The People Under the Stairs (1991) - Quotes

Questioning Parental Identity and Reality

Fool: Listen Alice, they're not your real parents.

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Communication Barriers in a Troubling Environment

Fool: [''After Roach rescues him from "Daddy"''] Thanks.

Fool: [''To Alice''] He doesn't talk much, does he?

Alice: His tongue's cut out.

Alice: Mommy caught him trying to call for help one day, and Daddy had to teach him to...

Fool: [[w:Three wise monkeys|Speak no evil] ], right?

Fool: Your father's one sick mother, you know that? Actually, your mother's one sick mother, too!

Alice: Shh! You're speaking evil! They'd kill you if they heard a word you just said.

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Exaggeration in Life-and-Death Situations

Alice: He said he killed you!

Fool: He was exaggerating.

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Tension and Frustration in a Difficult Situation

Man: Some niggers robbed the store.

Woman: Again? May they burn in hell.

Man: I'm very tense from this.

Woman: You have one of your headaches?

Man: Ooh... very VERY tense about this.

Woman: Alice has been bad. She's been feeding that thing between the walls again.

Alice: No... no...

Woman: [''Woman leaves and Man begins taking off his belt to punish Alice''] Remember not to bruise her face.

Man: [[w:eternal damnation|burn in hell] Bad girls... ].

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Justice for the Unjustly Evicted

Ruby Williams: My name is Ruby Williams and I represent the association of people who have been unjustly evicted, exploited and generally fucked over.

Woman: What?

Ruby Williams: You and your brother are landlords of over 50 buildings in this city, ALL of which you've allowed to deteriorate into rat infested hellholes while you guys get rich charging ridiculous rents. THEN, you evict anyone the minute they can't pay rent so you can tear down their homes and build some more office buildings, isn't that about right?

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A Tense Ultimatum in a Dangerous Situation

Fool: Hey!

Fool: You shoot me, and you die too, man. And you better believe it. Don't be crazy now. There's enough dynamite back there to blow you sky high. Not the best place to store it, in my opinion. But there it was. Now just put the gun down.

Fool: Put the gun down. I don't wanna kill you, but I will cuz I don't like you much anyway.

Fool: I'm tired of fucking around! So either put the gun down now, or kiss your ass goodbye, boy!

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A Birthday Boy's Reluctant Acceptance

Ruby Williams: Now here's your card, Fool. See? That's where l got your nickname.

Fool: Don't remind me!

Ruby Williams: Here you go. Today. The golden-haired birthday boy is settin off on life's big adventure.

Fool: I ain't no golden-haired nobody! All l'm goin on to is seventh grade.

Ruby Williams: Well, you're the Fool, and you can't escape that. That ain't bad.

Fool: No?

Ruby Williams: No. Ain't the stupid kind of fool. The ignorant kind, cos you're just startin out.

Fool: That's better, l guess.

Ruby Williams: Ah, but look here. Already he's got a problem, see? One step in front Fool: the drop-off.

Fool: What about the dog?

Ruby Williams: That's Fool's companion. See his spirit barking? "Fool! Don't go marching over that cliff, now! Do the smart thing. The high thing.

Fool: So what Fool gonna do if he ain't gonna go off the cliff? Fly?

Ruby Williams: He gonna do what he have to, Fool. Turn around and walk the other way, right through the fire of the sun.

Fool: He'll get burned up if he do that.

Ruby Williams: Just the boy part get burned up. The rest come out the other side a man. And no one calls him "Fool" again.

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Confrontation Escalates Among the Characters

Ruby Williams: What're you gonna do, shoot us all?

Woman: You'll do!

Alice: [''Drops out of the ceiling and knocks the Woman's head against the floor''] No!

Ruby Williams: Damn, she knocked that bitch cold!

Second man: Look at her, what they doing to her in there?

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Secrets of the Cellar Revealed

Alice: People have tried.

Fool: [''Alice nods''] You mean, the people in the cellar? Who are they?

