Movie Review – House Party: Tonight’s the Night

Release Date: July 23, 2013

Production Companies: Warner Premiere/Film Afrika Worldwide/Market Street Productions/Elephant Walk McHenry Productions

It must be said. I never thought I would say this, but I think maybe “House Party 4: Down to the Last Minute” may have been a superior film to this one. As much as I wanted to believe that this one could have been better, I feel like I was let down.

I am getting a little ahead of myself here. Let me just start from the beginning.

Straight-to-video sequels are not a novel concept, by any means, as they go back a long way to even the 1990s. I have enjoyed watching my share of them, depending on the kind of film that they are. Then there are some that are not just bad, but also unwatchable. I recall hearing about this film when I saw it advertised on a Redbox machine when I went to a grocery store. My first thought was “Huh? Another ‘House Party’ film?” I was able to tell from first glance that it was straight-to-video, as well as had new faces in this. I could tell it was not a follow-up to the fourth film, but one thing that grabbed my attention was the picture of Kid ‘N Play on the title logo. I recall hearing from some reviews that it was not a good movie, but some said that it wasn’t that bad. This was a long time ago. After sitting through this, I may have to say that it was indeed a bad movie.

The plot is as basic as it comes. Two high school friends, Chris (Tequan Richmond) and Dylan (Zac Goodspeed) are two teen rappers who are on the verge of graduating high school. Chris wants to tell his longtime crush, Autumn Rose (Tristin Mays), how he feels. Dylan wants he and Chris to get noticed by a record executive to get a deal. The two throw a party, because of course there has to be one. One cliche about this is that these kids have one last experience before graduation, because something like this does happen in any other teen movies that have a wild party. Not to mention tired-old archetypes and mean-spirited humor surrounding them. Oh, do I have something to say about that. I’ll get to those.

This film feels rather white-washed and has the production value of a Disney Channel movie. If there wasn’t any profanity and sexual content, this film would be tame enough to be something you would find on the Disney Channel. I’ve seen other straight-to-video films that have better production values and with a little more edge than this. But because it’s rated R, there is some sexual content in here that would make someone wonder if this was caught on TV and initially thought as a TV movie but then they would see some stuff and be shocked at what is shown. Hell, some of the stuff here felt forced.

Regarding the stupid archetypes in this movie, where do I begin? You have the old school style nerds who not only wear glasses but are awkward as hell. They somehow get invited to the party and meet three female nerds who seem awkward but then reveal tattoos in places that I don’t want to discuss, and they all immediately hook up. Then you have the overweight girl that nobody likes, and get this, her name is “Precocious.” Gee, I wonder how they came up with THAT name. You also have a little person that Dylan calls a “real life gnome.” Finally, you also have the socially awkward loner type who keeps his head down. Oh, and he and Precocious hook up in a very weird manner that initially seems nonconsensual but then it wasn’t long until it becomes consensual, and they happen to break through the ceiling during their sexual encounter. I wish I was making this up. I also think that Precocious was dubbed. It sure seemed like it.

Oh, and because I mentioned consent (or lack thereof), there was a subplot involving a cougar neighbor who seemed to be lusting after Chris. In my opinion, that was rather disturbing, especially considering how much younger he was than her. I will just leave it at that.

It was clear that Chris and Dylan were supposed to the Kid ‘N Play of this film. Oddly enough, Chris shares the same first name with the real Kid ‘N Play, except Play’s name in the first film was Peter. Aside from names, Chris was the more level-headed one, while Dylan had the goals of being noticed by record execs and planned to throw the party, like how Play would. I suppose Autumn Rose was the Sydney, and this other girl named Morgan was the Sharane, except she was already with Dylan. The only thing missing was an equivalent to the Full Force bullies from the first two films, with the only thing closest to it was Autumn’s asshole boyfriend who cheats on her but still wants to be with her and also gets into a fight with Chris. That’s about as far as it will go.

If I were to talk about any positives this film had, it would probably be Gary Anthony Williams as Chris’s father. I never have a problem with this guy, especially when he voiced Uncle Ruckus on “The Boondocks,” as well as other roles he played. Another positive are the dance numbers. And finally, Kid ‘N Play’s cameo…at the end of the film. As a matter of fact, it was a mid-credits scene when they finally appeared. It was nice to see them in this film as they became record producers and also still toured, not to mention references to the original, maybe even 2 and 3. However, that’s about it in terms of positives this film had.

Regarding which one I would rather revisit first between 4 and 5, that is hard. I really did not like either of them, but if I had to pick one, I would probably go with the fourth film, as much as it pains me to say. At least I was somewhat entertained by the scenes with the uncle. Those parts at least got some chuckles out of me. This one, however, annoyed me more than the fourth film. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch these films again, but even with movies I don’t like, never say never.

One more to go. I heard some mixed thoughts on the 2023 reboot. The only thing that I would hope is that it’s an improvement over these two. I will see for myself.

NEXT UP: House Party (2023)