I still hate admitting that Tales from the Hood 2 was a let-down. The first film is one of my favorite non-Amicus anthology films, so I was expecting so much. And just when I expected nothing from this film, it surprised me at every turn, becoming nearly as good as the original.
Co-writer and co-director Rodney Cundieff (who wrote and directed this with Darin Scott) even admitted as much, telling Pod of Madness, "The stories, you know, they're not as big as the first Tales. But I do think that the stories are stronger, overall, than the second one, and the look of the film is better, a lot to do with the locations that we found."
The framing story, "The Mouths of Babes and Demons," is about an old man named William (Tony Todd) trying to distract the six-year-old Brooklyn from the terror chasing them by listening to her tell him the four stories in this movie.
"Ruby Gates" is about a real-estate agent struggling to remove the last family in an apartment complex from their home. It's followed by "The Bunker," in which we think we're seeing a MAGA white male (Cooper Huckabee from The Funhouse) rant and rave, which we are, but have no idea exactly why he remains so special. "Operatic" makes perfect use of the talents of Lynn Whitfield in the story of an elderly performer who continually watches the one time she was allowed to perform Carmen before racism took away her singing career and the lengths to which performers will go to succeed. Finally, in "Dope Kicks," the moral is you can take anything from a man, but never steal his shoes.
While this is the first movie in the series without Mr. Simms, this movie is a strong entry in the horror anthology genre, as well as a return to form for Cundieff and Scott. Here's hoping that Tales from the Hood 4 is on the way.
Co-writer and co-director Rodney Cundieff (who wrote and directed this with Darin Scott) even admitted as much, telling Pod of Madness, "The stories, you know, they're not as big as the first Tales. But I do think that the stories are stronger, overall, than the second one, and the look of the film is better, a lot to do with the locations that we found."
The framing story, "The Mouths of Babes and Demons," is about an old man named William (Tony Todd) trying to distract the six-year-old Brooklyn from the terror chasing them by listening to her tell him the four stories in this movie.
"Ruby Gates" is about a real-estate agent struggling to remove the last family in an apartment complex from their home. It's followed by "The Bunker," in which we think we're seeing a MAGA white male (Cooper Huckabee from The Funhouse) rant and rave, which we are, but have no idea exactly why he remains so special. "Operatic" makes perfect use of the talents of Lynn Whitfield in the story of an elderly performer who continually watches the one time she was allowed to perform Carmen before racism took away her singing career and the lengths to which performers will go to succeed. Finally, in "Dope Kicks," the moral is you can take anything from a man, but never steal his shoes.
While this is the first movie in the series without Mr. Simms, this movie is a strong entry in the horror anthology genre, as well as a return to form for Cundieff and Scott. Here's hoping that Tales from the Hood 4 is on the way.