I love anthology movies. They are almost always horror movies, they are almost always unsuccessful, and they are almost always awesome. I don't know why audiences by and large avoid them; maybe nobody wants to learn a bunch of new names every twenty minutes or so. I think that's the best part; no story can wear out it's welcome. Most anthologies have three or more stories, and frequently a frame story, and they never seem to run more than two hours (some of them not even close) so they can really condense concepts and speed up the storytelling. This might not be the best anthology movie I've seen, but its definitely the best so called 'urban horror' movie I've seen.
The frame story is one of the classics: weird guy tells a bunch of weird stories to a bunch of weirded out guys. Clarence Williams III plays a creepy mortician ostensibly selling drugs to a trio of enterprising gangbangers. Despite a career lasting decades (could go longer, he ain't dead yet), from the original Mod Squad to a hagiographic cameo as Bumpy Ellsworth in American Gangster, Williams will probably only be known to future generations as Samson in Half Baked, which is a shame, because as he proves here when the situation called for it, he could devour scenery by the bowlful. Not that he doesn't get the chance to do that in Half Baked, but this movie takes it to a whole 'nother level. The credits tell me his name was Mr. Simms, and he could have introduced himself as that for all I know, because based on how he acted I was calling him Ghostmeister Funkskullapus the whole time.
All the stories feature the classic horror conceit of bad people getting their comeuppance. In the grand tradition of EC Comics, some Twilight Zone episodes, and Tales From The Crypt, we don't just watch monsters stalk and kill pretty young women. We see despicable people dragged down into personal hells of their own design. Sure, there are monsters. But they are brought out by the monstrous behavior of people all around us. This movie's version of comeuppance leans, depending on the story, lightly or heavily towards ham-handed social commentary. But horror isn't always the best place for subtlety, so having the lessons bashed into our skulls is excusable.
The first story features a crusading politician played by Tom Wright, best known as George's boss who did NOT look like Sugar Ray Leonard, who gets pulled over by racist LA cops who take a routine beating a little too far and accidentally kill him. Although since it turns out the cops are covering up a police drug ring, I guess they have better motives than most movie racists, including some in this movie. You better believe Wright comes back from the dead for revenge. The highlight of this sequence is Wright melting one of his victims into a mural; its achieved with eerie practical effects and it seems a pretty original/unpleasant way to go out. Tom Wright definitely upgraded from five years previous when he played a different resurrected revenge seeker in another horror anthology, Creepshow 2; this time he has super strength, moral superiority, and a whole hit list of the LAPD's finest.
The second story features a teacher (played by the director Rusty Cundieff) who discovers that one of his students is so terrified of the monster that comes into his room at night and attacks him that his drawings have taken on the power to act as pseudo-voodoo dolls for their subjects. The teacher pays a visit to the kid's home, and discovers the monster is actually the kid's abusive step-father, played by David Alan Grier. DAG is normally known for his comedic roles, but if you've ever wanted to see him beat the ever-loving shit out of a man, woman, and child, this is your movie. But just before DAG can finish murdering his wife, his stepson, and his stepson's nosy teacher, a drawing of him gets crumpled up and turns DAG into a twisted pile of bones, flesh, and rage. Even when he is a mangled mess on the floor, DAG keeps muttering and fuming about how he will kill everybody. And... scene. I guess this one was about child abuse instead of racism.
The third story is about racism again. A southern politician played by Corbin Bernsen is a combination of every bad trait of every bad southern politician. Well actually just the racist traits. We're not sure his position on any of the major issues except racism which he is strongly in favor of. Bernsen lives in a former plantation, where after the Civil War ended, the owner murdered all of his slaves so he wouldn't have to free them. Bernsen lives in this house to court white votes. I was going to say something about this being ridiculous, but the more I think about it, and think about the insane shit that racist politicians did and do in real life, I'm not so sure how unrealistic this is. Even more realistic are the murderous slave-soul puppets that come out of a painting and teach Bernsen not to be racist by eating him.
The fourth story has a gangbanger wind up in prison after murdering another gangbanger, where he volunteers for an experimental behavioral modification program in exchange for early release. Lets get this awful joke out of the way; this segment could be called A Clockwork Black. The gangbanger does not enjoy being bombarded with images of murder and hate, and enjoys his time in sensory deprivation even less. This segment suggests that while white people, child abuse, and white people are a danger to the black community, black on black crime is the real menace to be overcome. With its 'put yourself in someone else's shoes' style ironic ending, this might be the story that feels most like a Twilight episode, albeit one with like a dozen and a half gunshot wounds.
The frame story wraps up with some vintage CGI that can be described as absurdly ambitious and severely lacking. At least the other effects in the movie are practical and visceral, lending believability and weight to every drop of blood and every murderous magic puppet. With so much happening in 98 minutes, there is bound to be something for everybody to enjoy. Some people might not be used to social commentary in their horror, but its part of a rich tradition of preaching super serious sermons against a backdrop of zombies eating racist cops and ludicrous twist endings where somebody was dead the whole time (this movie has two!).
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