Horror, Humanity, and Mid-90s Morality
I love horror anthologies, it’s easily one of the best go-to genres for a late night Halloween spook-a-thon. And while the 90s experienced a bit of a drought, one the better ones to come out of the decade was Rusty Cundieff’s Tales from the Hood.
See, I’m one of those weirdos that judges horror anthologies by the strength of their wraparound bits more than the actual segments. Not that I don’t care about the spun yarns, but a solid story-telling device will put me in the mood for just about anything. Vengeful cigar-shop Indians. Sure. Cats taking down a hitmen? No problem. I’m down for anything after a bit of good narrative foreplay. Here, Clarence Williams III (hands down one of my fave actors, RIP) assumes the master of ceremonies role, and his maniacally cryptic undertaker beautifully carries this classic EC-flavoured portemanteau.
The segments don’t break much ground outside the expected O. Henry morality-tale format that defines the genre, but they bring some fresh social consciousness that feels quintessentially mid-90s. Not to mention some killer homages to Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside and Trilogy of Terror.
This is my kind of joint. -Pop
Tales from the Hood arrived on home video this week in 1995, after a May 24th theatrical release.