Day Thirty: "Tales from the Hood" Anthology
Tales from the Hood is an African-American horror anthology from Rusty Cundieff.
The wrap around story is about three drug dealers who go to a funeral parlour to receive a stash of drugs. Whilst they're there, the funeral director Mr. Simms tells them about some of the people he is preparing to bury.
The first story is about Officer Smith's first night on the L.A.P.D. He and his white partner, Newton, go to provide backup for Officers Billy and Strom (who is a very obvious reference to Strom Thurmond). It turns out the black man they have pulled over is Councilman Martin Moorehouse, a civil rights activist and crusader against police corruption. The officers are there to beat and murder Moorehouse before framing him as a heroin addict. Smith resigns but doesn't tell anyone what the other officers did.
A year later, Smith arranges to meet Newton, Billy, and Strom at Moorehouse's grave so he can try to convince them to turn themselves in. But Moorehouse has a different idea. He's back and wants revenge and not just on the men who killed him.
This story worked really well for me. I'm a big fan of the idea that if you see something happen, you have a responsibility to get involved and try to stop it. This segment agrees with that idea and makes the point very blatantly. This is one of my favourite segments.
The second story stars David Alan Grier in a very out-of-character role. Walter keeps showing up at school with bruises on his arms. When his teacher (writer-director Rusty Cundieff) asks him where they are coming from, Walter tells him about the monster that lives in his house. His teacher decides to tell Walter's mother, Sissy, and father, Carl, that Walter is obsessed with killing the monster that is hurting him. Sissy shrugs it off, saying that Walter is clumsy and the boys at school pick on him, but Carl wants to know more about the monster.
The teacher decides to go to Walter's house one night to talk to Sissy about his concerns. Whilst he's there, he notices the same bruises on Sissy's arms. She tries to get the teacher to leave before the monster comes back. However, she's unsuccessful. Walter and Sissy cower in the kitchen as the monster bellows and rampages through the house. (It has fantastic makeup by the way. They managed to make the monster look just like Walter's drawings.) Then the monster storms into the kitchen. And it's just Carl.
Carl beats up the teacher and Sissy, but Walter uses sympathetic magic to destroy him. The effects are really nifty, but...personally I preferred the story when it was just mundane.
This is my favourite of all the stories. Like I said, the idea that Walter learns magic to defeat the monster is a bit too much for me. The effects are awesome, but... I just didn't like it for some reason. But I really like the rest of the story, especially how much the monster looks like Walter's drawings. David Alan Grier does a fantastic job as well.
Corbin Bernsen is Duke Metzger, a combination of South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, racist David Duke, and white supremacist Tom Metzger. Duke is notorious for his racist behaviour, past allegiance with the KKK, and the fact that he lives in a former plantation. People warn him that the plantation is haunted by the voodoo priestess Miss Cobbs, who transferred the souls of murdered slaves into her collection of dolls. Duke laughs it all off and puts his painting of Miss Cobbs and her dolls in a place of prominence.
Meanwhile, horrible things keep happening to the people around him. This is Miss Cobbs trying to warn him that she's coming for Duke. She sends her dolls after him, killing Duke.
To me, this is the weakest story. It's really creepy (the dolls disappearing from the painting one by one is really creepy). In fact, this is probably the scariest story, but I just don't particularly care for it. If I'm watching a Rusty Cundieff film, I already know racism is bad. And the people this segment is pointed at aren't watching the film. It almost comes across as a sort of sick pleasure for the audience. It's like this segment is saying, "You know all those racist jerks who treat you badly? Well, let's enjoy watching them get tormented and killed vicariously through Corbin Bernsen!" Personally, I don't want the racist jerks to be tormented; I want them to be *educated* (and to stop yelling at me. other cultures wear head scarves too, jerks). This just felt particularly nasty to me.
The fourth and final story is about gang members. We start with Crazy K, a particularly violent man known for being merciless. One night, he walks into a trap and is shot by three members of a rival gang. Fortunately for K, he is rescued by the cops who appear out of nowhere.
They send him to Dr. Cushing, a psychiatrist who rehabilitates violent psychopaths through psychological torture. Crazy K's roommate is a white supremacist who is proud of all the black people he's killed. Crazy K talks about how much he appreciates his African heritage, but the supremacist just laughs, saying K's killed more black people than the supremacist has.
