L.A. Fest

Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror

By JOHN ANDERSON

Rapper-exec producer Snoop Dogg hosts the trio of vignettes that make up 'Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror.'

A Social Capital presentation of a BloodWorks film, in association with Snoopadelic. (International sales: Arclight/Darclight, Australia.) Produced by Jonathan McHugh, Martin Shore, Christopher Tuffin, Ted Chung, Tim Sullivan. Executive producers, Shore, Snoop Dogg, John Baca, Gordon Steel.
Directed by Stacy Title. Screenplay, Tim Sullivan, Jonathan McHugh, Jacob Hair, Chris Kobin.
 
Hound of Hell - Snoop Dogg
Roscoe Lee - Ernie Hudson
The Derelict - Danny Trejo
Posie - Daniella Alonso
Himself - Method Man
British record exec - Jason Alexander
Pastor Charlie - Billy Dee Williams
Tex Woods Jr. - Anson Mount
Tiffany - Brande Roderick
 

Sloppily directed, often amateurishly acted and fixated on booty and blood, "Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror" is nevertheless gleefully disgusting. Together with the title rapper's celebrity, this should make the horror-splatter comedy a must-see for midnight moviegoers, at least until word of mouth gets out. Gag orders are suggested for this cinematic example of arrested adolescence.

The host of this tawdry trilogy of vignettes is Snoop Dogg, who describes himself as "the gatekeeper of the after-party" -- a la "Tales of the Crypt" the obvious inspiration for Stacy Title's low-down, high-corpuscle-count morality fable.

In its three mini-movies about living virtuously in the 'hood, murder, selfishness and even gangsta attitude will see you in hell. It's a bit of a schizoid experience, having Snoop and his movie enveloped in the same guns-slanks-and-reefer ethos that the movie itself seems to be lobbying against, but no one will attend "Hood of Horror" expecting an exercise in logic.

Animated sequences by Japanese outfit Madhouse and special effects overseen by Oscar winner John Gaeta ("The Matrix") give the movie what gravity it has. Otherwise, the actors seem to have been set free to run roughshod over a script that is, perhaps intentionally, as overblown as some of the unfortunates who meet their untimely ends.

In the first chapter, the unlikely named Posie (Daniella Alonso), who has seen her mother die at the hands of gangbangers, has sworn to kill off as many of them as possible. How she expects to do this, given that she's unarmed, untrained and under six feet, is a mystery. Posie is abducted by a ghoul (Danny Trejo) who gives her powers by which the local bad guys get their due.

Next is a story of greed and racism featuring Anson Mount as wealthy redneck Tex Woods Jr., who with his wife Tiffany (a very funny Brande Roderick), moves into the house he's inherited from the father he's killed, and from which he plans to evict the four Army veterans his father has long supported. Eventually, Tex and Tiffany push things too far and the four, led by Roscoe (Ernie Hudson) perform acts so grotesque that only the fact a chihuahua cleans up the mess could make it any worse.

Last is a fable about a crooked rapper, in which Lin Shaye improbably gives the best performance in the movie and Aries Spears gets to be very funny as a dead DJ. Things don't end well. But regarding Snoop's Hood, that's being redundant.

Camera (color, HD), Claudio Rocha; editors, Luis Colina, Jason Resmer; music, Patrick Copeland; special effects, Vincent J. Gaustini; visual effects supervisor, Wayne Kennedy; anime sequences, Madhouse; animation director, John Gaeta; casting, Anne McCarthy, Freddy Luis. Reviewed at Los Angeles Film Festival, June 27, 2006. Running time: 84 MIN.