House Party

"House Party" is a classic cult flick and an excellent document of late-Eighties/early-Nineties hip-hop music and style.

The movie is never anything less than entertaining, and often laugh-out-loud funny.

People may have forgotten the hip hop duo Kid 'n Play, who were among the first to bring rap to a younger and less hardcore audience, a la Will Smith. This is unfair: they were fine rappers, and even decent actors. Surprisingly though, "House Party" is the Kid show. Play doesn't make as much of an impression.

There are few wonders to behold as impressive as Kid's geometrically perfect high-top fade hairdo. I would love to see how a hairdresser pulls that off.

It's interesting that the only white characters in the movie are authority figures: a principal and two sort-of racist cops. But that's also just another reason to love it; how many majority African American movies have there been, before or since?

This is a wacky little flick that I saw during 7th grade in class. Lots of forced comedy and wild dialog, but entertaining at certain points. Plenty of my classmates loved it, but I thought it was pretty average though.

Grade C

Such a delightful comedy with amazing characters and great fun throughout! Christopher Reid is such a glorious actor to watch for anyone to enjoy. The best thing ever about House Party is how things constantly work out in different variations and the soundtrack is so much fun! Definitely among one of the best party films around even the sequels are enjoyable too.

Play is having a party with his parents out of town joined by his friends Kid and Bilal (Martin Lawrence). School bullies Stab and his brothers Pee-Wee and Zilla have it in for Kid. Kid's father Pop allows him to go to the party until he reads the school letter about Kid's fight with Stab. The boys like Sidney (Tisha Campbell) and Sharane.

This takes the harder edged black culture material and adds a light playful charm. Kid 'n Play are not exactly heavy hitters in the acting department. Play is not much cinematically but Kid does have a fun comedic energy. Play does better when he's rapping. Once the party starts, the movie finds its grove. It's a party and everybody can have fun.

The kid'n'play dance was the thing back in the late 80s early 90s. The new jack swing was at its peak and this movie sums it up. It became a break-through for then young actors Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell. This reminds me of the time when I was a teenager who wanted to sneak out to go to a party and later got caught. I was in the 10th grade when this movie was released and I had a lot of fun during that time with not too much fighting at parties. The bullies played by the R&B group Full Force made the movie more funny with its slapstick humor and the memorable Robin Harris with his witty punchlines. It's sad to see him leave this earth at an early age,and comedian Bernie Mac reminds me of him. I remember he died the weekend of this movie and this was a shock. He could have been one of the funniest comedians in the 90s but his life was put to a halt and made way for several comedians who are now today's superstars (namely from Def Comedy Jam). House Party also remind me of how fun hip-hop was,and back then hip-hop was political,educational,radical,and uplifting. This movie can go down in history as how African-Americans can enjoy themselves with no use of drugs and unprotected sex.