The Blackening proves to be one of the silliest, smartest and most memorable comedies of 2023.

| Oct 1, 2023

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.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2023

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.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 25, 2023

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.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 24, 2023

[The Blackening] ends up toggling between those two modes, with limited – though also sometimes highly amusing – success.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2023

Although the killer’s weapon of choice — a crossbow — is reasonably original, the film is rarely scary.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 24, 2023

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.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 24, 2023

A fun, welcome take on the horror-comedy genre that’s best enjoyed without too much over-analysis.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 22, 2023

The Blackening is shuddery entertainment with more laughs than the entire Scary Movie franchise.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 18, 2023

See it and you’ll love its craziness. It’s funny, funny, funny.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 23, 2023

"The Blackening" is hands-down one of the best comedies of the year.

| Jun 22, 2023

The spawn of Scary Movie and Cabin in the Woods.

| Jun 16, 2023

Perfect for a summer evening out with your besties, The Blackening is a must-see summer flick.

| Jun 16, 2023

With the ensemble cast doing superb work, “The Blackening” is a horror comedy that packs a serious punch.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 16, 2023

The film jokes about Black suffering, but this is far from trauma porn. It’s a truly Black horror comedy.

| Original Score: B | Jun 16, 2023

The film ably delivers on its premise, mining enough life from its satirical concept to deliver plenty of crowd-pleasing moments.

| Jun 16, 2023

It just never really figures out how to be a movie.

| Jun 16, 2023

It’s a hangout movie, interrupted by a slasher movie, and it works because it feels like old friends razzing each other while squaring off against their new common adversary.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 16, 2023

The Blackening, in that regard, isn't so much a response to the lack of Black people in white genre movies as it is a reflection of the richness of Black cinema itself.

| Jun 16, 2023

An unapologetically Black comedy through and through. It maintains its wit and bite to the very end, boastfully serving audiences a hilarious film we didn’t know we needed.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 16, 2023