½*/**** Image B+ Sound A
starring Kid 'N Play, Full Force, Martin Lawrence, Robin Harris
written and directed by Reginald Hudlin
by Jon Thibault Any movie starring people with names like Kid 'N Play, Bowlegged Lou, B-Fine, and Martin Lawrence is destined to suck. Add mediocre-at-best writer–director Reginald Hudlin, and you're staring down the barrel of a 12-gauge crap rifle. Yet House Party spawned two sequels and became an early-'90s cross-over phenomenon: a purportedly comedic take on the popular urban genre of the time, like Boyz n the Hood and Do the Right Thing, only with funny violence and racism. Now, decades later, it sports a 95% "fresh" rating on ROTTEN TOMATOES, which proves once again that white guilt (more specifically, white liberals' fear of appearing racially insensitive) almost always trumps professional integrity–an attitude that's patronizing to black filmmakers and loathsome in its self-congratulatory mendacity.
House Party's failure owes largely to the comedically stultifying tone set by its racial stereotyping. One could argue that Hudlin's "humorous" take on black urban culture is supposed to be ironic and post-modern, but judging by his directorial oeuvre–Boomerang, Serving Sara–Hudlin isn't smart enough for subtlety, nor does he have the chops to pull off the Richard Pryor comedy-in-abjection angle. House Party is exactly what it looks like: a mishmash of gang violence, police brutality, racism, and–I swear this is true–prison rape, disjointedly packaged as a racy teen comedy.
When Kid (Christopher Reid) gets in a fight at school with three bullies who are referred to as "hoods" but look suspiciously like "a gang" (Paul Anthony as Stab, B-Fine as Zilla, and Bow-Legged Lou as Pee-Wee, billed together as Full Force, and… oh, fuck it), his Pop (a very stoned Robin Harris) won't let him attend that evening's titular party, hosted by buddy Play (Christopher Martin). SPOILER ALERT, as if it matters: He makes it to the party(!), which culminates in a good-natured rap war between the two leads, as well as a dance-off between Kid, Play, rich girl Sidney (Tisha Campbell), and cock-tease-from-the-projects Sharane (A.J. Johnson), during which, as one would expect given the era, the Running Man and its derivatives are prominently featured, as are assorted Fly Girl moves and that thing where two guys touch feet. Throughout, Martin Lawrence mugs and screeches uncontrollably, and by the end of the film, we realize that House Party is about friendship–like St. Elmo's Fire.
Lest the white members of the audience actually start enjoying themselves, Hudlin inserts several acts of wanton violence to remind everyone that black people have it rough. Racist white cops don't exactly crash the party and kill Radio Raheem, but they do arrest Stab and his two buddies, drive them where "nobody will hear 'em scream," and beat the shit out of them. The beating itself isn't shown, but is it funny when police beat up black high-school kids? The hilarity continues as people get shot at, somebody inexplicably bashes a possum to death with a baseball bat, and Kid is almost gang-raped by several prison inmates. How does he escape? By rapping, of course! About AIDS! Watch this clip and marvel at the fact that this festering dog turd has a higher Tomatometer rating than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
There are some splashes of talent in the thing. Cinematographer Peter Deming (Mulholland Drive) adroitly captures the pleated-pastel and yellow-bodysuited dance spasticity, and a few throwaway gags work well because Hudlin wasn't paying enough attention to screw them up. Harris, who died shortly after House Party was released, presumably improvised his lines, because he's the only person who's funny. His performance basically consists of unintelligible mumbling, random insults, and Dolemite quotes, but in this movie, that's enough for the win.
THE DVD
Presenting House Party in widescreen (1.85:1, 16×9-enhanced) and fullscreen (1.33:1) transfers on the same side of a dual-layered disc, New Line's DVD release from 2000 still looks fine, with just enough grain to remind you that you're watching an awful movie and not an awful TV show. The attendant Dolby Digital 5.1 audio brings the party to your living room, albeit along with Martin Lawrence. Extras consist only of a refreshingly scratchy theatrical trailer and cast and crew filmographies. A commentary by Hudlin would have been welcome, as one can't help but wonder what the hell he was thinking.
103 minutes; R; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced), 1.33:1; English DD 5.1; CC; English subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; New Line
