“The Blackening” follows a group of old college friends as they reunite at a remote cabin in the woods over the Juneteenth holiday weekend, unaware they’ve been targeted by a mysterious killer with a chip on their shoulder. Part cultural comedy and part genre sendup, it’s a funny and even tender film that’s perhaps more concerned with the nuances of Black friendship than it is with horror movie cliches involving Black characters (and is all the better for it). Admittedly, Story has a firmer grasp on the film’s humor and relationships than its slasher elements (which makes sense, given his background is mainly in comedy), but at the same time, he and his crew give the movie’s horror some extra oomph by having the killer wear a racist “Sambo” mask and wield a crossbow rather than a more typical bladed weapon.
As for the franchise, Perkins — who also co-stars in “The Blackening” as Dewayne, the rare “gay best friend” archetype who’s actually allowed to be a fully realized character — is planning something more along the lines of “Scream” and “Scary Movie” (both of which heavily inspired “The Blackening”), where each sequel follows the same group of core heroes while introducing some new ones along the way. As he told Variety:
“Same group, sprinkle in some new people. I feel like we’ve got something good, and I love the dynamic, but fresh blood always turns things up a little bit.”
Considering the “Scream” films are still chugging along nearly 30 years after Wes Craven’s original forever changed the slasher landscape, that sounds like a wise approach to keeping the franchise going for a long while. In the meantime, we’ll keep you posted on the status of the sequel to “The Blackening.”