Fool: Craven's Underrated Scream King

When you think of Scream Queens, your top choices probably include Nancy Thompson and Sidney Prescott. Both finals girls come from the same horror icon, the late Wes Craven

But there’s another one of Wes Craven's works that not only is underrated but has a Scream Queen (or should I say Scream King) that stands on par with the other final stars, even though he's a preteen. 

People Under the Stairs (1991) is a film most horror fans haven't heard of it or have scrolled passed it in Craven's filmography. Maybe, you looked it up when a character dropped the title in The Blackening (2022) or laughed, understanding what they meant. I didn't know of it until I took a “Black Horror” class in my junior year of college. 

Fool, played at the time by a twelve year old Brandon Quintin Adams, carries the film on his shoulders, similar to what Macaulay Culkin did in Home Alone (1990). Him and his family are about to get evicted from their already poorly maintained apartments by their landlords, the Robeinsons. Besides the eviction, Fool is more worried about losing his mom to cancer due to the cost of treatment. However, his sister's boyfriend and another family friend, enlists Fool to help them to steal money from the Robeinsons due to his size and promise to share the money for Fool's mom's surgery. 

However, the robbery goes awry when one of the Fool's accomplices is found dead, surrounded by pale, cannibalistic children and the other accomplice is shot dead by "Daddy" Robeinson. Fool is alone with cannibal children, two racist, evangelical white adults, chasing him down with guns, locked inside. But because not only because Adam's charisma is infectious, but Fool is an intriguing and smart character. 

Not wanting to get into spoilers for the whole film (because I want more people to see it), but as stated, a majority of the film relies on Fool surviving on his own with a few allies helping him while being hunted through the house. In most horror, especially ones that have scream queens, there are a group of people that the film relies on keeping the viewer intrigued and annoyed. Even though there are two characters, Alice and Roach, helping Fool, he is majority on his own, trying to not just escape himself but also rescue Alice and Roach from the place that they call “home" and what they know. 

For a Black child to lead a Wes Craven flick, who is already well  regarded as one of the best horror directors of all time, especially a film in general, where he doesn't die and isn't a walking stereotype, is great to see. Fool is the hero of the story. He is the one who saves the day and saves the neighborhood. For many kids back then and today, they see themselves in him. Since the themes of this film are sadly still constant in our world, it is good for people to see themselves and understand others, especially in a genre like horror that delves into worst situation imaginable. And for the main character, the scream queen, king or royal, they come on top against the bad.