31 Days of Halloween 2021 Day 15: Vampires Prey on the Downtrodden of New Orleans in 'Black as Night'

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. Might throw in the odd horror related book, comic, or music review as well. I've done this the last few years here and on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded. Other times I didn't. Last year I completely failed and didn't do it at all. I'm optimistic about this year.]

 

Like the works of Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite before it, BLACK THE NIGHT makes the case that Transylvania has nothing on New Orleans when it comes to being a stomping ground for vampires. And in a post-Katrina world, the vamps have found plenty of easy prey in the Big Easy among those left behind by the recovery.

 

Teenaged Shawna (Asjha Cooper), along with her dad and brother, has fared better than some. Sadly, the same cannot be said for her mom Denise (Kenneisha Thompson), who has fallen into drug addiction. When Shawna discovers her mom isn’t just an addict but has joined the ranks of the undead, she and her friends Pedro (Fabrizio Guido), Chris (Mason Beauchamp), and Granya (Abbie Gayle) band together to take on the local bloodsuckers under the thrall of Lefrak (Craig Tate) and an immortal former slave named Babineaux (the always welcome Keith David). But can just a small group of teens be any match for the vamps? Hey, it worked for Buffy.  

31 Days of Halloween 2018: 'Tales From the Hood 2' Offers Comic Book Scares And Smart Social Commentary

[Once again I'm going to attempt to do a horror(ish) movie review a day for the entire month of October. I've done this the last few years on The Cleveland Movie Blog. Most of the time I succeeded (usually with the help of a few other writers). Other times I didn't. We'll see if I can pull it off this year.]

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this in a review before, but it bears repeating. Everyone seems to understand that science fiction explores themes that deal with real life, often controversial social and political issues like racism, religion, and power-hungry leaders. But horror is all too often assumed to be devoid of such insights even though it can be just as political. 

Case in point: Rusty Cundief and Darin Scott’s TALES FROM THE HOOD 2. As the title implies, the structure and tone come from the old E.C. comic books (and the TV show they inspired), ‘Tales From the Crypt’. That is to say, there’s a “host” who introduces a series of creepy stories that are generally as campy as they are gruesome, and almost always end with a twist.