| House Party | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Reginald Hudlin |
| Produced by | Gerald T. Olson Warrington Hudlin |
| Written by | Reginald Hudlin |
| Starring | Christopher "Kid" Reid Robin Harris Christopher "Play" Martin |
| Music by | Lenny White Marcus Miller |
| Cinematography | Peter Deming |
| Editing by | Earl Watson |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | March 9, 1990 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.5 million[1] |
| Box office | $26,385,627[2] |
House Party is a 1990 American 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 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 musician George Clinton.
The film was written and directed by Reginald Hudlin, based on his award-winning Harvard University student film.[3] 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.
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While in their high school cafeteria, Peter, also known as "Play" (Christopher "Play" Martin) announces to his friends Christopher aka "Kid" (Reid) and Bilal (Martin Lawrence) that he will be having a party at his house that night, as his parents are on vacation. The reluctant Bilal is to be the DJ. Kid is then involved in an altercation with school bully Stab (Paul Anthony) and his two brothers Pee-Wee and Zilla (Bowlegged Lou and B-Fine). When Kid comes home, he tries to convince his father, "Pop" (Robin 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 an 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 sex with his lady, 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 admits that Sydney was his first choice all along, but they do not 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, Sharane, Bilal, and Sydney to arrive with enough cash to bail him out. Later on, the five friends say their goodnights. Kid and Sydney share a long passionate kiss goodnight. After Play and Bilal drops him off, Kid sneaks in the house and gets undressed. As he is about to get into bed, he looks up only to find Pop holding a belt. The movie then cuts to the credits where Pop whipping Kid can be heard.
A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on March 9, 1990 by Motown Records. It peaked at 104 on the Billboard 200 and 20 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
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, Down to the Last Minute, which does not feature any of the original cast.
The film received positive feedback.[4][5]
American Film Institute recognition:
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