House Party 1990 Full Cast & Crew

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• Robin Harris as Pop
• Popular on Variety
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In addition, the Hollywood neighborhood served as a prominent filming site for the remake. The saggy, baggy narrative is knit together with celebrity cameos and Y2K nostalgia — the best moment comes from a surprise performance by Juvenile, and singer Mýa has a supporting role. The good news is that after a few delays, the “House Party” remake, directed by acclaimed music video and commercial director Calmatic in his feature debut, is in theaters. The bad news is that this one is definitely not headed for the Library of Congress. This comedically and narratively muddled take on the title (not even the original premise) is deeply unfunny and downright tiresome. That would, however, be far from the extent of Campbell's post-House Party career.

Party-throwing squatters evicted from mansion near LeBron James’ Beverly Hills home

But despite the simple formula, House Party stands in stark contrast to many of the teen films that preceded it—because, as Hudlin mentioned, these kids were black. Like others in the House Party cast, the Georges had no real acting experience before the film, having roots in the world of music. Unlike their musically inclined castmates, however, they continued to crush in their original endeavor for decades to come.

Robin Harris as Pop

The principal photography for the comedy movie commenced in early July 2021 but got halted later that month after a few members of the production staff tested positive for COVID-19. After a brief pause, they got back to work and seemingly wrapped up shooting in late September of the same year. While Tisha Campbell had been in Hollywood for a while, with a prominent role in Spike Lee's School Daze, she met Martin Lawrence on the set of House Party. Of course, the two went on to star in the hit sitcom, Martin two years later.

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There’s the rap battle where Kid gets to shine, and for which Reid wrote both his and Martin’s lyrics (“Reggie used to tell me, ‘You’re supposed to win, but let’s get there in a certain way,’” he recalls). There’s the slow dance to Heatwave’s “Always and Forever.” There’s even Kid’s surreal jailhouse rap, which Hudlin now regrets for its homophobia (“There’s nothing worse than offending people who you don’t mean to offend,” he says). But what makes the dance-off stand out is the buoyant “Ain’t My Type of Hype.” The song, originally included on Full Force’s 1989 album, Smoove, blew up due to the movie.

House Party—the first movie Hudlin wrote and directed—isn’t a novel concept. A teen from Anywhere, USA, gets in trouble at school and is forbidden by his strict father from going to a friend’s party, an order he obviously disregards. From there, the kid spends nearly 100 minutes trying to avoid ass-kickings from three muscle-bound tormentors, two racist cops, and one pissed-off father, all while hedging his bet with two girls who have varying degrees of interest in him.

House Party was about to prove there was potency in putting black people in the center of a universal experience. As “Pop,” Harris was the grumpy-but-hilarious dad–attempting to catch his wayward son, Kid, after the teenager sneaks out to attend the shindig at Play’s house. But the movie became a major part of a legacy that has continued in the decades since his death. The late John Witherspoon also makes a memorable appearance as an angry neighbor—one of many scene-stealing appearances he would have in classic Black comedies throughout the 1990s.

“House Party” expanded to more and more theaters (topping out at 700 screens) and stayed in the Top 10 grossing films for four straight weeks. Once its theatrical run was completed “House Party” was a surprise hit raking in over $26 million in box office receipts, for all of you playing at home that’s more than 10 times the film’s original budget. Once “House Party” became a VHS rental then became available for purchase that number became even bigger. His character’s father would be played by comedian Robin Harris, Play would occupy the other lead role and comedian Martin Lawrence would play Bilal the reluctant party DJ, a role that was originally intended for Jeff “DJ Jazzy Jeff” Townes.

There are people who know this movie word for word and have seen it a hundred times who don’t realize its actual significance. "House Party" grew from a student film director Reginald Hudlin made at Harvard University. Starring popular rappers Kid 'n Play, "House Party" features Kid doing his best to get to Play's party — on a school night, no less! The film was a hit, grossing over $26 million, made huge stars out of several of its then-unknown cast members, and provided an enduring legacy for black cinema. Both Reginald and his older brother, producer Warrington Hudlin, make cameos as a pair of burglars.

Actor, comedian Martin Lawrence honored with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame - KABC-TV

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Operating under the name Full Force, they had already produced a slew of '80s R&B hits before House Party's release, including UTFO's "Roxanne Roxanne" and James Brown's 1988 single "I'm Real," the legendary performer's biggest number in 14 years. With the turn of the millennium, the hits just kept on coming, and Full Force would go on to craft jams for popular artists like 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, The Black Eyed Peas, and Rihanna. Like Kid 'n Play, Daryl Mitchell got his start in '80s hip-hop, as one half of the duo Groove B. Chill. House Party was his first acting role, and it wasn't a huge stretch, as he played a character named Chill who was partnered with a character named Groove.

Spike Lee cast him as Butterbean Jones in his 1990 film, "Mo' Better Blues," as well. A film based on his comedy routine about "Bébé's Kids" was set to be made into a film by the Hudlin Brothers with Harris starring. Besides continuing to perform in hip hop, Allen has moved into voice acting.

The film was born of a 1983 short that was shot and produced by Hudlin while he was still a student at Harvard. In 1987, brothers Reggie and Warrington Hudlin turned the short into a full feature script, presenting it to New Line Cinema, the movie studio then predominantly known for the Nightmare On Elm Street horror series. Looking to hop on the post-Spike Lee Black film wave, the studio greenlit the movie. Initially written for Grammy-winning pop-rap duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, the starring roles instead went to their contemporaries Kid ‘N Play, a pair of fleet-footed rhymers from Queens who’d enjoyed a string of rap hits helmed by superproducer Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor. A virtually unknown Martin Lawrence soon joined the cast as Kid ‘N Play’s hapless buddy, Bilal—fresh off his first big screen appearance in Lee’s 1989 classic Do The Right Thing. “House Party” was on the surface a musical comedy aimed at younger audiences (even though it received an R rating) but it was so much more.

It didn’t come on cable and you couldn’t even buy a VHS copy through ads in The Source. Way before “8 Mile” captured everyone’s attention fans were repeating Kid and Play battle bars. Considering that they weren’t noted for their deft lyricism that’s interesting although Kid was a skilled emcee and he and Kwamé often shared writing duties for Kid N’ Play and even Salt N’ Pepa from time to time. The reimagining of the cult classic, which starred Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Martin of the hip-hop group Kid ‘n Play, is set to be directed by award-winning music video helmer Calmatic in his feature directorial debut. The movie’s script comes from Emmy-nominated “Atlanta” duo Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori. There’s a perfect callback to the song that inspired House Party, “Bad Boy/Having a Party,” at the very beginning of the film.