BLACK FRIDAY: Fun Horror Comedy for the Holidays

I’ve always wondered why Black Friday had not been explored in a horror film. Director Casey Tebo and writer Andy Greskoviak finally give the much-deserved holiday-horror treatment to a day that almost looks like a horror movie in real life. Black Friday brings infected, gooey bodies to this familiar shopping holiday and manages to feel at home with other Thanksgiving and Christmas films.

Black Friday follows the workers at a toy store preparing for their black Friday shifts, but there’s an oozing mass of parasitic creature in their midst. There are a variety of workers, from Ken (Devon Sawa), a dad going through a divorce who has been working at the store for a long time, to Emmett (Louie Kurtzman), a brand new employee. The team is rounded out with Archie (Michael Jai White), Marnie (Ivana Baquero), Chris (Ryan Lee), Brian (Stephen Peck), and store manager Jonathan (Bruce Campbell).

Character Development and Humor

Black Friday does a great job of establishing every employee, giving you insight into their lives and why each of these extremely different people ended up working at the same store. There’s a realism to the assortment of backgrounds and ages of the different co-workers. This feels especially realistic to a retail store, and leads to some introspective moments between characters and some moments of humor.

Black Friday works well as a horror-comedy and utilizes its holiday of choice to make commentary on its ever-increasing encroachment on Thanksgiving. Early on in the film, there are comments about stores opening on noon Thanksgiving day, which has become increasingly common, making it so retail workers can’t spend any part of the holiday with their families.

Black Friday does a great job of balancing commentary like this with humor based around working retail and the strange things you might see wandering around a huge store.

These moments of humor based around working retail land, but there could have been a little bit more time spent setting up the customers and giving more opportunity for jokes of this nature before the gore starts. A slow build of customers shifting might have helped the metaphorical aspects land better.

Black Friday wants you to feel like you really know each character, and the film succeeds in this regard. There are memorable moments between each character, showing the various ways this group has come to know each other as co-workers.

Bruce Campbell’s performance as the awkward manager who always wants to be liked is especially memorable. His delivery of jokes told to fill the silence and try to engage with his employees is always pitch-perfect and creates a fully realized image of the character. Jonathan brings to mind Glenn Sturgis (Mark McKinney) on Superstore and Campbell’s performance captures that strange yet wonderful energy in his character.

When the employees are trying to survive, keeping themselves locked away in an area where they hope no customers will venture, everyone gets a little bit closer and shares a little bit more about themselves. This is a great moment and helps to establish everyone and get you to care before more carnage comes.

Gore and Creature Design

I love the idea of the parasite in Black Friday and the glowing neon design as well as the designs for the individual shoppers post-infection. Every design feels unique making the horror moments of the film that much more engaging. These creatures were gory, gross, and distinctive.

The gore also is filled with plenty of gooey and great practical effects, which is always appreciated. The effects are well-done and bring to mind the wonderful practical-effect heavy horrors of the past.

One aspect of the horror that falls a little flat is the structure of kill scenes. Yes, this is an infection film, so having quick kills fits in more with the action of characters running away from the monsters, but a little bit more utilization of the setting would have been appreciated.

The best moments come when characters fight back with whatever they can grab at the moment–a giant unicorn, or a malfunctioning giant talking teddy bear. I expected a few more moments where the toy store/retail setting would play into how the death scenes occurred.

The horror is still enjoyable and well-crafted making for a memorable celebration and satire of the holiday. The visuals bringing Thanksgiving and Christmas together are kitschy and fun, especially the giant toy blocks throughout the store that might occasionally have infected shoppers lurking behind them or pushing them around the store.

The production design captures the aesthetic of a toy store gone wrong when given the chance. Combining the cutesy quality of giant unicorns and children’s building blocks with the body horror gore of bodies shifting and fusing creates an unforgettable and haunting dissonance. But so much more could have been done with this setting, exploring the variety of toys in the aisles, bright displays for the season’s hottest toys, and too-close aisles pushing forward the tension.

Conclusion

Black Friday is a gory, fun and humorous ride, exploring and satirizing a holiday that usually doesn’t get the movie treatment while chock-full of pleasing performances and compelling practical effects.

Are you excited to see a horror movie based on Black Friday? What is your favorite holiday horror? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Black Friday will be released in theaters on November 19th, 2021.