The Blackening

Don't mind the 1-star and adjacent reviews-clearly these movie goers either cannot appreciate Black comedy or was expecting some Stephen King-type horror plot. You get what you get with this film: some recognizable stars, plenty of good laughs, enough suspense to keep you going.

By all means, there are plenty of areas where the movie could've improved. While I don't think the horror elements need to be too clearly defined for a comedy, I would've appreciated more scary moments without the "cheese" (ie typical slasher film moments that felt cliché). I also think more character development wouldn't hurt. I loved the characters themselves but no one's arc was nearly developed enough.

All this is to say--see the movie for what it is: a dare to turn the narrative of what it means to feature black characters in horror films. It's meant to be edgy with a whiff of political. And if you can't accept that, then this movie isn't for you.

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)

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.

A few moments notwithstanding, 'The Blackening' is largely a dull affair.

At least they chose a run time of around 90 minutes, that stops the movie from overly dragging. Still, though, not enough is produced to entertain. The humour is probably its 'strongest' element (relatively), not that it's all that funny but bits of the dialogue (much of which was apparently improvised) are mildly amusing.

The antagonists are kinda lame and the twist isn't much of one at all. The cast, though, are all perfectly fine. Jermaine Fowler gives a solid performance, to be fair. Aside from him, X Mayo was the one I liked seeing onscreen the most. The board game element is a good one - think 'Jumanji', but racist.

Sounds like a sequel is on the cards. If so, hopefully it'll be an improvement on this unfortunately forgettable flick.