# Tales from the Hood
*Tales from the Hood* is a 1995 American horror anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff, in which a mortician tells four supernatural tales of moral reckoning to three drug dealers trapped in his funeral home. It was co-written and produced by Darin Scott and executive produced by [Spike Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/spike-lee), and it addresses police brutality, child abuse, racist politics, and gang violence through the horror format.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 24, 1995, Los Angeles and New York openings; distributed by Savoy Pictures[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD) |
| Format | Four horror stories plus a wraparound, told by mortician Mr. Simms (Clarence Williams III) to three drug dealers[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood) |
| Key credits | Director and co-writer Rusty Cundieff; producer and co-writer Darin Scott; executive producer Spike Lee; music by Christopher Young[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood/cast-and-crew) |
| Box office | $11,784,569 domestic gross on a $6,000,000 production budget; opening weekend $3,898,983 in 862 theaters[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Tales-from-the-Hood) |
| Rating and runtime | R (graphic brutal violence and strong language); 98 minutes[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD) • [5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Tales-from-the-Hood) |
| Critical scores | 60% Tomatometer (25 reviews) and 69% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood) |
| Sequels | *Tales from the Hood 2* (2018) and a third film followed[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee) |
## Spoilers
### The four tales
**Rogue Cop Revelation.** The first tale follows Clarence (Anthony Griffith), a Black rookie cop who witnesses his white colleagues, led by Strom ([Wings Hauser](https://www.edgepedia.org/wings-hauser)), murder the Black community activist Martin Moorehouse (Tom Wright). The murdered man's spirit returns with the help of the guilt-ridden, now-disillusioned Clarence to take revenge.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09) [Billie Holiday](https://www.edgepedia.org/billie-holiday)'s recording of "Strange Fruit" plays through the tale, a choice the BFI reads as equating police brutality with lynching.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee)
**Boys Do Get Bruised.** The second tale concerns Walter ([Brandon Hammond](https://www.edgepedia.org/brandon-hammond)), a schoolboy who blames his bruises on a monster in his home. His teacher Richard, played by Cundieff himself, investigates and finds an abusive stepfather ([David Alan Grier](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-alan-grier)).[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09) In this story the supernatural works redemptively: Walter's drawings give him power over his abuser.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee)
**Duke Metger.** Corbin Bernsen plays Duke Metger, a racist former [Ku Klux Klan](https://www.edgepedia.org/ku-klux-klan) member running for governor who lives in a plantation mansion whose former owner massacred his slaves rather than free them. Local legend holds that the slaves' souls passed into small voodoo dolls, which turn on Metger.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09) A University of Florida course guide notes the character's campaign slogan echoes real political advertising of the period, including the [Jesse Helms](https://www.edgepedia.org/jesse-helms) "quota ad" against Harvey Gantt and the [Willie Horton](https://www.edgepedia.org/willie-horton) ad.[8](https://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/media/undergradaaufledu/uf-quest/quest-course-materials/quest-2-syllabi/spring-2023/2231_Q2_Austin.pdf)
**Hard-Core Convert.** The final and most violent tale follows the gangbanger Crazy K ([Lamont Bentley](https://www.edgepedia.org/lamont-bentley)), who is sent to a sinister prison where Dr. Cushing (Rosalind Cash) attempts shock rehabilitation, with video montages of historical lynchings and contemporary urban shootings. The BFI notes the sequence runs about two and a half minutes and is cut to [Spice 1](https://www.edgepedia.org/spice-1)'s "Born II Die"; the Washington Post compared the treatment to *A Clockwork Orange* and *The Parallax View*.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09)
The wraparound resolves the frame: Mr. Simms reveals his true supernatural nature, and the three young men, implicated in a violent act of their own, are confronted with the debt the funeral home has been building toward.[9](https://asidehouse.com/screen/tales-from-the-hood-the-anthology-that-smuggled-politics-into-horror/)
## Production and release
The film was made by 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Spike Lee's production company, and released by Savoy Pictures.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD) Cundieff and Scott had previously made the rap mockumentary *Fear of a Black Hat* (1994); *Tales from the Hood* was their first venture into the horror genre.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09) Scott drew on the Amicus anthologies of the 1970s, such as *Tales from the Crypt*, in which every story contributed to a central theme of comeuppance.[7](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3617371/aint-no-funeral-home-horror-anthology-tales-hood-turns-25-may-24/)
