Nite Tales (2008)
By Shane Rivers
Nite Tales, written and directed by Deon Taylor, wants to be another Tales from the Hood: that is, a horror film aimed at African-American audiences. Instead, we get an uneven B-movie which makes Tyler Perry look like a cinema savant.
The film is divided into two different stories. The first tale, entitled “Karma,” concerns a group of hardened gangstas (including rapper/actor Sticky Fingaz) and their attempts to rob a small-town bank. Events predictably take a turn for the worse, and these rejects from an N.W.A. video soon find themselves stranded on a lonely country road. Thank goodness there’s a nearby house filled with colorful rednecks. On second thought, maybe that’s not such a good thing after all.
The second story, entitled “Storm,” concerns a group of teens stuck indoors during a massive downpour. Bored, they decide to play the old Bloody Mary game (when will kids ever learn). Not surprisingly, things get weird in a hurry. A clown (Tony Todd) shows up at the front door, and he’s later joined by a cop with an earring. People start dropping dead, and it’s anybody’s guess as to who the real killer is.
“Storm” is the stronger of the two episodes, due in large part to the performance of veteran genre actor Tony Todd. The star of films such as Night of the Living Dead (1990) and Candyman, Todd does an effective job of playing a rain-soaked clown who might just moonlight as a psychopath.
The idea of combining Bloody Mary with a killer-on-the-loose storyline is a novel one, but the whole thing collapses towards the end. By that point, it’s obvious what’s going on, and the real answer isn’t nearly as exciting as some of the possibilities.
Besides its questionable script, Nite Tales is also plagued by a number of technical errors which give it an amateurish feel. The cop’s earring keeps hopping from ear to ear in various shots, and a demonically-possessed water faucet is turned off and on by a clearly visible black wire. If Rodriguez or Tarantino had been associated with this film, I’d say these mistakes were intentional; somehow, I doubt that’s the case with Deon Taylor and company.
And don’t forget about Flavor Flav, reality television star and member of legendary rap group Public Enemy. With his trademark tophat, gold teeth and oversized timepiece, Flav certainly looks bizarre enough to be in a low-budget horror film. Unfortunately, his attempts at acting may provide the film’s scariest moments.
Then again, calling it “acting” would be pretending that Flav is actually trying to portray someone else. That’s not the case, and any doubts are erased when he begins to weave tired rhymes into dialogue which sounds more ad-libbed than anything.
No doubt brought aboard to provide a recognizable face, Flav’s embarrassing performance drives the final nail into Nite Tale’s coffin. One has to wonder what Coolio was doing that day?
This Nite Tales movie review is copyright 2009 Small World Marketing and Shane Rivers. This Nite Tales review should not be reprinted without the permission of the copyright holders.
This movie review of Nite Tales expresses the opinion of the author only. Other Nite Tales movie reviews are available online, and some of those might or might not express different opinions on the movie. Like those other Nite Tales movie reivews, this Nite Tales review is intended for the entertainment and education of the reader. This Nite Tales movie review is provided as is with no warranty or guarantee implied.