Dr. Cushing intercuts between photos of Klan killings, lynchings, and Crazy K's murders. She asks him if he sees any differences between them. When he can't answer, she puts him in a sensory deprivation chamber. Here he is visited by all of his victims, not just the gang members but the innocents he killed. There's an amazing scene with a little dead girl who just keeps staring at K. It is creepy and incredibly emotional. Dr. Cushing tells Crazy K that he can repent and choose to reform or he can be proud of what he did. Crazy K remains defiant, refusing to take responsibility for his actions.
Crazy K refuses to give up. At which point, he is shot to death by the three members of the rival gang. The cops never showed up. Dr. Cushing was an angel, giving Crazy K a last chance to repent before dying.
At the funeral home, the three drug dealers are suspicious of Mr. Simms because they never told anyone about how they killed Crazy K. They demand to know how Mr. Simms knew K's last words, but he leads them into a different room. They pull their weapons on Mr. Simms who just laughs and shows them their corpses. Crazy K's friends killed them not long after they killed K. They demand to know what's going on.
Mr. Simms laughs and says the single most iconic line of the film: "Welcome to hell, motherfuckers."
This story works really well. The final reveal was fairly obvious, I felt, especially since it was ruined by the trailer I saw for the movie. (Thanks, Trailer!) But it makes sense in the overall scheme of things.
Crazy K and Dr. Cushing's fight over his soul is really well acted. There are some times when it's a bit over the top, but it definitely doesn't pull any punches. When the little dead girl stares K down, it's both creepy and emotional. Oddly, you end up rooting for K. You want him to apologize and redeem himself, even though, you know he won't.
The scenes with gang members being compared to the KKK worked really well, I felt. However, I doubt it had the impact the filmmakers wanted. Despite having Spike Lee's backing, this film just isn't that well known.
Overall, it's a fairly solid anthology. Even the weakest story isn't bad. It's a really good story; I just didn't like it as much as the others. Unlike the original Creepshow, I was never bored. And the film is aware of what it is. It keeps a good sense of humour, especially in the scenes with Mr. Simms and the drug dealers. I really do wish more people knew about Tales from the Hood, though. Despite the silly name, it's really trying to do something and I think it's worth watching.
The wrap around story is about three drug dealers who go to a funeral parlour to receive a stash of drugs. Whilst they're there, the funeral director Mr. Simms tells them about some of the people he is preparing to bury.
The first story is about Officer Smith's first night on the L.A.P.D. He and his white partner, Newton, go to provide backup for Officers Billy and Strom (who is a very obvious reference to Strom Thurmond). It turns out the black man they have pulled over is Councilman Martin Moorehouse, a civil rights activist and crusader against police corruption. The officers are there to beat and murder Moorehouse before framing him as a heroin addict. Smith resigns but doesn't tell anyone what the other officers did.
A year later, Smith arranges to meet Newton, Billy, and Strom at Moorehouse's grave so he can try to convince them to turn themselves in. But Moorehouse has a different idea. He's back and wants revenge and not just on the men who killed him.
This story worked really well for me. I'm a big fan of the idea that if you see something happen, you have a responsibility to get involved and try to stop it. This segment agrees with that idea and makes the point very blatantly. This is one of my favourite segments.
The second story stars David Alan Grier in a very out-of-character role. Walter keeps showing up at school with bruises on his arms. When his teacher (writer-director Rusty Cundieff) asks him where they are coming from, Walter tells him about the monster that lives in his house. His teacher decides to tell Walter's mother, Sissy, and father, Carl, that Walter is obsessed with killing the monster that is hurting him. Sissy shrugs it off, saying that Walter is clumsy and the boys at school pick on him, but Carl wants to know more about the monster.
The teacher decides to go to Walter's house one night to talk to Sissy about his concerns. Whilst he's there, he notices the same bruises on Sissy's arms. She tries to get the teacher to leave before the monster comes back. However, she's unsuccessful. Walter and Sissy cower in the kitchen as the monster bellows and rampages through the house. (It has fantastic makeup by the way. They managed to make the monster look just like Walter's drawings.) Then the monster storms into the kitchen. And it's just Carl.
Carl beats up the teacher and Sissy, but Walter uses sympathetic magic to destroy him. The effects are really nifty, but...personally I preferred the story when it was just mundane.
