House Party is a 1990 comedy film released by New Line Cinema. It stars Kid and Play of the popular hip hop duo Kid n' Play, and also stars Paul Anthony, Bow-Legged Lou, and B-Fine from Full Force, and Robin Harris (who died of a heart attack nine days after House Party was released). The film also starred the likes of past and future famous faces, such as Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, A.J. Johnson, Daryl "Chill" Mitchell and Gene "Groove" Allen (of Groove B. Chill), Kelly Jo Minter, John Witherspoon, with a cameo by funk legend George Clinton.
The film was written and directed by Reginald Hudlin, based on his Harvard University film school thesis. House Party debuted at the 1990 Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won two awards in the Dramatic category: the Filmmakers Trophy and the Excellence in Cinematography Award. The film grossed $26,385,627 in its run at the box office with its widest release being 700 theaters.
The lead roles were originally written for DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.
Plot
While in their high school cafeteria, Peter, also known as "Play" (Martin) announces to his friends Christopher, known as "Kid" (Reid) and Bilal (Lawrence) that he'll be having a party at his house that night, as his parents Ishmel and Tajahi are out of town. The reluctant Bilal is to be the DJ. Kid is then involved in an altercation with school bully Stab and his two brothers Pee-Wee and Zilla (Paul Anthony, Bowlegged Lou and B-Fine of Full Force). When Kid comes home, he tries to convince his father, "Pop" (Harris) to let him go to the party. At first Kid's father relents, but soon grounds Kid when a note from Kid's school informs him of the fight he was in. Rather than miss the party of the year, Kid sneaks out while his sleeping father is watching Dolemite - not realizing that his father woke up just as he closed the door. On his way to the party, Kid runs into Stab and his brothers, and ducks into a Alpha Delta Sigma reunion nearby to get away from them. Crashing the reunion, Kid has the DJ (George Clinton) scratch and mix a few of his old doo wop records so that he can liven the party with a rap, until Stab and the others turn up again. When trying to get away from Stab, he winds up knocking an older man down before attempting to make a run for it. However, Kid and the bullies are caught by the neighborhood police, who humiliate the four teenagers in front of the reunion party attendees before letting them go. Before that, he jumps over a fence to get away, ending up looking in a window where a fat man is having rough sex with a hooker, and when he is discovered, Kid runs away, and the three punks are shot at.
When Kid finally makes it to the house party, he finds it in full swing, with attractive girls Sydney (Campbell) and Sharane (Johnson) also in attendance. After some music and dancing, Kid and Play first get into a dance contest with Sidney and Sharane, and later have a quick freestyle battle. Stab and his friends attempt to break up the party, but are arrested a second time by the policemen, who take delight in the prospect of beating them up.
Kid's father eventually makes his way to the party, demanding to know where Kid is. When he doesn't spot Kid - Kid is upstairs helping Sharane get her coat - Pop vows to wait for the boy at home. Although Kid and Sydney each have an eye for each other, Sharane decides to openly flirt with Kid, much to Sydney's disgust. The three of them soon leave the party, but when Kid tries to make advances on Sharane, she rebuffs him. Kid then walks Sydney back home, and after some argument the two of them finally calm down and make conversation.
Sydney allows Kid to sneak into her house, and the two are about to have sex in Sydney's room when she stops him, wanting to know if she is simply his second choice. Kid manages to convince Sydney that she was his first choice all along, but they don't do anything when they see that the only condom Kid has is too old to be used. When Sydney's parents come home - now revealed as one of the couples at the high school reunion, including the man Kid ran into - Sydney hastily helps Kid sneak out of the house. He manages to get out of yet another scrape with Stab and his brothers, and they all end up in a jail cell, where Kid entertains the rest of the men in the cell by rapping, distracting them long enough for Play, Sharrane, Bilal, and Sydney to arrive with enough cash to bail him out. Kid sneaks home and gets undressed, only to find Pop holding a belt. The movie then cuts to the credits where Pop whipping Kid can be heard.
Sequels
The film was a popular success, and two sequels were made: House Party 2 in 1991; and House Party 3 in 1994. House Party 2 features Lawrence and Campbell reprising their roles from the first film; the two would begin co-starring in the TV sitcom Martin the following year. House Party 3 features hip hop/R&B groups TLC and Immature in supporting roles. In 2001, Immature (now going by IMx) starred in a direct-to-video sequel, House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute, which does not feature Kid or Play. The film is not considered a part of the House Party canon amongst fans.[citation needed]
Trivia
- Kid refers to Play to his father as "Peter" but Play's actual real name is never revealed leaving to assume his name is Peter.
- This was one of Robin Harris' last films.
- This is the only film in the theatrical series to garner positive reviews. The rest were both critical failures despite being successful at the box office.
- Reginald and Warrington Hudlin make brief cameos as bandits making their getaway on a city bus while being chased by a dog.
References
See also
External links
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The House Party Series |
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