The Game is Rigged

The Blackening begins like a cross between Scream and Saw, with a couple getting offed after being made to "play a game". Said game being an offensively racist board game that gives the movie it's title.

After this set up we are introduced to the various characters of the film who are getting together to mark the anniversary of finishing college. The relationships between the group are more complicated than you usually encounter in a slasher film and their dynamics helps flesh out the story.

Said story consists of the group playing the game and fighting off slashers. This, it turns out, is a lot easier when you make logical decisions rather than indulge in the clueless floundering you usually see in movies with this set up. The protagonists actually being pro active is one of the many meta black culture jokes running through the film. Other examples include the group being asked to name a horror film where the black character survives and told to decide which of them is the blackest (so the killer gets them next).

The Blackening isn't lowest common denominator humour like the Scary Movie franchise nor is an exploration of race like a Jordan Peele film. It's more a standard genre flick viewed through a black culture lens and it's pretty solidly entertaining. It doesn't attempt any real scares (although there is some genuine tension) but while it isn't laugh out loud funny from start to finish there are more than enough laughs to keep things ticking along.

Another good entry in a year that is turning out to have some good comedy chops.

7 creepy clerks put of 10 backwater shops.

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