Tales from the Hood (1995) Savoy/Horror RT: 98 minutes Rated R (graphic brutal violence, pervasive language/racial epithets, drug material) Director: Rusty Cundieff Screenplay: Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott Music: Christopher Young Cinematography: Anthony B. Richmond Release date: May 24, 1995 (US) Cast: Clarence Williams III, Joe Torry, Samuel Monroe Jr., De’Aundre Bonds, Anthony Griffin, Tom Wright, Wings Hauser, Michael Massee, Duane Whitaker, Brandon Hammond, Rusty Cundieff, Paula Jai Parker, David Alan Grier, Corbin Bernsen, Roger Guenveur Smith, Art Evans, Christina Cundieff, Lamont Bentley, Rosalind Cash, Ricky Harris, Rick Dean. Box Office: $11.8M (US)
Rating: *** ½
Writer-director Rusty Cundieff (Fear of a Black Hat), in creating the horror anthology Tales from the Hood, made a socially conscious scary movie with an added layer of dark humor to offset the serious issues it tackles- e.g. police brutality, domestic abuse, racism and gang violence. It came out in the mid-90s, a time when the names Rodney King and David Duke were still fresh in the collective mind of the American public. Urban neighborhoods were battlegrounds with rival gangs shooting at each other with no regard for the innocent bystanders (including young children) caught in the crossfire. Cundieff and co-writer Darin Scott take these real-life issues and weave cool fantastical tales around them.
The wraparound story (“Welcome to My Mortuary”) has three gangbangers showing up at an inner-city funeral home to do business with the spooky director Mr. Simms (Williams, The Mod Squad) who claims to be in possession of a significant quantity of drugs. As he guides them through his parlor, he regales them with stories about some of his “clients”.
The first one (“Rogue Cop Revelation”) is about a young black cop (Griffith, Panther) who witnesses three of his white colleagues assault a man (Wright, Marked for Death) who turns out to be a black activist targeting dirty, drug-dealing cops. He ends up dead and the rookie cop quits the force. A year later, the activist rises from his grave to exact revenge. Story number two (“Boys Do Get Bruised”) features a young boy (Hammond, Menace II Society) who claims that a monster is responsible for the bruises a teacher (Cundieff) finds on his person. Of course, it’s really the work of his abusive stepfather (Grier, In Living Color) who’s also beating on the kid’s mother (Parker, Friday). In the third (“KKK Comeuppance”), a racist politician running for governor (Bernsen, Major League) takes up residence in a former plantation supposedly haunted by the souls of the slaves murdered there by their master when slavery ended. Legend has it their souls were transferred to small dolls by a hoodoo witch and still reside in the house somewhere.
The final tale (“Hard-Core Convert”) concerns a hardcore thug (Bentley, The Wash) sentenced to life without parole after murdering a rival gangbanger. He gets a chance at early release if he agrees to participate in an experimental rehabilitation process being overseen by Dr. Cushing (Cash, The Omega Man). His ticket to freedom hinges on him accepting responsibility for his crimes. If he doesn’t, obviously he’s screwed.
I forgot how much I liked Tales from the Hood until I popped in my DVD copy this morning. It’s the first time I saw it since the advance screening more than a quarter century ago. I was stunned by how it still holds up after all this time. Thematically, it’s as relevant now as it was in ’95. I think that’s all that needs to be said on this subject. Nobody wants to read one more word on today’s state of affairs.
As a scary movie, it’s GREAT! Tales from the Hood represents old school horror filmmaking with its practical effects, stop-motion animation and matte paintings. The gore and splatter is good, old-fashioned stage blood. The killer dolls aren’t computer-generated. The makeup by Screaming Mad George is top-notch. Of course, I’m measuring all of this by B-movie standards. Tales from the Hood looks cheap, especially when compared to the megabudget spectacles playing in the adjacent theaters at your local multiplex. That’s NOT a bad thing in my book. I like the look of it very much.
Kudos to cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond and production designer Stuart Blatt for their solid work. They make Tales from the Hood look like a live-action EC comic book minus the framing shots from Creepshow, still the best horror anthology movie EVER. It’s concrete proof that good movies can be made for far, far less than the national debt. Cundieff got a lot of bang for his bucks, six million of them to be exact.
As far as the acting goes, camp is the word. Williams delivers a deliciously OTT performance as the funeral director/tale teller with a big surprise up his sleeve for his guests. Bernsen reaches similar heights as a buffoonish bigot who, at one point, defends himself with the American flag. Wings Hauser, better known as psycho pimp Ramrod in Vice Squad, does great work as a racist cop in the first story. Grier sheds his usual comic persona to play a vile abuser seen as a monster by his scared stepson. He nails it. Cash is also very good as a mad scientist named for a famous horror actor.
Every anthology movie has at least one story that doesn’t land. That’s not the case with Tales from the Hood. I think all of the stories are good with “KKK Comeuppance” being the best. I’ll grant that “Hard-Core Convert” is highly derivative of A Clockwork Orange, but Cundieff makes it work. The movie is well written with equal measures of social commentary and humor. It has a few choice lines of dialogue too. As the thugs approach the funeral home, one says to the other, “If a dead motherf***** come f*****‘ wit you, you kill his ass!” Simms’ closing line is straight out of the Samuel L. Jackson playbook.
If you dig B-level horror flicks that move to a hip-hop beat, you won’t be disappointed by Tales from the Hood. It’s so DOPE!