The cast pairs genre veterans with the film's leads: [Clarence Williams III](https://www.edgepedia.org/clarence-williams-iii) as the mortician Mr. Simms, Joe Torry as Stack, De'Aundre Bonds as Ball, Corbin Bernsen as the politician Duke Metger, and Rosalind Cash as Dr. Cushing.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD) Anthony B. Richmond served as cinematographer and Stuart Blatt as production designer.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD)
## Reception and box office
The film opened on May 24, 1995 in 862 theaters and earned $3,898,983 on its opening weekend, 33.1 percent of its eventual $11,784,569 domestic gross against a $6,000,000 production budget.[5](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Tales-from-the-Hood) Rotten Tomatoes lists a US gross of $10.7 million.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood) Contemporary reviews were mixed: the Los Angeles Times called it a "powerhouse of a movie" with wide crossover appeal,[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-ca-5292-story.html) while the Washington Post found budget limitations apparent and called the ending a disappointment.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 60 percent Tomatometer from 25 reviews and a 69 percent audience score.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood)
The film's subject matter was in step with its moment: the [Rodney King](https://www.edgepedia.org/rodney-king) beating and trial, the [O. J. Simpson](https://www.edgepedia.org/o-j-simpson) trial, and gang violence in cities then described as "murder capitals."[8](https://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/media/undergradaaufledu/uf-quest/quest-course-materials/quest-2-syllabi/spring-2023/2231_Q2_Austin.pdf) The soundtrack, released on MCA, was gold-selling and featured [Wu-Tang Clan](https://www.edgepedia.org/wu-tang-clan) and Gravediggaz.[11](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/tales-hood-streaming)
## Legacy in Black horror
The Washington Post's 1995 review identified *Tales from the Hood* as the first black-focused anthology horror project.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09) Scholars place it in a short line of Black-led horror features that includes *Blacula* (1972) and *Abby* (1974), and later [Jordan Peele](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-peele)'s *Us* (2019) and *Nope* (2022), in a genre where Black actors have typically been confined to supporting roles.[12](https://bpb-ap-se2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.unimelb.edu.au/dist/6/184/files/2023/02/Context-48.04.White_.pdf) A chapter in *The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film* uses the film, alongside the two *Candyman* films, to teach trauma studies to undergraduates.[13](https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/59633/chapter-abstract/505037256)
The BFI's retrospective assessment argues the film's themes apply readily to society decades later, and that its supernatural elements function as tools of redemptive justice rather than pure menace.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee) A sequel, *Tales from the Hood 2*, followed in 2018, leaning further into dark humor, and a third film followed it.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee)
## References
1. [Isaura Barbé-Brown (2020). Tales from the Hood, the cult horror comedy 25 years on. BFI.](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tales-from-hood-rusty-condieff-spike-lee)
2. [Tales from the Hood (1995). AFI Catalog.](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/60109-TALES-FROM-THE-HOOD)
3. [Tales From the Hood. Rotten Tomatoes.](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood)
4. [Tales From the Hood: Full Cast & Crew. Rotten Tomatoes.](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tales_from_the_hood/cast-and-crew)
5. [Tales from the Hood (1995) - Box Office and Financial Information. The Numbers.](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Tales-from-the-Hood)
6. [Richard Harrington (1995). 'Tales From the Hood': A Moribund Undertaking. The Washington Post.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/24/tales-from-the-hood-a-moribund-undertaking/f71dec82-c0b0-4676-afa0-e68a005e9d09)
7. [Meagan Navarro (2020). This Ain't No Funeral Home: Horror Anthology 'Tales from the Hood' Turns 25. Bloody Disgusting.](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3617371/aint-no-funeral-home-horror-anthology-tales-hood-turns-25-may-24/)
8. [University of Florida Quest course materials (2023).](https://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/media/undergradaaufledu/uf-quest/quest-course-materials/quest-2-syllabi/spring-2023/2231_Q2_Austin.pdf)
9. [Tales from the Hood: The Anthology That Smuggled Politics Into Horror. Aside House.](https://asidehouse.com/screen/tales-from-the-hood-the-anthology-that-smuggled-politics-into-horror/)
10. [Kevin Thomas (1995). Bold, Uproarious 'Tales' Takes Aim at Social Ills. Los Angeles Times.](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-ca-5292-story.html)
11. [Tales from the Hood. Screen Slate.](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/tales-hood-streaming)
12. [Racial Politics in the American Horror Film. University of Melbourne.](https://bpb-ap-se2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.unimelb.edu.au/dist/6/184/files/2023/02/Context-48.04.White_.pdf)
13. [Colleen Karn (2025). From Tales from the Hood to Candyman: Teaching Trauma Studies with Black Horror Cinema. The Oxford Handbook of Black Horror Film.](https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/59633/chapter-abstract/505037256)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Supernatural horror films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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