What I remember of the original Tales from the Hood was pictures coming to life, bodies being disfigured, and one creepy as mortician. It was an urban horror anthology which each tales telling a story of the things that keep little black and brown boys and girls of the 90s (and even today) up at night: police brutality, domestic violence, gang violence, and racism. i see now that the film stuck to me, because it touched on those things. And yes, there were great gore and imagery. It wasn’t a horror classic, but it was the first film I remember with black leads in a horror film.
Tales from the Hood film series has the power to be that series for black and brown fears to be discussed and consumed by the masses. Like the upcoming Candyman (2021) remake/sequel, it has the power to bring the horrors of black urban life to life. Unfortunately, this sequel doesn’t achieve that for me in a convincing way. It has some laughs like it’s original. It knows the themes it wants to tackle, but it doesn’t go nearly as deep as it could.
The true horror about living in the city is the threat of losing yourself, and in this series, its the threat of losing your soul. These threats come from within (coveting others things/body) or outside (the gentrification of your home)
I watched Tales of the Hood 2 when it initially came out, excited at the possibility more urban stories. It was largely forgettable, except for one story called “The Sacrifice”. It able to black man helping an openly racist white Republican. I saw the metaphor to our Trumpian nightmare quickly. That story was deep and even reminded me to respect the sacrifices of those that came before which brings me back to the third installment in this series.
It’s kind of hard to pull the twist ending that the original did. I respect the attempt. I respect that its giving actors of color work. There were definitely some moments where I laughed. However astute viewers of horror will know where the stories going rather quickly. Some stories in this installment move to fast and in that race to the punch, they miss the true, rotted horror of that lurks on every sidewalk.
Verdict: Watch the original, which is available for rent on most VOD sites.