Black As Night review: The Welcome to Blumhouse film has all its references from Vampire Diaries

2.5/5

Story:

This horror-action drama tells a tale of a teenage girl Shawna (Asjha Cooper) whose life turns topsy turvy after she and her mother get bit by some homeless vampires. To avenge her mother's death, determined Shawna enters into the vampire mansion with the help of her friends to drive a stake through the heart of the leader of the undead. Directed by Maritte Lee Go, the film also stars Keith David, Abbie Gayle, Fabrizio Guido, Craig Tate and Joseph Singletary.

Review:

The opening scene of the film at Ombreux housing, a local housing project, where a poor old man is seen pushing a shopping cart filled with cans creates an eerie, dark and mysterious mood, and gets your expectations high immediately. What follows is an edge-of-the-seat but predictable moment as he gets attacked by a bunch of men who quench their thirst for blood by feeding on every ounce of his haemoglobin.

Cut to the scene where Shawna, a black insecure teenager, is seen hanging out with her BFF gay friend Pedro (Fabrizio Guido). She reminisces her Summer memories and says never did she think she would get breasts and fight vampires that season. The story then follows the teenagers who learn about the vampires after Shawna and her crackhead mother get bit by the bloodsucking monsters at Ombreux housing. Instances where Shawna then blocks all the windows of her house with newspapers and decides to stay awake all night just so that she knows when she is transitioning can get onto your nerve, reminding you of the series Vampire Diaries. She learns all she could about vampires from Granya, a woman obsessed with vampires. But it looks like Granya is speaking all she knows after watching the vampire drama herself.

Shawna suddenly gets confident and decides to fight and end the evil after her vampire mother dies being exposed to sunlight. She starts making wooden stakes and gets all prepared to woo the leader of vampires and kill him with the help of her friends Chris, Pedro and Granya. They enter the mansion filled with dozens of vampires and succeed in their mission, at least they thought so. They get out of the mansion all alive, only to realise that the vampire they killed is not the leader.

The scene where a bunch of vampires breaks into Shawna's house is quite hilarious. Despite being evil vampires, you don't understand why would they first knock and bang the door. Probably, as Granya says they are waiting to be invited to enter the house (another Vampire Diaries reference) but very soon, they break open the door and start chasing the teenagers. The cat and mouse chase begin, with the friends throwing whatever they could find at the bloodsuckers, which will give you a few chuckles. A stalker-turned-friendly vampire then saves the teenagers. Another friendly vampire, like that one friend who is always late to the party, arrives at their doorstep but all the action is over by then. The way he makes an entry and says, "Oh I am late to the party again" is kind of funny.

The last scene where the oldest vampire gives a lecture on immortality and asks Shawna to join him to lead the army of vampires is monotonous and boring, making you want to drive the stake through his heart yourself. Finally, Shawna does the job and kills him. Amid all the fights and stunts, the cute boy Pedro gets killed, which might make you a little angry at Shawna for leaving him all alone to be fed by these monsters and yet expecting him to be alive. Chris then carries his body soaked in blood to Shawna and she is seen having a major meltdown and begging him to come back to life. He eventually does, but not as a human, but as a vampire. If you have seen several vampire and horror movies or series, you can easily predict the climax.

The film could have explored more into the subject and offered something new. The film is well-paced but it lacks proper writing and creativity, which makes it a not-so-interesting film. The soundtrack of the film builds up the suspense during the scenes with vampires in the film.  

Verdict:

A vampire thriller or comedy, the film can be watched by a teenager alone as it does not have any scares. But if you are looking for some vampire drama, Vampire Diaries, at least the first few seasons of the series, would make for a better watch.