Alice: Mommy and Daddy looked a long time to find the perfect boy child, but each one they found turned out bad. Some saw things they weren't supposed to, others heard too much, others talked back. Daddy cut out the bad parts, and put the boys in the cellar, one by one. They get flashlights and food of some kind. I suppose they're happy in their own way.

Fool: Yeah right. What about you? How come they haven't put you in the cellar?

Alice: I do not see, or hear, or speak evil. It's the only way.

Fool: [''Hears screaming from within the walls''] What is that?

Alice: What?

Fool: That yelling! What is that?

Alice: Well, that's Roach.

Fool: Roach?

Alice: That's who Daddy's hunting. See, Daddy hates Roach because he got out of the cellar and into the walls, and now Daddy can't find him.

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A Conversation Between Fool and Alice

Fool: My name is Fool. What's yours?

Alice: [''Shyly''] Alice.

Fool: Don't be scared. You never seen a brother before?

Alice: Never had a brother.

Fool: No, I mean a black dude. There's black folks in this neighborhood.

Alice: Neighborhood?

Fool: The neighborhood. You know, outside.

Alice: Well, that's outside, not in here.

Fool: So you get outside, don't you?

Fool: You sayin never?

Alice: Can't get out. No one ever has.

Fool: Well, I'm gonna get out. I'm a whole other thing.

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A Warning About a Dangerous Family

Grandpa Booker: Meanwhile, you be careful. That brother and sister act you mess with are evil, plain and simple.

Fool: Wait a minute, brother and sister?

Grandpa Booker: Brother and sister. Tailend of the craziest family you ever heard of. Every generation more insane than the one before it. Started out as a family running a funeral home, selling cheap coffins for expensive prices. Then they got their fingers into real estate, started making a lot of money taking over people's homes. The more money they got, the greedier they got. The greedier they got, the crazier they got. All sorts of rumors about what's going on in that place. Never proved it because the police never took it serious. But believe me, when I was a kid, none of us ever walked past that house.

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A Wish for Eternal Damnation

Man: May they burn in hell.

Woman: Forever and ever in hell.

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Desire for Escape and Its Paradox

Fool: Well I don't want in, I want out.

Alice: Sometimes in is out.

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The Discovery of Spencer's Fate

Leroy: You seen Spencer?

Fool: I seen Spencer, alright.

Leroy: You find anything?

Fool: Something found him. He's dead, Leroy. I think scared to death.

Leroy: Y- you sure?

Fool: You thought he was white before, you should see that sucker now!

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Defiance in the Face of Adversity

Alice: [''To the woman''] Go to hell!

Wealth and Poverty Share Common Problems

Leroy: Nice to see the rich folks got rats too.

Perceptions of Life and Death

Leroy: Just because a man's lying down doesn't mean he's dead!

Unexpected Approach Like an Airplane

Leroy: He came at me like an airplane or something!

Breaking into the House's Secrets

Leroy: We done popped this house's cherry.

A Humorous Aspiration for Power

Leroy: Yeah, and maybe the President will make me Secretary of Pussy.

Alert About X-Ray Lady's Presence

Fool: [[w:Detroit|Detroit] That X-ray lady's back, she's out back right now by the van. She's got a man with her the size of ].

Insulting a Furry Companion's Mother

Fool: [''To [[w:Rottweiler|Rottweiler dog] Hey fuzzball! Your mother sleeps with cats!

Questioning Unusual Abilities of a Character

Fool: How did Spenser get past her? She's got X-Ray eyeballs!

Economic Struggles in Urban Communities

Fool: [''Looking over money stash of the landlords''] No wonder there's no money in the ghetto!

Desire for vengeance and justice expressed

Woman: Then she can burn in hell. Both of them.

Questioning Ownership of an Object

Woman: You didn't lick this, did you?

Disillusionment with authority and comfort food

Woman: I don't want to see another cop or cookie in my life. I don't know which one makes me sicker.

A Mother's Frustration with Her Children

Woman: What's a mother to do? Lazy brat sits in her room all day, sewing dolls. Children misbehaving in the basement! And one in the wall, doing his business God knows where. You kids will be the death of me... the death of me.