Black Ritual

An extremely disappointing effort that has no new ideas and takes no chances. As I say in the title, it does what Bird Box did with A Quiet Place....it takes an engaging and interesting story and strips away all that made the original film (A Dark Song...which its obviously trying to rip-off) memorable. Just a really lazy effort here. Its not juat that the movie is slow (it is), but that the movie never bothers to build tension or give you are reason to care about anyone or anything in it. As others have pointed out, the main character is so stupid and selfish, you find yourself openly rooting for her to fail and be punished. One can tell that any positive reviewers are casuals and probably haven't seen many horror movies.

Total rip off of A Dark Song with a little bit of "black Phillip" thrown in for good measure. I can't imagine copying another person's work,making a movie out of it and expecting praise for it. Sure, there are some differences but not enough to let me forget where the idea for this story came from. Even the creepy music was copied and it just wasn't that creepy here. Acting was just so-so and the make up was deplorable....junkies should look like junkies and a person should be sweating after battling a demon...not perfectly coiffed. I never once was scared or had even a jolt. Writer should be ashamed.

Fairly cliched plot. Grieving parent, wanting to bring child back. Obviously things go wrong.

Actors did good. Detailed scenes featuring the ritual creates good intrigue. But that's all there is in the movie. A lot of build up, but it doesn't go anywhere. No real scares, pretty disappointing on the horror front. (The ritual reminded me a little bit of Fullmetal Alchemist.)

The movie also starts in the present and goes back and forth, with the main character telling us the story, but that didn't really serve any real purpose, I'm fairly certain the movie would've played out better if it was linear. The movie is primarily in the past, a flashback, and cutting back for very brief moments to the present didn't add anything to the plot.

Overall, some good moments in the beginning, but ends in disappointment. 4/10.

Think this movie deserves higher than its current low rating. The plot, cinematography and effects were all top notch.

While in a drug addicted haze Cora's 5 year old son ends up disappearing and is never found again. Fast forward 7 years and Cora leads a life of sobriety incase her son ever did come home, she wants to be sober. Through a grief support group she meets a man who used dark magic to get his deceased daughter back and offers Cora the same chance for her boy.

By the end it's hard to believe Cora would just snub her nose and refuse to complete the final "payment" and ritual in getting her son back. Especially after going through so much preparation. This was about the time where I felt it got a bit tedious. Cora's character needed to remain steadfast in her dedication.

The plot of this movie reminds me of A Dark Song. Between the two A Dark Song is the clear winner. But this one is still worth watching, at least once. It will keep you entertained.

A Dark Song is one of the most surprising movies I've ever seen. Its intense atmospheric buildup, flawed characters, and absolutely beautiful cinematography draw you in, but the film's attention to detail and reverence for its subject matter are what truly stand out.

From Black is such an obvious ripoff of A Dark Song that it's embarrassing. From bits of score that seem ripped directly from the latter film, to poorly recreated scenes, to a nearly identical story it's more than clear what inspiration the filmmakers were drawing from. If this film had absolutely anything interesting to add to that concept, I would have been extremely interested to see where it went. But it doesn't. In fact, it's almost impressive how this film butchers every single aspect of its inspiration.

The beautiful scenic vistas of Ireland are replaced with drab, ugly views of Mississipi. The old house with so much character and detail is instead a boring modern build with white walls and bland dark wood. The lighting is universally bad, with overlit exteriors and incompetently simple keylights for anything on a set. All of that is bad, but the acting is truly what ruins this film. The delicate performances of A Dark Song really draw you to the characters, who start so harsh and guarded but slowly reveal more and more of what they're truly seeking.

At their core, both films are about broken mothers desperately desiring to see their children one last time. Except From Black is afraid to even commit to that. Cora expressed trepidation at every single step of the way, too afraid and completely unresolved to actually see the ritual through. Where we see the painstaking detail of the incantation in A Dark Song - a process almost impossible to master with months of work and heavy risks - the ritual in From Black seems all too easy, with our characters connecting almost instantly with the other side.

There is truly nothing about this film that succeeds at what it sets out to do. The atmosphere is cheap, the acting is awful, and the only major change from A Dark Song (which I won't spoil here) is a truly horrible deviation from the story that steals away any tiny bit of meaning or growth our character could have. Do yourself a favor and don't waste 90 minutes of your life. Just watch A Dark Song.