Tales from the Hood | 100 Movies Bucket List

 

I'd never heard of this film before seeing it on the bucket list, but I absolutely loved the premise so I was looking forward to watching it.

I loved this movie.

I loved that the film was broken down into distinct stories. Not only does it make the story as a whole easier to digest, but they're short stories that are allowed to be fleshed out without needing to know about the backstories of the characters.

I love that the film uses horror to explain and explore a lot of poignant political issues. In fact, I think horror is the perfect genre mix with politics, and this is an example of how to do it right.

But let's get into the individual stories.

The first story completely caught me off guard. I didn't know what the individual stories would be about, and this one started from a place that was so timely and uncomfortable and political, and it really set a tone for the rest of the film.

And then it went in such an interesting direction. I didn't expect it to be as traditionally horror as it was, but I'm really glad that's the path it went down.

The overall plot was great, and told really well.

With the second story, the best thing was the characters. We really want to get to know them, and even though it's short, it's easy to connect with them.

This one in particular was really engaging, and so well written. It could have been 90 minutes by itself and still be a great movie because of the writing, and how great the actors are. I'd certainly watch it!

It was exciting, suspenseful, and at this point when I was watching, I didn't think either of the upcoming stories could top it.

The third story was probably the most timely. The literal first sentence is something that still goes around today.

I absolutely loved that this one was a ghost story, while also mixing elements of black magic and voodoo.

I also loved the actual design of the dolls. They were genuinely creepy and looked like authentic versions of what they were supposed to be.

I probably would have preferred the doll's movements to be more ambiguous, but it still made for a really fun watch.

But whatever the case, it was incredibly satisfying!

The last story was my least favourite. It was still a well-told, politically charged story in keeping with the first three, but the plot was weaker, in my opinion.

It was also less traditional horror than the first three, which may be a reason that I didn't take to it as much.

But in saying that, I did like that it was the second story to explore internal threats to the black community. Looking at gang violence in this way was really original and fascinating, especially from the main character's point of view.

It's great to get to know the character in this way, through their mistakes. We get to see the kind of person he is, and whether we're sympathetic or not, we're given the opportunity to try and build some kind of connection.

This one also probably had the most thought-provoking ending.

And then there's the actual ending, which did a great job of tying everything together, and was just so outlandish and fun!

So overall, this was such an inventive, fascinating way to explore a host of real issues, most of which are still relevant over 30 years later. I had a great time with it and would definitely recommend it!