This one has very wholesome premise for a party film, that is if you look past all the swearing, an instance of somebody being beaten up, a brief no-nudity sex scene. There's no depiction of drug use, there's only a single instance of teenage drinking which was admonished by other teens, the house party is just full of salacious teenagers who are too busy with their dancing and mating rituals (everyone is too exhausted in between song numbers for them to explore the lustier side of teenage life). They are far too consumed with groping and grinding together with their dance partners, and even those who couldn't find one. The dance contests and freestyle rap battles are superb and energetic.There is that subversive humor bubbling underneath. The filmmakers' grievances and frustrations with the "authority" they loathe ever present, but not without empathy. They have a smile plastered in their faces as they bare their heart and soul to the audience. The film starts with an unembellished, mesmerizing, hypnotic crowd dance sequence that serves as a teaser to encapsulate all of the character's innermost desires. Full blown escapism that is straight-forward and spot on.Peter "Play" Martin decides to take advantage of his parent's absence and host a party for his friends at his home and they have enlisted Bilal (pre-superstardom Martin Lawrence, hysterical as always) to DJ using those bulky turntables and gigantic speakers. But unfortunately for Chris "Kid" Harris who got in trouble at the school cafeteria, his father received a note from the school principal detailing the incident which automatically grounded him, but Kid still manages to sneak out determined not to miss the party of the year. The father, upon realization that his son snuck out on him, furiously goes after him. Both of their journey to the said party are filled with zany and madcap adventures.Robin Harris shows that earnestness and fondness for his on-screen son with that seldom-seen understated tenderness in a father-son relationship. Very capable performances also from Christopher Reid , Christopher Martin, Tisha C Martin and the ensemble of actors that they assembled for this film, quite a riot. Special mention to the uproarious comedic performances from Play Martin's grumbling neighbor John Witherspoon, and to Daryl Mitchell's Chill whose intense dancing just keeps on bumping the DJ table much to Bilal's dismay. I had the chance of watching this as a kid during the '90s and I thought it was just a "funny ha-ha" decent comedy. But now 2010+, having the luxury of hindsight (knowledge of African-American history from the '60s to the '90s, background that I never had back then) and in re-watching this, I was bowled over because now I have a more mature regard for this kind of work. For me, I consider it now as a "whoa-ho-ho-ho hilarious" slice-of-life snapshot of the late-'80s-early-'90s contemporary African-American experience. My rating: B-plus.

House Party predates the iconic and memorable start of the Friday franchise five years and is also one of the many, hilarious African American Comedies out there. We don't get many of these classic, retro, 80's and 90's style black movies anymore like we used too. The latest one that crosses my mind at the moment is the recent Lottery Ticket that, judging from the film's trailer, has the style, humor, and looks of a Friday film (with Ice Cube not as Craig) and some other similarities I won't dig into at this time. Though it undoubtedly wont surpass the humor brought by Ice Cube and Chris Tucker in the 1995 Comedy, it will most likely bring cute one liners and have an essence of the feeling while being it's own thing.Kid 'n Play and DJ Jazzy Jeff/The Fresh Prince were icons and the rap duos way back in the 80's 90's. They are the true definition of hip-hop with their amusing, yet cheesy music videos, and energetic beats combined with clever lines in their songs. We even get the memorable and respectable rap battle between Kid n' Play which is the film's ultimate turn for the best. We get some of the most fluent rhymes and a beat (composed by Martin Lawrence) to satisfy as well. It's definitely the most energetic point in the film and without the had the most thought put into it.Kid n' Play play are themselves with a simple plot amongst them. Kid wants to go to a party held by Play, but after a run in with the school bully, his father Pops (played by the late Robin Harris, whom died nine days after the release of the film) prevents him from going and makes him remain in the house all night. Kid sneaks out and heads to Play's party in hopes of having his way with the girl, or girls, of his dreams. The one thing in the way of his dreams is the school bully and his two goons trying to make Kid sorry for his "accidental" run in in the lunch room.It's a simple story, but to my surprise, the movie is not all about the house party as the title, cover, and storyline would suggest. It's actually a heartfelt, meaningful story about friendship, love, and doing what you think is right. When introduced to Kid we are given the misleading impression he is a "goodie-goodie" kid with nothing on his mind that would ever lead to trouble. Instead when the movie picks up we learn Kid's wild side and the antics never stop when they start.Another thing very cool about this film are the colors. Bright, vibrant texture is put to the test here and the colorful and artistic blend work well in creating a very unique setup. Also with the classic hip-hop tracks constantly played in the movie, it's almost feels like one 100 minute musical/music video, since most videos back in the 90's had a cheesy, colorful set with energetic music and a track with sensible lyrics. Overall, House Party is definitely a party. With the all star African American cast, enjoyable songs, vibrant colors, and a retro feeling to top it off, it's the ultimate party movie, and Kid n' Play are the icing on the cake.Starring: Christopher "Kid" Reid, Christopher "Play" Martin, Full Force, Martin Lawrence, A.J. Johnson, Tisha Campbell,, and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell.

Oddly serving as the thesis film for director Reginald Hudlin while a student at Harvard, 'House Party' is one of my favorite teen comedies. Although, clearly most of the cast (especially Martin Lawrence and the members of Full Force) who were clearly somewhere in their late 20s, if not early 30s. However, this is one all-black teen comedy which did things with just the right amount of spunk, and the characters were not so obnoxious and not so stereotypical that you couldn't enjoy their (mis)adventures.Old school rappers, Kid and Play, are two high school friends. Play is hosting a house party when his folks go out of town and his number one mate, Kid, plans on making an appearance. But, after getting into a scuffle with one of the bullies (aka, the biggest muscles from Full Force), he gets suspended. Like Les Anderson hoping his parents won't find out that he flunked his driver exam in 'License to Drive,' Kid prays that his father won't find out about his getting in trouble at school because he desperately wants to go that party.But, more importantly, there is a great mix of subplots interacting which make this movie quite entertaining, especially the idiotic white cops that seem to appear at the most inconvenient moments (and not appear at the convenient ones) to harass the neighborhood and Kid's father (stand-up comedian, Robin Harris) making his way to the house party to bring his son home. And get a load of those clothes and dancing! For fans of old school rap and hip-hop: the nostalgia trip alone should be reason enough to watch it. And, though several House Party sequels would follow, the first two are really the only ones worth watching.

I saw this film last night it was so funny. A teenager named Kid has been invited to a house party but when a bully gives him a hard time at School he gets sent to the principal's office. Well his father finds out about the fight and Kid is grounded but when his father falls asleep he sneaks out of the house and goes to the house party but 3 bullies crash the party and kidnap Kid well all 4 of them get caught by the police and are ordered to go home but once the police are gone Kid goes back to the party to do some rapping and 2 women vie for his attention. And soon the song Always and Forever is played at the house party by disc jockey Bilal. Then Kid does some more rapping. Later Kid's father shows up at the party looking for him. Then after the party Kid and Sharane wind up having sexual intercourse and then Sharane's parents come home. But when Kid is on the streets he is arrested and sent to jail and has to have his friends bail him out well he is soon home again and in double big trouble with his father for being out late.Ten Stars