The Inheritance

The Principals.

Henry - Profession: Fighter. Social status in the setting: Alpha male. Attributes: Great voice and way of talking; smooth, masculine. Recommendation: Higher this guy to do late night radio or malt liquor commercials.

Simpson - Profession: Programmer. Social status in the setting: Wimp. Attributes: Resembles Spike Lee. Recommendation: Take to parties, but leave behind if you have serious sh!t to do --like maybe saving your life.

Karen - Profession: Stability and regular checks (Don't ask). Social status in the setting: Alpha female. Attributes: Attractive almond eyes and there is some evidence that one could have intense bathroom sex with her. Recommedation: Loan one of her balls to Simpson.

Lilly - Profession: Cook. Social status in the setting: Virgin. Well, "lesbian" --close enough for the cult. Attributes: Attractive light brown eyes and a good run-away-companion if you need one. Surprised Simpson didn't take the tip. Recommendation: Hire her for your ritual dances or your next bachelor or bachelorette party.

Tyrone - Profession: Writer. Social status in the setting: I'm not sure. Attributes: Nondescript. Can groan good if injured, though. Recommendation: Hire if you need someone to blend into the background.

Uncle Melvin - Profession: Something lucrative. Social status in the setting: Lead elder. Attributes: Self-assured. Recommendation: Use him if you need someone to nonchalantly pull the switch at an execution. Additional comments: More than likely will single-handedly send the demand for bathroom locks sky high.

The movie begins with a brief glimpse of the roots of a generational cult that began at some point during the days of slavery. Present day: Oblivious of this, 5 black cousins (3 men, 2 women) and a white couple are driving to a family reunion with the "elders" of their 5 wealthy black families. It is winter time and there are some complaints. When they finally arrive, their host "uncle Melvin" is not there but has left them a box of booze on the bar in the mean time. I don't have to tell you that they appreciated that.

After screwing around a bit with a snow mobile and some snowball fights, they return inside to settle down and acquaint themselves anew with glasses of uncle Melvin's fine booze; the quality of which is verified by the fact that the white couple cannot keep their hands off each other and are forced to retire for modesty's sake after some looks from the others. After they leave there is some entertaining, well acted dialog about each other's motive for being there and why one of the cousins (Simpson) brought his boss and his wife with him (you guessed right; the white couple). About 22 minutes or so into the film uncle Melvin and his crew of old people --sorry, "elders" --show up. He shortly gives the cousins a history lesson about their roots and their deliverer. He tells of the appearance of a compelling black man with supernatural powers who makes promises of freedom, wealth, and prosperity to some slaves in exchange for sacrifices to him. The film takes us back in time to graphically illustrate this while he narrates. Meantime, the cousins look on incredulously (save Tyrone who's as serious as a judge). No one more so than Simpson who looks like he's about to have a fit of laughter and eventually does. --For a price though.

The Inheritance is an interesting addition to the horror genre because it is horror from the perspective of black people; their culture and history. But beyond the window dressing of an almost all-black cast The Inheritance is also interesting because it has strong visualizations; is creatively and stylishly filmed. As well, it has excellent (very believable) dramatic acting that draws you in. Usually in a horror movie you can't wait for the creature, the monster, the freak --or whatever-- to make a show. But in this movie (for me, anyway) the horror or supernatural aspect was only an "exotic backdrop" for interesting dramatic dialog and interaction. In other words, I found I was more interested in the people than anything else. So much so that I forgot --or didn't care that it was supposed to be a horror movie. Good thing too, because this movie is more interesting and entertaining as a "drama" and "group character study" than as a horror movie. Love, Boloxxi

What could have been an interesting African American Wicker Man turns into a chaotic shambles of mixed messages and genre incompetence. The film starts with a prologue focusing on slavery. I sat there hoping it wouldn't turn into some preachy guilt trip. Luckily, it did not. That would have completely killed it. Even though the disappearance of the white characters is met with complete ambivalence, which doesn't suggest racism, just poor writing. The slavery themes are confusingly mixed with religion and voodoo. As people begin to rise from the dead, some awful effects come into play. It seemed like they used a computer to do something that was created convincingly in the Victorian stage days. What it all comes down to is a rushed story and a bunch of characters you want to die. It also falls into familiarity, which is a shame, as a convincing horror based around slavery, superstition, religion etc. could be very powerful.

Racism is internalized by the people who are victimized by it. How else can you explain a movie where a group of enslaved Africans turn to an African "witchdoctor" to free them in exchange for sacrificing their children. Right - I won't say what happens in the movie, but the depiction of African religious beliefs -you know the religious belief of Africans when they were free in Africa before they were enslaved and made into "Christians" -are horrible and misleading. If people who consider themselves "white," made this movie - the NAACP, the NBA, and all of Compton would be up in protest. Yes the slave mentality exists so much that people today would rather stick to the religion given to them by their slave masters than take time to really learn about what their ancestors actually believed when they were FREE in Africa. The saddest thing is that there are some good actors and notable actors in the movie - one guess they hadn't read the script until showing up or were so desperate for a check due to Hollywood's paucity of acting jobs for black people they decided to do it anyway. It's very sad indeed of the stereotypes and pure ignorance that black people have been indoctrinated with regarding their natural belief systems. I guess our hair and skin were not the only things whitewashed or we were made to hate over the past 400 years. The search for positive and accurate black images continue -shoot, right now I'd just settle for something accurate based on Hollywood's continual racist b.s. This time done in black face.

I downloaded & watched this because it had Keith David in it & it looked like it was an African-American horror film. Yes. Both correct, but both tragically bad attempts.

Keith...wtf And you co-produced this? Man, what were you thinking. Snorefest. Poor character development, pathetic continuity, molasses styled pacing. It takes over 20mins before someone even bothers to pick up a script.

And seriously, could they not even afford a second camera. Watch carefully, no don't even carefully watch, just look at the screen & see glaringly the lack of 'cinematography'. The one camera & badly placed one at that, screams at the viewer for attention. Boring...

Okay, granted that the snow bound Minnesota setting was not a clichéd location for the cast & they tried to give some historical slant to the proceedings. But major fail on all accounts. It had no real bearing on the ..er plot.

And did they have to stereotype them, despite them being uppity black folk, by having them smoke weed. C'mon. Was that to give them cred for the potential audience despite them all being rich greedy w@nkers.

And the white couple. what was the point of them & especially their only lines of dialogue at the beginning that just happened to imply racist attitudes. Amazingly transparent writing.

and white folk act pretty damn stupid in horror films, but the staggeringly inept action in the woods was shameful.

Def By Temptation stands as the best in this genre.

"The Inheritance" had a rather interesting-looking poster, and that was what initially lured me to this movie. So based on the poster, I decided to give the movie a go.

Now, the movie's history is somewhat interesting, and it is what keeps the movie afloat, because the scares in the movie are virtually non-existent. The movie is labeled as thriller, but it hardly managed that at all. There are moments where the movie builds up some suspense, but that is as far as it gets, unfortunately.

The cast in the movie was actually quite good, both for the younger family members and the elders. The movie was carried by Keith David, though it wasn't his most impressive performance.

"The Inheritance" could have been more than it turned out to be, but sadly it failed to impress or shine. And it will be a horror movie that came and went without leaving a lasting impression.

If you like movies of dark nature, then there are far better choices available. "The Inheritance" is a tame experience, at best.