TALES FROM THE HOOD 3

A LOT QUICKER TURNAROUND BETWEEN 2 & 3 THAN BETWEEN 1 & 2! 

And this is a good thing!  The original TALES FROM THE HOOD has become something of a 90's classic while TALES FROM THE HOOD 2 took a real beating with the critics.  The hate heaped upon the sequel to me was a little excessive; it's not a great film by any means, but it was OK.  And TALES FROM THE HOOD 3 is OK too.  Maybe a half a star more OK; at least that's what my ratings of the two films show me.  We don't get a host/crypt keeper-type figure in the third entry in the series which, if I'm honest, was a disappointment since the TALES FROM THE HOOD franchise feels like it should have one. 

This time there's a wraparound story featuring the wonderful Tony Todd;  but he's given little to do and the "story" part of the wraparound is barely there.  It's OK but nothing special.  That's pretty much what I thought of the whole film; each story is, for the most part, solid but nothing special.  Also the tone of the film is a little disarming because it plays more like THE TWILIGHT ZONE than a horror film; although there are definitely horror elements aplenty.  Every story in the anthology is worth your time but nothing spectacular.  The best part of the film is Lynn Whitfield as Ms. Benoit; her performance is wonderful and I could use a whole movie feature her character!  Whitfield owns the screen when she appears and brings a sparkling energy which the film is mostly lacking.  I applaud Messrs Rusty Cundieff & Darin Scott for getting another installment in the series made (and so quickly, too) and TALES FROM THE HOOD 3 is just good enough to make me wish for a 4th installment.  In fact, I think it would be a fantastic idea to bring the "host" figure back but this time played by Lynn Whitfield herself!  The Ms. Benoit character would be a perfect guide through a TALES FROM THE HOOD 4.