[Hood Of Horror]
Plot:A hip hop horror anthology of three tales of terror told by the Hound of Hell (Snoop Dogg) that revolve around the residents of an inner-city neighborhood whose actions determine where they will go in the afterlife.

Cast: Snoop Dogg, Ernie Hudson, Danny Trejo, Pooch Hall, Anson Mount, Daniella Alonso, Lin Shaye, Brande Roderick, Richard Gant, Aries Spears, Dallas Page, Jeffrey Licon, Noel Gugliemi, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tucker Smallwood.

My Thoughts:Downhill Fast.

Review: Truth be told, most horror movies set in "the hood" don't turn out too well. Probably because they all tell the same stories of gangbanging, betrayal, etc. "Tales From The Hood" was the only hood horror film I saw that actually did something original and told some very creepy stories. "Hood of Horror" tries to replicate what "Tales" did, but quite frankly....it just didn't have the budget, or necessary acting talent to do so. The film begins with an animated gang war intro showing how Snoop Dogg's character Devon, became the king of the quote unquote "Hood of Horror"....which in this film is a hell like dimension where bad people who've done bad things go. Snoop is a cryptkeeper like character in the movie, and after each story..he arrives to take the guilty party of the tale to the "Hood of Horror"...which is a charge placed upon him by the devil when he agreed to exchange his life for the life of his little sister who died in a drive by shooting. The only good thing about this movie really is snoop, as he plays his stylishly dressed yet sinister character really well. Not as good as his character Jimmy Bones in "Bones", but close. The problem is, without Snoop the movie falls flat.

The film tells three tales, the first being about a latina named Posie (Daniella Alonso) who wants to rid her neighborhood of gangbanger types due to the horrific death of her mother who was shot to death. She combats and counters gang graffitti with flowers and inspirational murals. While on the run from a group of thugs she is whisked away by a grotesque looking tatoo artist played by Danny Trejo. He gives her these weird tat's which allow her to spray paint whatever fates she chooses for people and have it come true upon them. This story starts off well but quickly takes a turn for the worse, and you know it's bad when a man slips in a puddle of liquor and gets impaled on a "40 ounce"..(no I'm not kidding about that). This death actually beat out the poor unlucky SOB who was impaled by a bong in "Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood" for most outrageous horror movie demise in history. Daniella Alonso as Posie is an interesting character, a gentle yet tortured young woman who is trying to do some good despite her miserable surroundings.

Yet it's also a tale of what can happen when great power is given to a good person and they decide to misuse that power and be led down the path of vengeance instead of bringing about change in a non-violent manner. It's too bad because once you get past this first story, all of the others pale in comparison..and the beginning tale really had the potential to be something special but it just dropped the ball. Story number two is by far the worst of them all, and stars Anson Mount as the son of a soldier who stands to inherit a large amount of wealth but not before he spends time with some of his dads old colleagues, a group of black war veterans. An exorcise his deceased father hopes will help him build character. Being that Mount's character is from Texas, and is an obvious trailer park redneck type, this tale plays around with racial stereotypes and the usual conflicting values of southern whites and your average black people. Amongst all of this some black humor is sprinkled around and Sydney Tamiia Poitier (Grindhouse) is the episode's eye candy. Brande Roderick plays the girlfriend of Mount's character but Roderick who's usually a 9 in real life, in this movie looked about a 5 or below. I don't know nor am I sure what they did to ugly her up but whatever it was it worked.

Tale number two doesn't really offer up anything special and is barely a horror tale beyond Snoop showing up to pop a cap in a chihuahau's ass and carry another evil soul with him back to the "Hood of Horror". Tis why it's the worst of the three tales....it's 1% horror and 99% dark comedy. Tale number three is an intriguing one but becomes so silly and ridiculous down the stretch that even it doesn't manage to excel beyond being decent. The last story involves a rapper duo, who don't see eye to eye on career paths once they get signed to a record deal. To deal with this problem, the more egotistical one of the group has his bodyguard assassinate his music partner during a fake robbery gone bad. Thus jump-starting his career and bringing him fame and fortune. That is until a mystery woman pops up to show him how wicked he's been. This story is basically a hip hop version of "Scrooge" with a horror spin on it. It was the most potential rich tale of the three but it fails due to the many holes in the plot and terrible acting.

Add to that, the story is never expanded beyond a few empty characters, and the ending is beyond predictable. "Hood of Horror" is a perfect exercise in how not to make a good horror anthology film. No wonder it sat on the shelf for so long and is just now getting a very limited release on May 4th. If that isn't bad enough, a few of the people on the cast list don't even appear in the movie. "Hood of Horror" really isn't worth seeing unless you're a huge fan of hood movies, or a huge fan of Snoop Dogg.

Positives:Snoop Dogg was good enough to fit the bill as a rapping/cryptkeeper type character.

Negatives:Bad script, plot holes galore, story number 1 and three not living up to their potential. Bad acting by alot of people, and story number 2? What a waste.

Overall:Don't waste your time with this one.





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