In this horror-comedy, a group of resentful retail workers struggle to survive as shoppers overtaking their toy store are ravaged by a zombie plague.
“Black Friday,” a horror-comedy directed by Casey Tebo, is as chaotic as its characters. The premise goes like this: As an alcoholic single father, Ken (’90s horror vet Devon Sawa), and a hypochondriac, Chris (Ryan Lee), join their neurotic co-workers on Thanksgiving night to prepare for the Black Friday onslaught at a big-box toy store, they have no idea that alien zombies are overtaking the human race. Once the carnage reaches their registers, the workers must band together to make it out alive. That harrowing journey yields a lot more goofiness than it does character development.
This film would be perfectly delightful if it only strove for absurdity. Andy Greskoviak’s script lampoons corporate apathy and retail-work ennui with the same swiftness as his voracious zombies. Unfortunately, “Black Friday” also tries to make viewers root for its characters, who are mostly delightful because they are such wildly mediocre people. At one moment while hiding from the monstrous horde, each character explains what brought them to retail. It’s an excellent sequence that offers back story without forcing these misfits to bond. Yet at the end, the film seems to apologize for its refreshing misanthropy by tying these dynamics up with a Christmas bow.
Unapologetically low-budget, “Black Friday” makes great use of prosthetics, practical effects and some very game actors to deliver its zany scares. This is exactly the kind of thing horror lovers should watch with like-minded friends as the holidays roll around (probably pre-meal, though, thanks to copious amounts of zombie puke). But it would be more memorable if it delivered a bitter end.
Black Friday
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 24 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Vudu and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
