Saturday, October 2, 2010

Tales From The Hood

Three young men enter a funeral home for a drug deal, and soon find themselves regaled by the mysterious mortician, who tells them tales of how the various corpses made their way to the home. In the stories - a man comes back from the dead to get revenge on the dirty cops who murdered him; a young child believes he was attacked by a monster in his closet, but soon finds he may have a special power that can help him fight it off; a racist politician is haunted by little dolls possessed with spirits of former slaves; a prisoner becomes involved with a very bizarre rehabilitation program in an effort to end his incarceration early.

Just after seeing a passable but disappointing African American themed horror movie, here was a pretty good one. Director Rusty Cundieff (who also did the funny Fear of a Black Hat) does an admirable job imitating the fun, somewhat tongue-on-cheek tone of Creepshow or Tales From The Crypt, while infusing it with some social commentary. The stories are tight and satisfying, and not beset with the bloat that dragged down From a Whisper to a Scream.

The best story is probably the second one. It has a nice fake-out regarding the nature of the "monster," leading you to believe it's one type of story when it's really another. It climaxes in a grotesque, hilarious act of violence that's a nifty special effect and not really something I'd seen before.

Grade: B

No comments: