The Blackening Reviews
Dana Barbuto Boston Movie News
Drawing on classics of the genre like “Scream” and “Get Out,” the movie is self-aware and hilarious with rapid-fire one-liners and fresh takes on classic horror beats.
Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 7, 2024
Jeffrey Lyles Lyles' Movie Files
While it felt like there were plenty of jokes and cliches left to address, The Blackening is a satisfying and funny opening salvo. There’s certainly no reason this can’t become a franchise or at least stretch out to a trilogy.
Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Dec 7, 2023
Leila Latif
The Blackening proves to be one of the silliest, smartest and most memorable comedies of 2023.
Full Review | Oct 1, 2023
Maria Lattila WhyNow (UK)
The Blackening proudly stands next to films like Scream, Cabin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil as a viciously funny horror-comedy and a sharp meta narrative about the whole genre. It’s just a shame it slightly fumbles the bag at the very end.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 28, 2023
Kevin Harley Radio Times
While the boisterous result doesn't summon enough story or suspense to earn the extended treatment, the script vigourously subverts racist clichés in slasher movies, right up to the pleasingly daring twist ending.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 7, 2023
Chris Wasser Sunday Independent (Ireland)
Nice cast -- killer ideas, too, but we expected more from this creaky, socially conscious chiller.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 31, 2023
Ian Bunting Daily Record (UK)
The Blackening is more slapstick than slasher but with its self-awareness and engaging, quotable cast, it’s a witty way to kill an hour-and-a-half.
Full Review | Aug 31, 2023
Alicia Adejobi metro.co.uk
Cinematically, The Blackening is the first time the jokes have been on us Black folk but actually felt so darn good.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 28, 2023
Wendy Ide Observer (UK)
Horror purists might find the picture lacking in genuine scares, but go into it expecting a hang-out comedy with a few jumps rather than a horror movie with a few jokes, and it’s unlikely to disappoint.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2023
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy
What makes the movie work so well isn’t the horror (minimal) or even the humor (maximal) but rather the characterizations.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 27, 2023
Dulcie Pearce The Sun (UK)
The Blackening gleefully tackles the black stereotypes of horror, and the culture, with boisterous flair and bite.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2023
Paul Whitington Irish Independent
The results are intermittently funny as the friends find their ethnic awareness tested to the limit... But The Blackening doesn’t make enough of its premise.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 25, 2023
Andy Lea Daily Express (UK)
This is mainly about a great cast and the laughs, which a razor-sharp script delivers by the bucketload.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2023
Linda Marric The Jewish Chronicle
The Blackening takes very few prisoners and has a lot more to say about race than people are likely to give it credit for. It is funnier than most horror parodies I’ve seen over the past decade.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 25, 2023
Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard
Where movies like Scream deconstruct sadism but also appeal to our cruel side, this cabin-in-the-woods movie about what it means to be scared of difference, which boasts an almost entirely black cast, is brazenly sweet.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 24, 2023
Robbie Collin Daily Telegraph (UK)
[The Blackening] ends up toggling between those two modes, with limited – though also sometimes highly amusing – success.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2023
Edward Porter Sunday Times (UK)
It’s more knockabout, yet its salty, free-flowing dialogue makes sharp points.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2023
Ed Potton Times (UK)
Although the killer’s weapon of choice — a crossbow — is reasonably original, the film is rarely scary.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2023
Jonathan Romney Financial Times
The comedy is raucous, often pithy, liberally spiked with one-liners. But, as an extended joke about the predictability of a genre, it can’t help being predictable.
Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 24, 2023
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com
…even if The Blackening doesn’t offer much new as a horror film, it does have value as a smart comedy that takes names and makes a number of trenchant points…
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2023