The Blackening

If you're a die hard, hard core horror fan, you probably won't like this.

If you're a casual, horror/comedy fan, this is right up your alley.

Make no mistake: this is a horror/comedy. There are numerous, over-the-top, smack-in-you-in-the-face tropes. Some of the more race-related ones will even make some viewers uncomfortable. All of that is fine, because - together - it all works.

Simply put: this film is about a bunch of black people (yes, that's relevant!) playing a deadly game. Correction: a deadly RACIST game. And yes, that's relevant, too. Some die, some fight back, some live...it goes around and around, with little twists and turns (some obvious, others not).

Overall, it's a fun movie. There was just enough gore to make me happy and just enough comedy to make me laugh.

I'd love to see more films like this.

Wasn't amazing but wasn't bad. I don't tend to watch horror comedies but this one was pretty good with a few good laughs in there.

A lot of the humour was racist so only for those who have a good sense of humour and won't get offended easily.

The story is that there's a group of black people who go for a weekend trip away to a house in the middle of the woods. They find a game room in which there's a board game called "The Blackening" and they have to play and answer the trivia questions otherwise they get hunted down by a masked killer.

Overall, I rate it a 7/10 and I do recommend people to watch it.

The Blackening is a good time; it's a fun, well paced, well written (for the most part) comedy that had a lot of genuine laugh-out-loud moments for me. It begins extremely well, introducing us a very likeable and memorable cast of characters, even if they do feel a bit trope-y at times.

The movie looks great and I actually loved the set design quite a bit. The cabin that the characters inhabit is a great setting with kooky details that immediately stuck out to me. And the performances, generally, are really good. The actors have a lot of chemistry and while no one in particular stuck out to me, you can tell this was a fun set and there's an energy with these actors that conveys a realistic friend group.

So...why the 6? Well, The Blackening really succeeds as a comedy, but fails quite miserably as a HORROR comedy. I hate it when films have no stakes; when every character seems completely able to get through any situation and the antagonists seem like the underdogs. That's how a lot of this movie felt to me. While you can look at it as a subversion of horror itself, it didn't land for me. Yes, it's funny, but it stops being thrilling.

I think there was a purposeful attempt to "empower" the black characters in this movie and have most of them survive. While I get where that's coming from, it doesn't do much for me to see characters so obviously MORE capable than the masked killer chasing them quipping constantly. You can have a horror comedy where, you know, not everyone makes it (see Shaun of the Dead, Tucker & Dale, Hell of a Summer). Hell, even Scary Movie gave us hilarious death sequences.

The dialog in this film can be quite divisive and certainly not everyone's cup of tea. I'd describe some of it as "millennial, critical race theory" stuff and that might put some people off. It's not necessarily the ideas themselves, but the way they're communicated that felt a bit cringe inducing to me. But, I also recognize for a particular audience, that might not be the case.

Overall, this is a fun movie. I wish it emphasized the horror elements more, so to be honest, I wouldn't really recommend it for a Halloween watch, but it is a good time.

The trailer made this look like Scary Movie: Black People Edition. I thought the satire was gonna be tight like Chappelle's Show and The Boondocks. But what I got was corny jokes and mid writing. The opening is strong but then drops like a rock.

The whole movies feels unpolished. Like the script is a first draft. Sometimes it's okay, sometimes it's bad. A lot of dragging. Like "just get to the point" kinda dragging. And it has no idea how to satirize what it's satirizing. Like did the writers only watch one horror movie?

The trailer is the most entertainment you'll get from this. Hell, go watch that "Ray Ray" scene from "A Haunted House". That 3 minute scene is 10x better than this crap.

I went into The Blackening without watching any trailers. In a time where comedy movies seem to be going extinct, I instantly had interest in this new horror-comedy. And as someone who grew up on Fresh Prince and Martin, I miss black-themed comedies.

The Blackening definitely scratches that itch. Early on I wasn't laughing much. But the farther we get into the movie and story, the more I was laughing. I cracked up numerous times at some really funny jokes. And the entire premise and story is amusing.

My one criticism would be that it's a little lacking on the horror side. It's more of a comedy about horror than a horror-comedy. I didn't really mind that, but I could have enjoyed it even more if there were stronger horror elements.

I had a great time with this movie and will definitely watch it again. And while comedy movies are still so rare, I'm pretty happy to have two in 2023 that I really enjoyed, along with House Party from earlier this year.

(2 viewings, early access fan screening 6/14/2023, 10/3/2024)