Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably n... Read allSeven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
- Awards
- 1 win & 8 nominations total
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile Allison is tripping in the woods, Shanika slaps her and says, "If you want to be somebody, if you want to go somewhere, you better wake up and pay attention," a famous line and song from the Movie Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), lead by Whoopi Goldberg.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Dead Meat Podcast: The Blackening (2023)
- SoundtracksI Can't Stand the Rain
Written by Don Bryant, Bernard Miller and Ann Peebles
Performed by Ann Peebles
Courtesy of Fat Possum Records - Hi Records
Featured review
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 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.
- ryanpersaud-59415
- Oct 20, 2023
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Karanlık Oyun
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $17,707,207
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,013,131
- Jun 18, 2023
- Gross worldwide
- $18,169,453
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39:1
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