My dear readers, though it is deeply uncharacteristic for me to engage in any “window” shopping, I recently found myself admiring the most fetching tie pin in the storefront of a gentleman’s attire purveyor. Though its glittering form was arresting, its rather steep price stayed my checkbook until, weeks later, it disappeared from the vendor’s display. I was so flummoxed by this development that I found myself wishing aloud that I could only have one more opportunity to purchase the item. As luck would have it, a well-dressed fellow appeared the very moment this utterance escaped me and said that he could not help but overhear my conundrum. He was a merchant of sorts, who claimed to deal in “all matter of things,” and just happened to have the very article that had captured my attention on his person. He even offered it to me for a trifling sum. The thing sent a bit of charge through me when I first touched it, I expect from the excitement of having found such a bargain. I hate to boast about taking advantage of a chap like that but he did not seem at all unversed in the ways of business and something about the deal seemed to please him greatly. 

The Hound of Hell (Calvin Cordozar “Snoop Dogg” Broadus Jr. ) knows a thing or two about effective bargaining tactics. Before assuming his grandiose moniker, The Hound, or HOH for champions of brevity, was a bit of a sullen chap, largely owing to his involvement in the death of his younger sister. He once kept a fair amount of violent paraphernalia about the house and a loose pistol resulted in his younger sibling meeting with a fatal accident. After being disowned by his mother, HOH really starts to feel terribly about the whole business and so, just to prove just what a good brother he really is, HOH makes a deal with a demon -- he offers his own life so that his sister might live again.

Though it seems a simple enough swap, there is a bit of fine print concerning HOH serving as hell’s usher for all eternity, gently guiding damned souls on their path to eternal torment. His latest batch of candidates include a truly fascinating collection of characters. There is Posie Santano (Daniella Alonso), an aspiring artist who is given a deadly gift that she employs with a notable lack of discretion. Then, of course, there is Tex Woods Jr. (Anson Mount), a patricide enthusiast with somewhat dated views on racial relations who makes brazen attempts to displace the veterans he must reside with as a condition of his father’s will. And finally, there is SOD (Pooch Hall), a “hip-hop” musician whose enviable rise could not have occurred without commissioning the murder of his former collaborator.

As devoted consumers of this digital publication can attest, Hood of Horror is not the first time that musician Snoop Dogg has donned the mantle of thespian. Slasher aficionados were treated to his rendition of Jimmy Bones in the 2001 production of Bones, and while few could say he did not succeed in the role, I imagine this serendipitous union of content and character left some wondering if Mr. Dogg possesses any great acting ability or if he was simply well suited for the part. The film, after all, touched on both criminal and canine themes, two subjects that appeared in his musical output. And so, for this reason, I am most happy to report that this infernal anthology should demonstrate to skeptics that Mr. Dogg is capable of taking on any role with that features magical mutt malefaction. While Jimmy Bones was the leader of a delinquent enterprise turned into a vengeful hound, the Hound of Hell is a more of an aspirational offender who becomes an essential employee in Satan’s workforce.

The roles are as different as could be, and Mr. Dogg’s capacity to capture such diverse individuals is a potent testament to his value as an actor. I would not be the least bit surprised if Bones and Hood of Horror were merely the first entries in a storied dramatic career combining felons, fiends and man’s best friend.

Hood of Horror runs 86 minutes and is rated R for pervasive strong violence and gore, sexuality, nudity and language.