Horror Movie Talk - The Blackening Review with Halle Kiefer

The Blackening Review with Halle Kiefer

06/21/23 • -1 min

The Blackening is the ideal movie to go see on Juneteenth. This comedy horror movie is worth going to the theater for. Synopsis Seven black college friends go away for the weekend to have a kind of reunion and celebrate Juneteenth together. They get trapped in a game room with a game in the center featuring a blackface head that instructs them to answer black culture trivia questions or die. They soon find out that the entire cabin they are staying at is being controlled by a killer with a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not. Review of The Blackening With a tagline like “They can’t all die first”, you know that this is going to be a tongue in cheek horror comedy. The meta humor and fourth wall breaks are frequent throughout the film. In terms of tone, it lands somewhere between Scream, Tucker and Dale, and with touches of Scary Movie. It follows the slasher trope of assembling a motley crew of characters that are possible fodder for the killer. In this movie those characters include a gay black man, an african immigrant, a reformed gangster, a mixed race woman, and the most broad character being the black nerd that “acts white”. Most of the first act features utilitarian expositional dialogue to set up all the characters and their relationships. While the characters and plot are simple, they do go slightly beyond most Friday the 13th movies in terms of depth, not that that is very hard. What is most important in this film, and what stands out is the humor. I laughed multiple times, and had a good time. A lot of the jokes are around stereotypes and black culture, but the best ones are grounded in the specific situation or character. Score 7/10

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The Old Way Review

We watched The Old Way on Hulu and were given a movie with a shaky start that made me wonder what I was getting into. @dgoebel00 on Instagram provided this amazing artwork. Follow him and check out his website https://youtu.be/eWakq9qQ6Ik Synopsis An old gunslinger, Colton Briggs (Nic Cage), is forced back into the fray when a series of unfortunate events leave him with very little to live for. His daughter, Brook (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) joins him on his quest and learns how to navigate life as Colton’s kin. Everyone gets more lead than they bargained for. Review Nic Cage is enough to get me to watch most movies. He is strange, interesting, and massively talented. I enjoy most movies where he stars. The Old Way is no exception. This movie fumbles tremendously in the first 20 minutes, which shook my belief that it could be good or worthwhile to a large degree. The dialog, acting, and concept in the opening seems to miss the mark by a country mile. It felt ham-handed, simple, and very cringe. Once the second act starts, things come back around and the concepts and characters show that they are much more than what previously met the eye. Watch The Old WayBuy or Rent on AmazonClick here to Rent or Buy The Old Way wrestles with the concepts of humanity, loss, the monster’s within, our birthright, and revenge. These are themes that I’ve seen Cage embraces in a lot of his movies. The characters are interesting and have fun dialog and it’s set in an authentic feeling western backdrop. Colton Brigg’s story of wrestling with his apparent lack of humanity and his life of crime catching back up to him is one that I feel a lot of people can resonate with. The hope or lack-thereof for the next generation and having to deal with the sins of their forefathers is an age-old one and that’s why it resonates so deeply. The Old Way is a solid entry into a somewhat lackluster genre of modern westerns. And it’s one that feels more deeply connected to the classic western’s of the 40’s and 50’s than other modern westerns. It brings back memories of other Nic Cage revenge movies, the most recent being Mandy. Score 7/10

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What We Do in the Shadows Review

We watched What We do in the Shadows and were treated to the best horror comedy since Shaun of the Dead. @dgoebel00 on Instagram provided this amazing artwork. Follow him and check out his website. https://youtu.be/3uBc1Dk0hwI Synopsis You might not know it, but the life (or death) of a vampire is a lot less romantic and sometimes much more petty and small than you might think. Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav are old vampires trying to make it in a new world. Making it the same way you or I are trying to make it, really. Just trying to make ends meet while accomplishing something akin to a nightlife. While they manage the chore wheel and keeping their familiars in check, they manage to get caught up in the wacky hijinks of other somewhat mundane horrors that roam the night. Everyone gets more laughs than they bargained for. Review What We do in the Shadows is a mockumentary by notable New Zealanders Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords)and Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople). It’s fun, tight, and hilarious. It’s shot the way a normal documentary might be, but because the setting for much of the movie is in a vampire’s lair it has a spooky ambiance. Apart from some funny jumpscares, there is nothing scary about this horror adjacent romp. What We do in the Shadows is just for fun and it’s great at it. So much of this had me rolling around the room, shaking my wife about how this is the best thing I’ve seen since Shaun of the Dead. Watch What We do in the ShadowsBuy or Rent on AmazonClick Here to Watch Comedy isn’t easy, and comedy horror can feel pretty clunky sometimes, but this is sleek and fun. It smacks deeply of the comedy from a show that I miss deeply, Flight of the Conchords. What We do in the Shadows pays close attention to making all the characters “real people” which takes away a lot of the sexy emphasis of normal vampires and replaces it with questions like, “How shitty of a roommate would a vampire be?” Overall, this is an easy watch that is best experienced with friends and family. The R rating is only earned with comically gratuitous blood and occasional curse words. Definitely rent this one if you haven’t already. Score 8/10