Tales from the Hood 2
Tales from the Hood 2 is a 2018 American horror-comedy anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott and executive-produced by Spike Lee. The film is the sequel to Cundieff and Scott's 1995 horror anthology Tales from the Hood. The segments "Good Golly", "The Sacrifice", and "Robo Hell" were directed by Rusty Cundieff. The segments "The Medium" and "Date Night" were directed by Darin Scott.
| Tales from the Hood 2 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Rusty Cundieff Darin Scott |
| Produced by | Rusty Cundieff Darin Scott Elaine Dysinger Griff Furst Jim Steele |
| Written by | Rusty Cundieff Darin Scott |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Frederik Wiedmann |
| Cinematography | Keith L. Smith |
| Edited by | Miriam L. Preissel John Quinn |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures Home Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Frame story and segment plots
"Robo Hell" (beginning)
At some unknown time in the future, Dumas Beach is a prison operator who is constructing an army of AI "Robo Patriots" which can learn from firsthand experience as well as from secondhand stories and function as law enforcement officers. He recruits the great storyteller Mr. Simms (Keith David) to fill their heads with information from his stories to help them better determine who is a criminal and thereby fill his prisons, suggesting "Black Lives Matter" as the theme.
"Good Golly"
White siblings Audrey and Philip and their black friend Zoe take a trip together. While Philip is rock climbing, Audrey and Zoe visit a place called the Museum of Negrosity housing an assortment of racist propaganda such as posters, books, and dolls. Audrey wishes to buy a golliwog doll named "Golly Gee" for her collection but is informed by the owner of its use as a tool of racial propaganda and told that nothing in the museum is for sale.
That night the girls return with Audrey's brother Philip to steal the doll but break its glass display case when they knock over a whipping post. They find the book Golliwog Goes to Hell but notice that all of the pages after the first page are blank. The doll comes to life and grows to human size then kills Zoe with a guillotine and Philip by whipping him to death. Audrey tells Golly Gee that she loves him and expresses her desire to simply stay with him.
Months later, Audrey is ready to give birth and tells the owner of the museum that she wishes to go to a hospital for the delivery for the sake of the child but the owner says that he would not be able to explain the situation. Multiple golliwog dolls then burst out of her stomach. The owner of the museum commiserates with Golly Gee, telling him, "How dare they call you a stereotype? You're just the creation they designed you to be!" As more Gollys are born, Audrey dies.
"The Medium"
Notorious pimp Cliff Bettis is being beaten in his garage full of fancy cars by robbers seeking five million dollars he possesses. He refuses to surrender the money, explaining that he has given up being a pimp and that the money is part of a foundation he has established to build two magnet schools and sponsor scholarships to improve life for the next generation. Cliff accuses one of the robbers of being a bitch for Bobby Sanchez in San Quentin and is beaten to death.
Meanwhile, TV psychic John Lloyd records the chatter among his audience members before the show and uses the notes provided by his staff to present the illusion of psychic abilities. The robbers see the show and bring Cliff's girlfriend Sandra Blake to John Lloyd's house to trick him into opening the door for them to enter. They tell him to channel Cliff Bettis but when John begins to act out a seance, he finds himself possessed by a series of different spirits accusing the robbers of unjustly killing them.
Ultimately Cliff begins to speak through John and the robbers and they threaten to kill Sandra if Cliff doesn't tell them where the money is. Cliff magically jams their guns and kills the robbers through telekinesis by twisting one's neck, shooting broken glass into the mouth of another, and electrocuting the last with 500 volts from wires attached to the chandelier. Possessed by the spirit of Cliff, John Lloyd goes on to be even more successful as a true psychic.
"Date Night"
Ty is driving with his friend Kahad for a date with two girls he hooked up with on Tinder. Wondering how he managed to get dates with such good looking girls Kahad asks what Ty told him. He admits to lying about them being an agent and casting director. When they arrive at the luxurious house, they assume the girls are trust fund babies and not aspiring actresses. They meet and party with Carmen and Liz for a while and have fun until Ty drugs the girls' drinks and they carry the unconscious girls upstairs.
As they set up the scene to film themselves having sex with the girls, Kahad finds that the girls' bodies cannot be seen in the viewfinder. The girls reveal themselves to be vampires then chase and bite their attackers. When they finally wake up, they find themselves locked in a prison with other Internet predators who instead of being killed, have been turned. They beg to be let go, but the girls decline and let the turned predators go on the duo.
"The Sacrifice"
In 1955, young Emmett Till is beaten and lynched for speaking with a white girl in Money, Mississippi. In the present day, an interracial couple is expecting a child following a miscarriage in the previous year but the white mother, Emily Bradley, keeps having dreams that Emmett is telling her that he is not sure deserve the child and she fears he may be trying to take their baby away. The black father, councilman Henry Bradley, is visited by his mother, who insists that Emily does not need the stress of him being involved in an election campaign. Henry says that his mother is only saying that because he is supporting the Republican candidate William Cotton, whom she believes is targeting voting locations in predominantly black districts for closure. Dr. Gwinette examines Emily and says that she is fine but that she should stay in bed and think good thoughts.
Henry holds a fundraiser at the house, where William Cotton states that his mission is to take Mississippi back to its core values and jokes that Henry would have been serving them in those days. As he is collecting campaign contributions, Emily comes downstairs and announces that Emmett is choosing to live, meaning that her child will have to die. She grabs a knife and throws it at the spirit of Emmett, which her husband and the fundraiser guests cannot see. Henry's mother brings an elderly man who was with Emmett on the night of the lynching and can see his spirit. The man says that Henry must change his vote so that the voting locations are not closed and Henry accuses his mother of concocting the story in order to get him to change his vote.
