Waste of time

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

A Disappointing Continuation

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Pittsburgh born Rusty Cundieff co-wrote and directed this portmanteau film, which takes the structure of an Amicus film and positions it against the problems of African-Americans circa 1995 (sadly, these problems haven't changed all that much in the past 22 years).During the framing sequence, Welcome to My Mortuary, the drug dealing team of Stack (Joe Torry), Bulldog and Ball arrive at the Simms' Funeral Home to buy "the shit" -- drugs that were found in an alley. As the four men make their way through Mr. Simms' (Clarence Williams III, Linc from TV's The Mod Squad) building, he tells the story of some of his past customers.Rogue Cop RevelationOn his first night of patrol. Clarence is taken by his partner Newton (Michael Massee, The Crow) to join two other officers, Billy (Duane Whitaker, Pulp Fiction) and Strom (Wings Hauser, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time) as they attack Martin Moorehose (Tom Wright, the hitchhiker in Creepshow 2), a civil rights activist.Clarence stands up for the man, but is told not to break the police code. The officers shoot the battered Moorehouse up with heroin and then push it into the water. As the man had fought to keep drugs -- supplied by bad cops -- out of his community, he is seen as a hypocrite.A year later and Clarence has left the force and wanders the streets, drunk. Finding a mural of Moorehouse, he is haunted by a vision of the man crucified and screaming, "Bring them to me!" He then lures the other three officers to the dead man's grave, where they laugh at him and proceed to piss all over it.As Newton and Strom make a move to execute Clarence, Moorehouse emerges from his grave to drag Billy underground with a handful of his genitalia. A coffin bursts from the ground, with Billy's corpse lying inside it and Moorehouse holding his beating heart.A chase ensues, but obviously, the cops never saw Creepshow 2. Moorehouse beheads Strom and chases Newton through an alley, where he crucifies him to a wall with used hypodermic needles and then melts his body into his mural in a psychedelic scene.Moorehouse then asks Clarence where he was when he needed him. The story ends with two mental hospital orderlies watching Clarence in a straightjacket, noting that he was a dangerous cop killer.The second casket tells a story all about how Boys Do Get Bruised. Walter (Brandon Hammond, Menace II Society) is the new kid in school, constantly abused by bullies. A kindly teacher, Richard Garvey (writer/director Cundieff), takes an interest and visits his home one night.Walter has a power that enables him to damage people through his drawings, a power that he's used to stop a bully already. But he can't stop the real monster in his life -- his father, who beats both him and his mother once Garvey leaves. He returns to intervene, but Carl (David Alan Grier, In Living Color) is too powerful, beating all of them down until Walter crumples his drawing and decimates the man.We see Carl's twisted and burnt corpse as Mr. Simms shows the three gangsters a small doll, which is part of the next story, KKK Comeuppance.Duke Metger (Corbin Bernsen, Major League) is pretty much David Duke. He was in the KKK, he's racist and has an office inside a haunted slave plantation. Well, maybe not that last part.While reporters gather outside, character actor Art Evans appears to tell everyone that the plantation is haunted by the souls of the people murdered there. Now, they live inside the body of small dolls.Of course, those dolls are going to kill everyone they can. And they sure do. Much like Trilogy of Terror, the rest of this chapter involve Metger battling one, then several of the dolls until he is consumed by them.The drug dealers are now angry, as they just want to get "the shit" and get out. But when they see the body of someone they know, Crazy K, they have to hear the story of the Hard-Core Convert.After following one of his enemies and killing him, Crazy K is attacked by three men who shoot him repeatedly before they are all killed by the police.Yet somehow K survives and is taken to a rehabilitation building that's something out of a mad scientist movie. Dr. Cushing (Rosalind Cash, The Omega Man) hopes to use her mental techniques to retrain his mind, but he proves to be too uncaring to be saved. There's a great sequence here that predates Get Out where he is placed into sensory deprivation and basically goes into his own mind.Because K decides that he's fine with his crimes, his mind goes back to the moment where he was shot by the three men and he dies. And the three men?We've been following them all along. They are the gangsters and "the shit" is their closed coffins, with their bodies inside. And Mr. Simms? He's Satan. And this is Hell.Yep. The Amicus ending!I was really struck by the gorgeous camerawork in this film, which elevates it beyond being the low budget schlockfest that I had always believed that it was. Turns out I was wrong. Dead wrong. Cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond has quite the pedigree, working on films such as Candyman, The Man Who Fell to Earth and Don't Look Now.

