Writers Dewayne Perkins and Tracy Oliver did not waste any energy in making the horror comedy, The Blackening, scary or unpredictable. If you have watched 5 horror movies, you will be able to recognize the twists a mile in coming. It is not a mixture of well-crafted horror and slapstick humor like in Scream or the Scary Movies. Humor is the main player in The Blackening and the film succeeded in what it took up to do with some pitfalls.
The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The 96 minute film has a budget of $5 million. But it makes good on the investment. While the film seems like just a series of jokes, one can’t deny that most of them were funny. The plot smells of random horror movies – seven black friends go on a trip to a remote cabin in the woods. After noticing acknowledging various horror tropes, they find a board game with a Sambo figurehead. They are told that they must play the game or get butchered by a masked villain lurking in the shadows. Let’s not go further into what happened. Though this is no thriller, comedic elements often depend upon the element of surprise for success.
Director Tim Story, who is also one of the producers, has not tried too hard to create a guise of a real horror film. The focus is on the humor throughout the film and it is somewhat refreshing. Tracy Oliver, another producer and a co-writer of the film has used her experience from Girls Trip pretty well. The cherry on top is the acting and the characters that were built through the film.
A film like The Blackening reaches a sad end unless the characters really shine. It is essential for the audience to believe in the characters, their idiosyncrasies, habits, mannerisms, in order to fully absorb and enjoy the comedy. The writers and director of The Blackening have done a fine job in this respect. With 82% rotten tomatoes and 5.4 rating on IMDB, The Blackening is something you can surely enjoy for some casual gags.
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