Bitch Ass opens with horror icon Tony Todd (Candyman) introducing the film in a sinister manner. Referencing ‘Blackula’ and ‘Tales From The Hood’ amongst others, he tells us Bitch Ass is the ‘first black serial killer to wear a mask’. Todd sets the scene, channelling the Cryptkeeper from ‘Tales From The Crypt’ and pressing play on a mock 1990’s style VHS recording. Bitch Ass proper is set in 1999, but director Bill Posey (previously a contestant on reality show Survivor, here in his directorial debut) was obviously keen to evoke 90’s video nasty nostalgia.
We meet Spade (Sheaun McKinney), the leader of the 6th Street gang and his willing minions, keen to join the gang via a crime-ridden right of passage. Spade wants them to rob the home of a recently deceased wealthy woman and her nerdy grandson, a former classmate of Spade’s, who is known in the neighbourhood as Bitch Ass (played by a gravel-voiced Tunde Laleye). Bookish Q (Teon Kelley) sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the hopefuls and is chastised by his strict mother (Me’lisa Sellers) about his prospects if he continues to hang around with the gang. Midnight comes and the gang enter the home of the eponymous Bitch Ass in search of cash and jewellery, but in doing so unwittingly enter Bitch Ass’s intricate world of deadly games. As the gang are picked off one by one with some gruesome versions of Operation, Connect 4 and Jenga, we learn more about Bitch Ass’s (real name Cecil’s) background and how it links with Spade and Q’s mother in the 1980s, who follow suit to find the gang when they fail to return. Cecil has revenge on his mind and will go to any length to get it, forcing Q and his mother to fight to get out of the house alive.
Representation in the predominantly white horror genre is important and with an all-black cast and the first black masked killer, Bitch Ass earns a place within the horror pantheon. It’s just a shame that it’s a story we’ve seen plenty of times before
This is well-trodden horror territory and Bitch Ass isn’t adding anything to this crowded genre. There’s a fun gaming interplay, the characters are crossed off when they die and we get split screens of the contestants playing their deadly games. There’s a lo-fi, gritty vibe to the whole film and while Bitch Ass’s house of games is well realised, it does look a little fake at times and isn’t helped by the red and blue lighting, giving the whole thing an almost stage-like feeling. I’s 90’s setting is barely acknowledged, with the exception of mobile phones being used and Q’s flat top hairstyle, but otherwise, it’s largely irrelevant. There’s very little tension in the film, but in the same vein, there’s very little padding. It’s a lean hour and a half, so there isn’t a lot of time for character development, especially with Q’s fellow junior gang members. Solo female member Trick mentions having a girlfriend, but the other two are basically just cannon fodder for killer Bitch Ass and are dispatched mercifully quickly.
As the film divulges more of the protagonist’s history, it’s a rather flimsy plot that’s revealed and at times logic just goes out the window, but the enthusiastic cast does their best to sell a darkly comic tone throughout. Q’s mother probably puts in the best performance as she angrily sets out to face her past and save her son, her mix of sympathy and anger with Cecil giving her the most complexity amongst the ensemble. They could have gone further with the plot, there’s some ambiguity over Q’s paternity for example and it might have enriched the plot to have his father be either gang leader Spade, forcing Q to shun college and follow in his criminal footsteps, or even Bitch Ass himself, pitting father and son against one another. In the deadly games, sadly, neither of these is realised and when we do reach the finale, there’s very little in the way of investment in any party, leading to a very predictable climax.
Representation in the predominantly white horror genre is important and with an all-black cast and the first black masked killer, Bitch Ass earns a place within the horror pantheon. It’s just a shame that it’s a story we’ve seen plenty of times before and the quirk of the deadly games (and to be fair, Bitch Ass’s sense of fairness) doesn’t do enough to make this memorable. It may have fared better in an anthology and perhaps director Posey intends to release more films featuring Todd in his role as evil gatekeeper, meaning it won’t be a stand-alone. If nothing else, board game enthusiasts finally have a film they can watch every Halloween.
FrightFest Presents & Signature Entertainment release Bitch Ass on Digital Platforms 19th December
