Hood of Horror (a.k.a. Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror) is a horror anthology film of three short tales set in an urban milieu in a style reminiscent of Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Hood. Directed by Stacy Title, it was the "secret" ninth film screened in the 8 Films to Die For film festival on November 19, 2006. It opened worldwide in theaters on May 4, 2007.
The Hound of Hell (Snoop Dogg) is a guide through three stories from a neighborhood of depraved citizens. The first story, "Crossed Out" is about a tagger who discovers that not all gangsters die hard. The second entry, "The Scumlord", tells the tale of a foolish Texas oil fortune heir who kills for money but can't afford to stay living. And finally, there's "Rhapsody Askew", a story of a huge rap star who uncovers a few skeletons in his dressing room that try to kick down his door.
Alongside Snoop Doog, the film also stars Ernie Hudson, Danny Trejo, Aries Spears, Anson Mount, Daniella Alonso, Brande Roderick, Rodrick Leary, Pooch Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Jason Alexander, Lin Shaye, and Billy Dee Williams.
This film provides examples of:
- Art Attacker: Posie in "Crossed Out", who kills her victims by crossing out their graffiti tags.
- Asshole Victim: Played Straight with Tex Jr. and Tiffany in "The Scumlord" and SOD in "Rhapsody Askew", but Downplayed with Posie in "Crossed Out" due to her Dark and Troubled Past and becoming Drunk with Power.
- Balloon Belly: Tex Jr.'s wife Tiffany in "The Scumlord", after the veterans force feed her caviar until she quite literally bursts.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Posie, who witnessed her crackhead father murder her mother, then shoot himself, when she was just a little girl.
- Deal with the Devil: How Devon became the Hound of Hell. He sold his soul and traded his life for his little sister, who was accidentally killed during a shootout between him and a rival gang member (who turns out to be the demon he sells his soul to).
- Driven to Suicide:
- In the animated prologue, in order for his little sister to be restored to life, Devon had to slit his throat. "A life for a life". He does it without even hesitating, as he blamed himself for his sister's death.
- Posie's father puts a bullet in his head after killing her mother in "Crossed Out".
- Drunk with Power: After Posie gains the power to literally "cross out" the gangsters, she goes a bit too far in her goal to clean up the streets, and this ultimately leads to her demise.
- I Have No Son!: In the animated prologue that reveals how he became a Hound of Hell, Devon's mother says this to him when his little sister is killed during a shootout between him and a rival gang.
- Just a Stupid Accent: Jason Alexander appears as a sleazy record company exec with an absolutely inexplicable and terribly faked accent of unknown origin, possibly an attempt at a London Gangster or something of the like.
- Product Placement: Fatcap's Joker brand t-shirt, popular with Southern California cholos.
- Tragic Keepsake: After Posie learns what her new power can do, we see that she kept the drawing she had made the night her parents died, still splattered with her mother’s blood. This is what drives her to continue her crusade against the street thugs.
