Review of Gang Tapes (2001) by Melvin W — 22 Mar 2014

Gang Tapes is an ultra realistic look at the gang lifestyle and how it hooks the urban youth. It's weird seeing this so soon after seeing Snow on Tha Bluff as they are basically the same from a technical standpoint, using a handheld camera, and with their premise. Both use a robbery of tourists in order to get the camera which will present their hood lifestyle. I thinks it's fair to say that Snow on Tha Bluff used Gang Tapes as inspiration. .

This follows 13 year old Kris who is friends with some local gangsters. The day one of the most respected and feared gangsters gets out of jail, one of their boys is killed. Kris asks to ride with them as they look to get revenge. After some initiations, getting the shit beat out of him and shooting someone, he's in. From there we watch as the gang lifestyle of Kris catches up to him early.

While not for everyone, Gang Tapes is about as real as it gets when it comes to the hood genre of films. It doesn't shy away from everything and the filmmakers did extensive research and interviews in order to make the film feel as real as possible. Mission accomplished.