Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

MaximumMadness Horror anthology films can be a very hard sell. And even moreso, a very hard watch for audiences. And I believe it really comes down to the inherent flaw of trying to create a prolonged multi-part anthology that is to be viewed in a single sitting. Because chances are, there's going to be that one story that trumps all the others in our own eyes that makes the remaining stories feel superfluous at best... and chances are there's also going to be that one story that we cannot stand and have to labor through to get to the good stuff.It's a bit of a curse. Even the "Twilight Zone" movie- a film based on the finest horror anthology series of all time- suffered this fatal flaw.Thankfully and happily, 1995's amusing and thrilling urban-themed horror-anthology "Tales from the Hood" emerges as one of the better attempts at a feature-length horror-themed anthology film, thanks to its unique subject matter, some stylish direction, good atmosphere and a few stand-out sequences. Executive produced by cinematic legend Spike Lee and directed by Rusty Cundieff, the film is generally a light, easy watch with just enough jumps and shivers to keep you invested. Yes, you may roll your eyes at times... I know I did. But chances are you'll be having a lot of fun while doing it.The film's wraparound story involves a trio of thug drug-dealers who arrive at a funeral home to purchase drugs from its flamboyant and eccentric owner Mr. Simms (Clarence Williams III). As they proceed throughout the building, they are related stories to about the various bodies that Simms has been dealing with, leading to our tales..."Rogue Cop Revelation"... A young cop who has been left a guilty drunk after not intervening in the murder of a black rights activist is given a chance for retribution with a little help from beyond the grave..."Boys Do Get Bruised"... A teacher tries to help one of his young students, who appears to be suffering from abuse but claims his injuries are the result of a "monster"... A monster who may be very real..."KKK Comeuppance"... A racist former clansman-turned-southern- senator moves into an infamous plantation house. However, the ghosts of the pass re-emerge as demonic dolls that try to hunt him down..."Hard-Core Convert"... A deranged and murderous thug is imprisoned and then released to an alleged new experimental "rehabilitation" process aiming to fix his criminal behavior... But things aren't what they seem...The two stand-outs in the film are definitely "KKK Comeuppance" and "Boys Do Get Bruised." While they do lack a bit of the social commentary and themes present in the other stories, they are by far the most fun and entertaining entries here. In particular "KKK Comeuppance", which is just a great little throwback to killer-doll flicks like "Puppet Master" and "Trilogy of Terror" and also features some of the best horror music composer Christopher Young has ever written.What makes the film lose points for me are the first and final stories, which I found a bit lacking and even borderline monotonous in comparison to the much stronger middle-chapters. While they seem to be straining to "say more" in terms of commentary and theme, it's just a bit too heavy-handed and the story lines themselves are far too basic.Still, that being said, they aren't necessarily bad. Just a bit of a let-down. And all together, the four shorts make for a very entertaining and breezy 90-minutes of good, ferocious fun. Also, Clarence Williams III is just a blast as our stand-in Crypt-Kepper esque "host" for the evening. So much fun.I'm giving "Tales from the Hood" a very solid 7 out of 10. Worth checking out for horror fans for sure.

utgard14 Horror anthology movie directed by Rusty Cundieff and produced by Spike Lee. Features four stories plus a framing story that ties it all together. The first story is about a rookie black cop who knows three white cops killed a black politician but doesn't say anything. He's then compelled by the spirit of the politician to bring the murderers to his grave. The second story's about a little boy who shows up to school with bruises he claims he got from a monster in his home. The third story is about a doll terrorizing a former Ku Klux Klansmen running for office. The fourth story is about a killer who agrees to participate in a behavioral modification program in order to get early release from prison. The framing story sees three gangbangers visit a funeral home where they intend to buy some drugs from the eccentric mortician (Clarence Williams III). If you've seen any horror anthology movies before, you'll easily predict how this turns out. Violent, profane, and ugly. The much-ballyhooed social commentary is obvious and insulting. None of the stories are fresh and you'll probably feel the need to bathe after watching this.

Lee Eisenberg A tribute to movies like "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" and "Tales from the Crypt", "Tales from the Hood" presents some horror vignettes centering on life in the black ghetto. Some drug dealers go to a funeral home to pick up their "s**t", only to have the eccentric owner (Clarence Williams III) tell them about the fates of some recent customers...with a twist at the end. At once a fun horror flick and also warning about getting mixed up with the wrong people, this is a cool one. A particular scene in the fourth vignette appears to be a tribute to "A Clockwork Orange". All in all, a real credit for director Rusty Cundieff and executive producer Spike Lee.Featuring Tom Wright (the hitchhiker in "Creepshow 2"), David Alan Grier, Corbin Bernsen and Rosalind Cash (in her final role).

KHayes666 As a white American, I view this movie a lot differently than its intended audience...lemme tell you why.The movie is basically a Tales From the Crypt like setting with a black cultured twist. It starts off with 3 homeboys checking out "the shyt" from a mortician (played brilliantly by Clarence Williams the 3rd who ironically was in an episode of Tales From the Crypt years earlier). The mortician then tells 4 tales centered around real life issues.Tale 1 is about 3 white cops who murder a black politician while a rookie black cop looks on. A year later the politician rises from the grave to extract revenge. Its your basic police brutality and one of the weaker stories because its not very realistic, which I thought this movie was supposed to be.Tale 2 is the second best in my opinion. A child on the first day of school is examined by his teacher to find bruises all over him, he claims the "monster" at home did it. This one centers around child abuse with the awesome moral that there are monsters in real life, just not in the form everyone thinks.Tale 3 is another weak one but Corbin Bernsen is the man, he absolutely rules so I refuse to hate it no matter how absurd it is. This one's about a former KKK member who's moving into a mansion that was once the sight of a brutal slave massacre back in the civil war days. Once he move in the ghosts of the pasts haunt him and his associate to drive home the fact that someone always pays for the sins of the past. I don't know whether it was a casting goof, but Corbin's associate was a black man so if he was a racist then why would he choose this guy as a partner? The whole dolls come to life idea is another cheesy idea (coming off about 5 Puppet Master and Child's Play movies) and if anyone else was playing the role, I would have hit the fast forward button.Tale 4 is my personal favorite...it involves a young black gangster who will kill everyone and anyone with no remorse or fear. After murdering some homeboy, the cops catch him and throw him in jail. This is where he meets a white supremacist who thanks him for "doing his job for him." which leads to one of the most sickest, eye opening montages in film history. Basically the moral is, what's the difference between white lynch mobs of the 19th and 20th century and gang bangers from today? Gang violence is murder any way you look at it, and it doesn't matter if the parties are black or white, people suffer and die just the same.The film is done incredibly well but it does portray the white race as the bad guys with all the characters being racist (3 cops, politician, prisoner in the cell), but I guess that's payback for all the black characters being petty thugs and thieves in the Dirty Harry series.The tales themselves offer morals that people in every day life deal with, whether it was cheesy or not. Child abuse, crooked cops, corrupt politicians and gang warfare are an unfortunate but very real situations that this movie shines the light on beautifully.I won't give away the ending but Clarence Williams is the man of the hour and the one with the power, too sweet to be sour.I guess the highlight for me was when Corbin Bernsen calls the media "spooky reporters" 7 out of 10