The original Tales From the Hood is a cult classic for good reason. It is my second fave horror anthology(ABCs of Death just! beating it) and is a horror film I love very fondly. If you haven't seen it, see it!
Part 2 was full of bad camera work, worse acting, and some of the most bonkers stuff you could think of to put on screen. It is a Z grade film, that gets everything so wrong on a technical level that it becomes oddly charming. In other words it is a pure so bad it's good and I find it hilarious. A lot of people hate it(and I can see why!) but I love it for much the same reason so many people like Troll 2.
But that of course asks, what kind of film would part 3 be? A cult classic social commentary dark horror film like the original, or a trash fire comedy miss step like part 2?
Well part 3 feels very much like it was made in response to the bad feed back part 2 got. The film plays itself VERY safe. Only one of the four stories is even actually a commentary on racism. The rest could take place in any old anthology series. All the stories are a lot more down to Earth and much less over the top then anything was in part 2, or even the original. This does make the film pretty predictable. Since it is playing things so held back and safe you will be able to call out the plot twists well before they happen. A lot of people are going to complain that this film is very paint by numbers and formulaic.
BUT along with playing things much more by the numbers the film makes itself much more competently. Camera work, good, acting good, pacing, good. Nothing is AMAZING! But there are no bad miss steps anywhere besides some weak CGI here and there. I do feel the one story about racism, the second one, is pretty darn good and feels like it would have been at home in the first film. The third story, though as said it could be from any horror anthology series, is still a good story that is well done and charming. It also has the first queer character for the series! Cool! :) The other two stories though predictable are by no means bad. So yes, this is an anthology with not a single bad story! Which is pretty good in my book.
Ya, you can nit pick it(the idea of this like six year old telling a grown man about a story where a man has sex with a blowup doll is pretty wonderfully absurd), but if you do you'll be just hating it for hating it sake.
No, this is a light going, turn your mind off, grab some Halloween candy with friends, kind of horror film. It's time killer, but very well done time killer and I think fans of the original will be over all pleased.
6.8 out of 10.