Dr. Gwinette returns and determines that the fetus is indeed shrinking. When Henry says that he is the father, Dr. Gwinette insists that he will not work for an interracial couple. Emily insists that Henry kidnapped her hits him with a lamp, then Dr. Gwinette drives her away. After being touched by the old man, Henry finally sees the spirit of Emmett, who laments that he went through a lot of hell for nothing because Henry is voting against the interests of his people.
Henry is then visited by the spirit of Carol Denise McNair and her friends from Sunday school who were killed in the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church. This is followed by a visit from James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner as well as Medgar Evers and Dr. King. The final visitor is Mamie Till, Emmett's mother who insisted on a public funeral service with an open casket so that her son's beaten face could be photographed and seen by the public. The old man explains that if Emmett chooses to live instead of die then his sacrifice will never occur and the civil rights movement will not progress to the point where Henry has a choice at all.
William Cotton arrives in SUVs labelled Klan Patrol and Emily accuses Henry of rape. Cotton and his men beat Henry's mother and attempt to abduct him. Henry quickly promises to Emmett that he will vote against the closure of the voting locations. Emmett informs him that that is no longer an option and that Henry will have to go the extra mile and sacrifice his life. Henry agrees to do it and is beaten to death by the Klan Patrol. His spirit senses that his child will now live and he and Emmett disappear.
"Robo Hell" (ending)
Beach presents the "Robo Patriot" at a press conference and claims that it can predict who will commit crimes against lawful citizens. When activated, the "Robo Patriot" identifies potential thieves and illegal immigrants before identifying "Dumb Ass B*tch" (Dumas Beach) as an immediate clear and present threat to American civilization and shoots lasers at him and his team (due to after each story having shown themselves to be racist, misogynist and anti-immigrant).
As he runs away. Mr. Simms shows up and offers him a ride in a SUV. After Beach verbally abuses Simms (including calling him the N-word), he is informed that they are not in a car. He then notices his own dead body in a coffin in the back as it becomes a hearse, Mr. Simms reveals himself to be Satan and that they are in hell. Demons then drag Beach out of the car.
Cast
- Keith David as Portifoy Simms
- Kedrick Brown as Booze
- Alicia Davis Johnson as PollyAnnas Hockenbull
- Creighton Thomas as Cliff Bettis
- Issa Abou-Issa as Audience member
- Jasmine Akakpo as Zoe
- Gunnar Anderson as Roy Bryant
- Jon Arthur as Sheriff Deputy
- Jillian Batherson as Emily Bradley
- Bryan Batt as John Lloyd
- Alexander Biglane as Ty
- Martin Bats Bradford as Brian
- Kenneth Kynt Bryan as Golliwog
- Jeanne Caldarera as Sister
- Leslie Castay as Reporter
- Chad L. Chambers as Gore
- John C. Coffman as Political Fundraiser / Klan Cop
- Andy Cohen as Philip
- Jennifer Hamilton Collins as Susan
- Kendrick Cross as Henry Bradley
- Rusty Cundieff as Reporter
- David Dahlgren as Dr. Martin Gwinette
- Greg Tarzan Davis as Kahad
- Alexandria DeBerry as Audrey
- Sandra Gutierrez as Sandra
- Christopher Paul Horne as Emmett Till
- Jay Huguley as Grant Measpine
- Clyde Jones as Mr. Wright
- Zakery Jones as Vampire
- Patrick Kearns as Klan Cop
- Cynthia LeBlanc as Political Fundraiser
- Elton LeBlanc as Political Fundraiser / Klan Cop
- Cat Limket as Liz
- Adrian Lockett as Leroy Too Tight
- Jeffrey Bryant Moss as Press Conference Crowd
- Victoria Patenaude as Elderly Lady
- Terrance Sims as Martin Luther King Jr.
- Toney Chapman Steele as Press member
- Kanesha Washington as Elizabeth Wright
- Bill Martin Williams as Dumas Beach
- Brandon J Williams as James Earl Chaney
- Cotton Yancey as William Cotton
References to other media and events
- In the segment "Good Golly", one of the dolls in the museum is the murderous doll held by Miss Cobbs in the original Tales from the Hood film.
- The segment "The Sacrifice" is inspired by the actual beating and lynching of Emmett Till and makes reference to many other figures of importance to the civil rights movement.
Production
In January 2018, co-director Rusty Cundieff announced on Twitter the sequel was going into production within the year and that he was scouting locations in Louisiana.[2] In April 2018, it was announced that actor Keith David would portray Mr. Simms, the storyteller role originally played by Clarence Williams III in the original film. The film was shot in Louisiana throughout April 2018.[3]
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada on July 13, 2018.[4]
The film was released to home video on October 2, 2018.[5]
References
- "Fantasia Festival - Tales from the Hood 2". Fantasia Festival - Tales from the Hood 2.
- Scott, Ryan. "Tales from the Hood 2 Is Happening with Original Director". movieweb.com. Movieweb. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- Miska, Brad. "'They Live's' Keith David Tells of Several 'Tales From the Hood'!". bloody-disgusting.com. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- Miska, Brad. "'Tales from the Hood 2' and 'Rondo' Highlight Fantasia's Second Wave Announcement!". bloody-disgusting.com. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- Miska, Brad. "'Tales From the Hood 2' Trailer Conjures Up Vampires, Evil Dolls and Ghosts!". bloody-disgusting.com. Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2018-07-10.