In this anthology, a mortician tells three street toughs four tales of horror, each with an African-American theme: A slain civil rights speaker gains revenge on the crokked cops who killed him; a young boy finds an unusual way to combat the monster who terrorizes him at home; a white racist politician is punished for his sins by a group of possessed dolls; a criminal is given a chance to reform through radical behavioral therapy.
Subgenres: anthology, racial commentary
| ||||||
As far as horror anthologies go, this is a good one, and even more so for showing a Black point of view, a perspective which is vastly underrepresented in horror. Unfortunately, like many other anthologies, Tales suffers from the fact that the framing device is better than the tales themselves (Clarence Williams III, as the mortician, is great). However, the tales are all good, even if none is particularly gripping. Still, I took great pleasure in seeing Corbin Bersen's racist get his due, and I think David Alan Grier is fantastic in his role--he shows a brutality I never knew he was capable of. Even the last tale of the four--which is a take on (some might say "rip-off" of) A Clockwork Orange --manages to pull of a surprise at the end, and features a fierce performance by its lead. A good watch. (Feb 11, 1999) | ||||||