Tales From The Hood is a terrific and underrated Horror anthology that combines fine direction,a good cast,a memorable score and great special make-up effects. All of those elements make Tales From The Hood a great Horror Anthology and one of the better Horror films of the 1990s.Tales From The Hood tells the story of three Black youths who have come to a funeral home to purchase some drugs from the funeral home's owner Mr. Simms(Clarence Williams III). While at the funeral home Mr. Simms tells the three youths four different tales of Horror about death,revenge and madness.During the early to mid 1990s when Horror films was seen as "dead" and African-American cinema and Hood/Urban films were being made saw the release of Tales From The Hood,a fantastic Horror Anthology that is one of my favorite Horror Anthology movies and is one of the better Horror films of the 1990s that has thankfully earned something of a Cult status among Horror fans. Tales From The Hood takes it's inspirations from Movie and TV Anthologies such as The Twilight Zone,EC Horror Comics,Tales From The Crypt,Creepshow(1982)and other Horror Anthologies before it but what sets Tales From The Hood apart is the African-American aspect and how the movie in a thrilling,scary and suspenseful way with bits of dark humor mixes together Supernatural Horror with an urban style and social commentary of a Spike Lee(who executive produced the movie)film talking about real life issues such as Racism,police brutality,child abuse and gang violence which Tales From the Hood stand out from other Horror Anthologies. The tone of the movie has a great balance of being serious and over the top with a dark and twisted sense of Humor that hangs over the movie. Like many Anthologies each tale is different and are unique in their own way. The movie gets off to a great start with the first tale Rogue Cop Revelation,a revenge story about police brutality and murder involving a civil rights leader,a young and naive Black rookie cop and three corrupt racist Cops. It's a simple but effective tale of revenge that give viewers enough intensity and thrills that keep them entertained. The second story Boys Do Get Bruised is about a young quiet boy named Walter who is getting abused by a monster in his home and wants to kill the monster. Boys Do Get Bruised is probably the most clever and imaginative written of the four stories giving a interesting take on a monster story that is like a Twilight Zone episode but dealing with child abuse with multiple twists and turns(you'll see)at the end of the tale. The third story KKK Comeuppance is about a racist former Klu Klux Klan member and southern Senator Duke Metger who's at plantation where slaves were tortured finds himself being stalked by a living voodoo doll that represents a dead slave. KKK Comeuppance is an entertaining mixture of suspense and dark humor but if you have a fear of dolls or puppets you will probably be a little freaked out. The forth and final story is titled Hard-Core Convert about a violent and homicidal gang member named Crazy-K who is in prison and is given a chance at redemption by a doctor named Dr. Cushing by being put through an scientific program that will help him reform. Hardcore Convert is a disturbing account about gang on gang violence and the consequences of ones actions dealing with violence and death. The segment also pays a great homage to the Stanley Kubrick classic A Clockwork Orange with thought-provoking commentary and a powerful message. The scares and suspense in each story will make you jump and keep you on the edge of your seat while keeping you glued to the screen. If there was one flaw with Tales From The Hood is that the stories were too short and I would have loved if each of the stories were longer and better developed. The violence,blood and gore is a little vicious and gruesome at times but goes well with the film. The ending of Tales From The Hood is amazing and will be very scary and surprising for viewers bringing the movie full circle in a powerful way. A great conclusion.The cast is great. Clarence Williams III is excellent and over the top as Mr. Simms,the owner of the funeral home. Joe Torry(Stack),Samuel Monroe Jr.(Bulldog)and De'Aundre Bonds(Ball)are fantastic as gang bangers who meet Mr. Simms. Tom Wright is effective as Martin Moorehouse,a civil rights leader. Anthony Griffith is wonderful as Clarence Smith,a rookie cop. Wings Hauser(Officer Stroum),Michael Masse(Newton)and Duane Whitaker(Billy)are great as corrupt racist cops. Brandon Hammond is great as Walter,a lonely boy. Rusty Cundieff is good as Mr. Garvy,Walter's teacher. Paula Jai Parker does a fine job as Sissy,Walter's Mother. David Alan Grier is intense as Carl,Sissy's boyfriend. Corbin Bernsen is terrific as Duke Metger,a racist senator. Lamont Bentley is fiery as Crazy K,a homicidal gang banger. Rosalind Cash is sensational as Dr. Cushing,a Doctor who wants to help Crazy K. Roger Guenveur Smith(Rhodie)and Art Evans(Eli)give good performances as well.The direction by Rusty Cundieff is great,with Cundieff bringing a nice pace and workmanlike quality to the film while giving the movie and some nice visual touches. Fine direction,Cundieff.The score by Christopher Young is amazing,effective and creepy with each part of the score being different for each segment. Outstanding score,Young. There is also a incredible Hip-Hop soundtrack that includes the memorable song Born II Die by Spice-1.The Special and Practical Make-up Effects by K.N.B. Efx Group are well-done,realistic,effective and work for the movie. Great effects,K.N.B.In final word,if you love Horror films or Horror Anthologies,I highly suggest you see Tales From The Hood,a terrific and underrated Horror Anthology that is worth your time. Highly Recommended. 9.5/10.

As Mr.Simms says......ahhh....the s***. I really liked this movie.When I first saw this movie I was 15 yrs old and it scared the crap out of me.Especially the first story where those cops beat up Mr.Moorhouse and drove him to the deck and the cops put him in his car and drove his car into the water after they had over dosed him with drugs and after that he was calling out for Clarence to bring the cops to him and when the police came and that one cop whizzed on Moorhouses grave and he made his other partner whiz on the grave too and Moorhouse grabbed the cop and pulled him in the grave and tore his heart out and they showed Moorehouse standing there holding the cops beating heart and then he went after those other 2 cops.I didn't sleep for 2 weeks.I kept thinking I was gonna see Moorhouse standing over my bed or something when I woke up.I liked the story about the the boy who was being abused by his step dad and he said his step dad was a monster.And the one about the dolls was good too.

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