeffrey Dahmer being repeatedly vindicated by the police despite screams, smells and even young boys fleeing his apartment in a predominantly black neighborhood?