Tales from the Hood 3 Blu Ray Review (Universal)

Tales from the Hood 3 is a 2020 horror anthology written/produced/directed by Rusty Cundieff (Tales from the Hood 1/2, American Nightmares, Movie 43, Fear of a Black Hat, & Sprung) & Darin Scott (Tales from the Hood 2, American Nightmares, Deep Blue Sea 2, Caught Up, Something Wicked, & House Party: Tonight’s the Night). It follows 1995’s Tales from the Hood, 2018’s sequel, & plus the unofficial entry known as American Nightmares in 2018 for the urban horror franchise. It’s produced by the legendary Spike Lee (Tales from the Hood franchise, Da 5 Bloods, Oldboy, Summer of Sam, & Clockers). It went direct to video & it had a video on demand release but it premiered on the SYFY channel in October to a wider audience.It starts out with William (played by: Tony Todd from the Candyman franchise, the Final Destination franchise, Night of the Living Dead, The Crow, Wishmaster, & The Rock) wondering around the graveyard with a little girl named Brooklyn (played by: Sage Arrindell from Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum). She tells him 4 different grim tales during their dark journey together into the unknown. “Ruby Gates” is about a man named David (played by: London Brown from Ballers) who is paid to convince people to leave their homes so a brand new medical complex can replace the area. He has successfully removed everyone from the old complex except for one family. Paul (played by: Donny Lucas from Van Helsing, Bones, & Iron Man: Armored Adventures) & Staci Bradford (played by:Rachael McLaren from The Christmas Club & No Time Like Christmas) refuse to move due to their sick son Ethan (played by: Jahron Wilson from Our Christmas Love Song). Under extreme pressure from his boss Joe (played by: John B. Lowe from Trench 11, Room for Rent, The Butterfly Effect, & The Haunting in Connecticut), he desperately hires an arsonist to force them out for good. Things go terribly wrong & the whole family is burned alive. David is now haunted by his greedy mistakes. “The Bunker” is about a racist named Denton Wilbury (played by: Cooper Huckabee from The Funhouse, Urban Cowboy, The Pom Pom Girls, & Turbulence) who hides away from society & does a radio show that gets a controversial following. He begins to feel trapped & discovers some things are not what they seem. Is he living in reality or fantasy? “Operatic” is about an ambitious singer named Chela (played by: Savannah Basley from Wynonna Earp) who gets a job from her manager Park (played by: Jaime M. Callica from Ruth;ess & Almost Human) to help out while she’s struggling right now for gigs. She takes care of the older & wealthy Marie Benoit (played by: Lynn Whitfield from Doctor Detroit, Silverado, Jaws: The Revenge, & Eve’s Bayou) who also dabbles in black magic. When Chela & Park see an easy payday, they decide to kill the woman & take her money to further their upcoming careers but they weren’t expecting her to know some evil tricks along the way. They start to question each other’s loyalty when carrying out this dangerous scheme. Who can trust who now?  “Dope Kicks” is about violent criminal named Percy (played by: Patrick Abellard from from District 31 & Bellevue) who only cares about himself. He takes & does whatever he wants which causes him to burn some serious bridges in his brutal lifestyle. He mugs Momma Conjure (played by: Rita Deverell) & steals a mysterious pair of golden shoes. What comes around goes around, Percy finally gets what he deserves with some gruesome karma haunting all of his past criminal activities. Is it too late to change? William learns why Brooklyn tells him all these disturbing stories of horror. What will happen next between the two already facing evil???Tales from the Hood 3 is much better than 2 but it still doesn’t come close to the original classic. Yes, you see horror icon Tony Todd on the cover artwork for this one but it’s not what you would expect for it. This third entry drops Mr. Simms as the narrator for the franchise. This time it’s young actress Sage Arrindell telling Tony Todd the variety of stories for introduction, wraparound, & ending for this sequel. The segments here fit the concept better than the last effort & some of them would actually make solid full length features if executed right. My favorites were “Ruby Gates” & “Dope Kicks” from this. If they explored the twist on “The Bunker” a little more, that probably would have been the best one because that ending was very creative. For the most part, the cast is full of unknowns but they were all solid in this. Tony Todd is promoted as the lead here but it’s more of a supporting role but he’s great in Tales from the Hood 3 & it’s some of the better material that he has had to work with in awhile. The other cast members that really stood out here were Cooper Huckabee & Lynn Whitfield, both have always been quality character actors in their careers. The biggest flaw with this lower budget follow up is the visual fx, they are little too ambitious at times & can’t deliver what’s needed for this. Besides that, this was much better than expected especially compared to last time. The script covered all kinds of different subjects. A few were familiar but with a different twist on them that fit the Tales from the Hood universe. It had a good score & soundtrack that fit the concept of this horror anthology. I am curious if they will make another one after this. RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Universal! This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks better than expected especially for it’s lower budget. The true highlight of the variety of interesting locations used in Tales from the Hood 3. The production value is about the same as 2 so the CGI is a little cheap & silly looking at times but it’s still solid for the most part. The English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track sounds awesome here. The score & soundtracks rips through the speakers, the music is it’s own character in this. All of the dialogue is very clean & the horror is elevated throughout all the gruesome tales from the hood in this horror anthology. It has English SDH subtitles. Unfortunately, this home video release has no extras on it besides some “Trailers”. The DVD is easily available everywhere but this actual Blu Ray release is mainly online but it’s at every major retailer including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!

Buy it now @ https://www.moviezyng.com/tales-from-the-hood-3-bluray-dvd-tony-todd/191329150993