Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

nebulosusseverine *Possible spoilers*Horror movie tropes are paired with sociological issues in this underrated horror film. In my opinion, some of the best horror and sci-fi films reflect the political climate of the era in which they are made. Tales from the Hood is a great example, and still relevant over 20 years later. It's also one of the best examples of a horror anthology film.On one level, we have a somewhat typical cheesy horror flick with low-budget special effects and some silly moments. But the real core of this film is that the horrors of real life are scarier than the supernatural events portrayed.Zombies, monsters in the closet, haunted dolls, and a mad scientist laboratory are all used as frameworks for truly terrifying, real life social issues - police brutality and corruption, domestic violence, white supremacists running for political office, and gang violence. The final story also seems as a cautionary tale.

cjmccracken Vignette Horror is one of my favourite types, it's not just the accessibility of the format, but the deftness and wit that is required to create a sequence of short stories usually bypasses the problems which certain horror films have in terms of an overstayed welcome. The structure used in Tales From The Hood is the classic one which was perfected by the Amicus and Hammer studios in the 1960′s and 1970′s, only minus Joan Collins.The 'cryptkeeper' in this case is played by Clarence Williams III, who is a drastically underused actor and always a delight to see on screen. He draws the attention of three local gangstas through the promise of a large amount of drugs which have come into his possession. The catch being that they must first listen to him tell several stories relating to the bodies which currently lie displayed within his funeral home.It only has a running time of 98 minutes which is part of the reason why it is so successful and enjoyable. I am very much of the opinion that a great deal of horror movies now unnecessarily approach the 120 minute (and beyond) when they could have been infinitely more successful if shortened. There are four stories on show here, each relating to a particular hardship or struggle faced by the African American communities of the early 1990′s.It's important to remember that this was an America which was still sore after the chaos of the LA Riots and the exposure of a crooked police force through the Rodney King videotape leak. Once you see that Spike Lee was drafted in as an executive producer, the social elements of the movie become contextualised to a greater extent.The topics of the cautionary tales cover areas such as police brutality and racism withing law enforcement (Rogue Cop Revelation), domestic abuse against women and children (Boys Do Get Bruised), racism within politics (KKK Comeuppance) and the futility of gang culture and the violence it creates (Hard Core Convert). All are delivered with a supernatural twist which places the movie strongly into the horror genre and making it not only groundbreaking, unique for it's time, but also helps it to maintain a strength when watched today.I was aware of the soundtrack before I was aware of the film itself as it was given to me shortly after its release in 1995, it would be a couple of years before I was able to track down a VHS copy. The OST features some fantastic tracks by Gravediggaz, Wu Tang Clan and a brilliant Ol Dirty Bastard track and is well worth locating a copy of.When one considers the depths to which 'hood' based horror movies became after this ('Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror' and 'Leprechaun back 2 Da Hood' being just two examples), it is all the more reason to revisit Tales From the Hood. There's something about it which will greatly appeal to a certain horror fan, particularly those fond of the genre output of the early 90′s.I'd tell you to go to your local video store to acquire a copy, but there probably isn't even one left in your town. Get it whatever way you can, you won't regret it.Read more at zombiehamster.com

Matt Kracht Yes, it's flawed, and it's cheesy, and it's over-the-top. It's equal parts clever satire, straight-up homage, and occasionally even a parody. There are many horror, exploitation, and black humor elements sprinkled throughout the movie. I just can't understand why this movie isn't beloved by more people. Maybe it's because the cast is mostly black, and the stories revolve around inner city, black youth? Well, as a white guy from the suburbs, I absolutely loved this movie. It's flawed, of course, but when it works, it works better than most other movies of this type.If you're not familiar with it, this is a horror anthology highly influenced by Tales from the Crypt, an old 50s horror comic book series that birthed several spin-off movies and an influential TV series. It also takes ample inspiration from the Twilight Zone, Tales from the Dark Side, and Creepshow franchises. If you're a fan of any of these, I'd have to highly recommend Tales from the Hood, especially if you're also into Blaxploitation, from which it also takes some inspiration.In the time honored tradition of horror/exploitation movies everywhere, the guilty are punished with gory deaths and lessons are learned (frequently too late). Is it preachy, didactic social satire? Perhaps, at times. But it's also entertaining as hell. It has a great cast, some really cheesy, over-top-the-top acting, and was produced by Spike Lee. For me, that makes it almost required viewing.

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