In Casey Tebo’s new horror-comedy about consumerism, he explores the true terrors of consumer society. ‘Black Friday’ reunites horror icons Devon Sawa and Bruce Campbell. Those who see this movie will always see George A. Romero’s classic “Dawn of the Dead” as a metaphor for mindless shoppers. Unfortunately, while it’s an easy watch during a B-movie marathon, you’ll probably forget it by the next day. It never had memorable moments.
As Thanksgiving night approaches, a group of disgruntled employees at a toy store reluctantly make their way to the store to open the doors at midnight for the busiest shopping day of the year. A meteor crashes onto Earth carrying a parasite from the solar system. On Black Friday, a ragtag crew of misfits, led by a store manager named Jonathan and a long-time employee named Ken, find themselves battling goblin-like holiday shoppers who have been transformed into monstrous creatures.
Black Friday Synopsis
The story of ‘Black Friday’ centers around a group of workers preparing for Thursday’s rush of bargain hunters at a large big-box toy store. Unfortunately, the shoppers are infected by mysterious pink lifeforms, causing a chain reaction that causes a massacre. Having lost their last few employees — Ken (Devon Sawa), Chris (Ryan Lee), Marnie (Ivana Baquero), Archie (Michael Jai White), Brian (Stephen Peck) and the general store manager Jonathan (Campbell) — whatever differences they may have, they must overcome in order to survive the night.
A big-box employee finds a colorful mass of goo on the floor when he enters a big-box store on Black Friday, soon becoming the victim of whatever unexplained energy has grown inside it. We Love Toys employees, who were pulled from Thanksgiving celebrations to participate in Black Friday sales, are already facing a difficult night when trouble breaks out in town. When Ken is away from his children, it’s hard on his heart. When Chris leaves his house in the middle of a festive dinner, he faces humiliation for his father’s disapproval. This screenplay provides a timely understanding of employee frustration. The gang struggles to make ends meet despite being limited by corporate policies that barely care about anything but profit, providing only a gas station sheet cake for morale support while denying the employees paid breaks overnight.
FACT
An old Babies R’ Us location was used for the filming of Black Friday.
As I want this review to be spoiler free that’s all I’m going to say about what happens in the movie and instead will conclude with my general review of the film now that the premise is set.
Even though the filmmakers show off practical zombie effects in the film, there isn’t much to discover about the monsters that most genre fans haven’t seen before. In addition to snarling and jumping, they bite, but don’t do much else. It’s not until the halfway point that a good idea starts to take shape, but then it just kind of sits there. Campbell describes the Black Friday ‘sales’ as part of an evil scheme, while the employees lament their dead-end jobs and the customers appear as both literal and figurative monsters in Black Friday. The movie, however, isn’t just too explicit with its theme, but it also doesn’t offer any hopeful alternatives.
If you are a big Campbell and Sawa fan then give ‘Black Friday’ a shot otherwise you may want to skip this one as it was really not that good. If you have limited time for a movie then don’t let it be this one.
Founder and Lead Developer for Horror Facts independent horror magazine.
Husband, Sailor and Independent Writer
