Monday, March 18, 2024

Tag: gangsters

Attack the Block
Although it received widespread critical acclaim, I feel like Attack the Block hasn't really gotten the props it deserves. I don't mean just as a cult fave -- it's debatable whether it's even achieved that status -- but frankly, as one of the best horror movies of the 21st...
The Tale of the Voodoo Prostitute
The Tale of the Voodoo Prostitute is a Miley Cyrus type of horror movie. That is, it's awash in crude cultural appropriation, adopting a stereotypical vision of blackness for some perceived hipness factor without ever truly buying into black culture. As evidenced by the golden gun-toting gangsta on the...
Damon horror movie
Damon is a decent little supernatural morality tale that aims a bit higher than many other shoestring-budgeted "urban" horror movies of the early 21st century (Vampiyaz, Zombiez, Bloodz vs. Wolvez, etc.) and manages to hit that very, very modest target. Yes, the bar is low, but there’s at least...
The Ghost of Saint Aubin movie
Its title a bit of a misnomer, The Ghost of Saint Aubin doesn’t feature traditional, literal ghosts (depends on how you interpret it) so much as a supernatural storyline that channels the spirits of slavery, social injustice and economic iniquity in a smart, if somewhat jumbled, tale of love,...
Leprechaun Back 2 tha Hood movie poster
Most people strive to escape the ghetto, but good ol' Leprechaun seems to relish it -- so much so that he's gone "back 2 tha hood" after his first time around. Rory (Laz Alonso) is a "good" drug dealer who you’re supposed to root for because he's not the...
Nailed horror movie poster
Nailed is an impressive little urban horror flick that was filmed largely in, of all places, Ireland -- a country with so few black people that it's actually not considered a bad trait. It's sort of like finding someone from the lost city of Atlantis: neat! (Or so I...
Now Eat the Movie Brotha Lynch Hung
Not to be confused with Now Eat the self-help guide, or Now Eat the college dissertation, Now Eat: The Movie is a showcase for Sacramento rapper (yes, Sacramento rapper) Brotha Lynch Hung, who gained fame in the '90s for his gangsta rap laced with graphic tales of cannibalism and...
Ragdoll horror movie
Ragdoll's plot feels like a cross between two fellow Full Moon/Big City films, Killjoy and The Horrible Doctor Bones (granted, it came out before both). Like the latter, a hip-hop group (whose performances inspire vehement fast-forwarding) is strong-armed into signing a contract with a crooked producer. Like the former,...
Slip horror movie
Imagine if in The Sixth Sense, the ghosts told Haley Joel Osment to avenge their deaths...by any means necessary. I see even more dead people... That's the basic premise behind Slip, a neat little supernatural action-horror-thriller-buddy cop flick that may be the best thing schlocky Maverick Entertainment has released...
Snoop Dogg in Urban Menace horror movie
Generally speaking, urban horror is hit or miss...without the hits. Urban Menace is certainly no hit, but it's (slightly) above average for the genre, thanks in part to the direction of direct-to-video action guru Albert Pyun. Pyun covers up the budgetary constraints of this movie by shooting with some...