This is my favourite of all the stories. Like I said, the idea that Walter learns magic to defeat the monster is a bit too much for me. The effects are awesome, but... I just didn't like it for some reason. But I really like the rest of the story, especially how much the monster looks like Walter's drawings. David Alan Grier does a fantastic job as well.
Corbin Bernsen is Duke Metzger, a combination of South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, racist David Duke, and white supremacist Tom Metzger. Duke is notorious for his racist behaviour, past allegiance with the KKK, and the fact that he lives in a former plantation. People warn him that the plantation is haunted by the voodoo priestess Miss Cobbs, who transferred the souls of murdered slaves into her collection of dolls. Duke laughs it all off and puts his painting of Miss Cobbs and her dolls in a place of prominence.
Meanwhile, horrible things keep happening to the people around him. This is Miss Cobbs trying to warn him that she's coming for Duke. She sends her dolls after him, killing Duke.
To me, this is the weakest story. It's really creepy (the dolls disappearing from the painting one by one is really creepy). In fact, this is probably the scariest story, but I just don't particularly care for it. If I'm watching a Rusty Cundieff film, I already know racism is bad. And the people this segment is pointed at aren't watching the film. It almost comes across as a sort of sick pleasure for the audience. It's like this segment is saying, "You know all those racist jerks who treat you badly? Well, let's enjoy watching them get tormented and killed vicariously through Corbin Bernsen!" Personally, I don't want the racist jerks to be tormented; I want them to be *educated* (and to stop yelling at me. other cultures wear head scarves too, jerks). This just felt particularly nasty to me.
The fourth and final story is about gang members. We start with Crazy K, a particularly violent man known for being merciless. One night, he walks into a trap and is shot by three members of a rival gang. Fortunately for K, he is rescued by the cops who appear out of nowhere.
They send him to Dr. Cushing, a psychiatrist who rehabilitates violent psychopaths through psychological torture. Crazy K's roommate is a white supremacist who is proud of all the black people he's killed. Crazy K talks about how much he appreciates his African heritage, but the supremacist just laughs, saying K's killed more black people than the supremacist has.
Dr. Cushing intercuts between photos of Klan killings, lynchings, and Crazy K's murders. She asks him if he sees any differences between them. When he can't answer, she puts him in a sensory deprivation chamber. Here he is visited by all of his victims, not just the gang members but the innocents he killed. There's an amazing scene with a little dead girl who just keeps staring at K. It is creepy and incredibly emotional. Dr. Cushing tells Crazy K that he can repent and choose to reform or he can be proud of what he did. Crazy K remains defiant, refusing to take responsibility for his actions.
Crazy K refuses to give up. At which point, he is shot to death by the three members of the rival gang. The cops never showed up. Dr. Cushing was an angel, giving Crazy K a last chance to repent before dying.
At the funeral home, the three drug dealers are suspicious of Mr. Simms because they never told anyone about how they killed Crazy K. They demand to know how Mr. Simms knew K's last words, but he leads them into a different room. They pull their weapons on Mr. Simms who just laughs and shows them their corpses. Crazy K's friends killed them not long after they killed K. They demand to know what's going on.
Mr. Simms laughs and says the single most iconic line of the film: "Welcome to hell, motherfuckers."
This story works really well. The final reveal was fairly obvious, I felt, especially since it was ruined by the trailer I saw for the movie. (Thanks, Trailer!) But it makes sense in the overall scheme of things.
Crazy K and Dr. Cushing's fight over his soul is really well acted. There are some times when it's a bit over the top, but it definitely doesn't pull any punches. When the little dead girl stares K down, it's both creepy and emotional. Oddly, you end up rooting for K. You want him to apologize and redeem himself, even though, you know he won't.
The scenes with gang members being compared to the KKK worked really well, I felt. However, I doubt it had the impact the filmmakers wanted. Despite having Spike Lee's backing, this film just isn't that well known.
Overall, it's a fairly solid anthology. Even the weakest story isn't bad. It's a really good story; I just didn't like it as much as the others. Unlike the original Creepshow, I was never bored. And the film is aware of what it is. It keeps a good sense of humour, especially in the scenes with Mr. Simms and the drug dealers. I really do wish more people knew about Tales from the Hood, though. Despite the silly name, it's really trying to do something and I think it's worth watching.