THE BLACKENING (2023)

THE BLACKENING (2023)

Tagline: We Can't All Die First

(Horror, Comedy, Crossbows Everywhere) [R]

Note: This movie is often listed as coming out in 2022, but the theatrical release was on June 16, 2023, in the United States. 

You got Rosa Parks on your shirt, right? Would she be sitting down right now?
        I mean, that's exactly what she did.

In this one Morgan and Shawn rent a cabin/house in the woods where they set up for a Juneteenth celebration with 7 of their other friends. When their friends arrive they attribute weird things about the cabin to Morgan just messing with them, but it soon becomes clear that they are being subjected to a deadly game where their knowledge of black culture, horror movies, and TV shows could determine their fate. 

First off, I have an answer* for the first question asked in this movie. I typically watch a lot of horror around this time of year, so any film that goes against the well-known tropes of horror films gets my attention. As an example, we get a lot of horror flicks where there is a “final girl”. Well, over this past weekend, I watched a few films where we got not only a “final girl” but a pair of “final girls”. BLOODY MURDER is one of them. By the way, don’t run to that film. It’s just an example. Another trope that doesn’t get broken very much is having a black character survive the whole movie. 

I grew up in the 80’s so I could identify with a lot of the horror movie trope stuff brought up in this movie, but unlike the trailers, a lot of this movie just isn’t that funny. There are a couple characters that I actually liked but there is only so many times I can hear people calling each other “b---h” before it’s like, I get that this is sort of a term of endearment in this context, but what the crap. I am pretty sure that word shows up in the script 300 or 400 times. 

What was effective about this film was some of the social commentary. We have a group of people that is diverse in their relationships and their thought processes. The script in spite of its overuse of the word “b---h”, actually takes time to breathe and we get some relationship stuff in here, jealousy issues, and just enough background to keep things interesting. I also could not wait for these killers to get jacked up. 

Acting wise this cast is stellar. Grace Byers (THE RETIREMENT PLAN) is epic in this as Allison. She is probably my favorite character in the entire cast. Jermaine Fowler (COMING 2 AMERICA) probably shows the most range as Clifton and he is very solid. His comedic prowess is definitely on display here. X Mayo (FINDING ‘OHANA) plays Shanika in this and is fine, but to be honest, if there was a character the film could have left out, it would have been her. Antoinette Robertson (ATLANTA) was solid in this as Lisa. I liked that they gave her a bit of a backstory concerning the other characters. Dewayne Perkins plays Dewayne and is also decent. He is probably best known for the TV show “Saved By The Bell”. The new one, not the original. Melvin Gregg was pretty great in this as King. I don’t agree with all of his character’s actions, but he was one of several bright spots. Sinqua Walls (SHARK WEEK) is also pretty great as Nnamdi.

Where I thought the script just kind of lost me was in the fact that for some reason Lisa decides she needs to bring Molly to the party. I am talking about the drug, not a person. Bloody hell. I hate pot enough, but Molly? Why Lisa, why? The other thing that was kind of odd was the fact that one character gets shot with 2 arrows and basically makes it through the night with no problems? I get that it’s a comedy, but why not just have him get shot once in a clearly non-lethal area?  

Overall I would definitely watch this again. You have to be able to handle race-related humor to embrace this thing on the humor level. Being able to embrace humor that can help us overcome tensions is kind of a lost art, but it’s one worth learning. This thing is a bit horror light and some of the humor just misses the mark, but it is still plenty of fun and I had no idea that ending was coming.  

THE BLACKENING gets a 4 out of 7.

*FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING...Reggie.
  A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS ...Kincade.
  FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE ... Doc. 

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