Despite my slow start this month, I'm pretty sure I can get more reviews in than I did last year at this time. Hopefully I can get this review in fairly quick and then find something to review at my other blog for Top Horror Movies Club. Even though I just did one there a couple of days ago, I try to get one in a week. I don't always get around to it though, which I think is pretty obvious at times. Even though I have some more DVDs waiting to be watched from Netflix, I wanted to get Hood Of Horror (2006) out of the way since it was moving up my DVD queue.
Hood Of Horror is an anthology movie. It is framed a cartoon where it explains how Snoop Dogg comes about collecting souls to take to hell. He also acts as a host to each story, as he talks directly to the camera. The first story is about Posie (Daniella Alonso), a girl who has a knack for art with spray cans. She lives in a troubled area where a lot of her work gets spray painted over by trouble makers. After somewhat standing up to some of them, she goes on the run after they chase after her. She runs into a derelict (Danny Trejo) who ends up giving her a tattoo on her hand and arm. She soon discovers that when she puts a big x over someones name, they end up being killed in some weird way. The second story follows Tex Jr. (Anson Mount) and his girlfriend/wife Tiffany (Brande Roderick). After his father died, Tex is set to inherit all the money, but his father has it in his will that Tex is too much of a spoiled brat in order to get the money. Tex has to spend time with his father Vietnam platoon in order to learn honor. These guys all live together in a building paid for by Tex's dad and all are retired. With the money they get from retirement and such, they do manage to get by. That is until Tex and Tiffany show up with their own plans with their money and home. The guys put up with Tex until he does something that goes too far. The third story is about Sod (Pooch Hall), a rapper who has hit it big. As he gets ready for a concert, he hangs with his people, while treating everyone else with disrespect. When confronted by the building manager (Lin Shaye), Sod is forced to confront the bad deeds he did in order to make it big.
Unlike other anthology films where they bring in different writers and directors for each segment, Hood Of Horror has different writers but Stacy Title is the only director. I never much of a problem with the film was directed, but I didn't care much for the stories. The first one telling us how Snoop Dogg's character became a collector of souls was somewhat interesting, but was a bit too long considering that it doesn't play into any of the other stories. Also, his appearance at the end of each story can feel forced. The second story, which is the first that isn't a cartoon, with Posie was almost like the first story. Posie is given a little back story that explains how her parents died. It is obvious that this event still drives her, but it doesn't explain why she gets into it with gang members and eventually decides to snuff them out with her new power. It was just an okay story at best. The middle story was my favorite of the bunch. While not a great story, I found it to funny at least with some nice gore to it. My only problem with it was that Ernie Hudson was given the majority of the lines and the rest of his group just stood around. The last story was the shortest, besides the intro cartoon, and maybe the most serious. It was also my least favorite. I think it was just because it could have done so much more than it did with more time.
One thing good about Hood Of Horror is that it could get gory at times. The most creative of the deaths is perhaps a beer bottle through the head after the person falls on it. I also liked an exploding belly. Even though I thought that the effects came off a bit silly, I can't really explain why I felt that way about that them though, I couldn't really complain about them looking bad. A lot of reviews complain about that acting the most. While I partly agree with them, I didn't find it as bad as others did. What I found fun about the cast was finding some of the bigger B list stars that can be found in each story. Danny Trejo and Billy Dee Williams in the first story. Ernie Hudson in the second story. "Diamond" Dallas Page, Aries Spears and Jason Alexander in the last story. At least I think Page was in the last story. Personally, I think Snoop Dogg should stick to his music, not that I'm into his music, because I don't think he makes much of an actor.
It seems that some fans of horror have started calling Hood Of Horror by another name: Hood Of Horrible. As far as anthology films go, it does manage to scrape the bottom. Not by a lot, VHS beats it out I think, but it could have been a lot better than it was. The second story, with Tex Jr., was the only one that felt the right length. If you are into these types of movies, you could certainly do better, but you might still get some enjoyment out of it at least. Some of the ways people are killed makes it worth at least one run through.
2 out of 5 I will never think of caviar in the same way again
4 days ago







