The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

Death has been marking the life of the young and intelligent Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes) for as long as she can remember. Both her mother and her brother have died, the latter murdered. And she lives alone with her authoritarian father (Chad L. Coleman). "Death is a disease" says Vicaria, a disease that she is about to eradicate by herself. After the brutal and sudden murder of her brother, she embarks on a dangerous journey to bring him back to life, though the results aren't entirely successful. A series of circumstances have led her to become a mad scientist capable of resurrecting bodies and making them a monstrous extension of all the rage and frustration that she has had to live and is having to live. Death can be cured !

A contemporary Frankenstein that examines, through terror, the horrors and brutalities faced by African-American communities living in marginal areas of the United States. Police violence, racism, criminal gangs, and the world of drugs have taken their toll on the protagonists and this is demonstrated throughout the film.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster(2023) thematically challenges our ideas of life and death. Bomani J. Story, the film's writer and director, crafts a thrilling tale about a family that, despite the terrors of systemic pressure, will survive and be reborn again. There is plenty of violence, grue and gore, the heart stops several times. The film is somewhat reminiscent of the much better ¨Deadly Friend¨ 1986 by Wes Craven also with a teenager from a simple suburban neighborhood who creates a kind of Frankenstein for his own purposes. The interpretations of everyone around are acceptable, such as: Laya DeLeon Hayes playing the lonely teenage genius, Chad L. Coleman as her daddy, Denzel Whitaker as Kango, Reilly Brooke Stith as Aisha , among others. The motion picture was mediocrely written/produced/directed by Bomani J. Story.

The low-budget film turns out to be mediocre, so it is advisable to see other better versions inspired by the Mary Shelley classic, among which I would include the following: ¨Victor Frankenstein¨ (2015) by Paul McGuigan with Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Jessica Brown Findlay. ¨Mary Shelley's Frankenstein¨ (1994) by Kenneth Branagh with Robert De Niro, Tom Hulce, Kenneth Branagh. ¨Frankenstein unbound¨ (1990) by Roger Corman with Jason Patrick, John Hurt, Bridget Fonda, Nick Brimble. ¨The Curse of Frankenstein¨ (1957) by Terence Fisher with Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee. ¨Bride of Frankenstein¨ (1935) by James Whale with Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Valerie Hobson, Ernest Thesiger. ¨Frankenstein¨ (1931) by James Whale with Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles.

Not bad and it wasn't too far from being really, really good.

I love the first act. No rush, it gives us the right background of the main characters, the neighbourhood, and their difficulties and motivations. I also really like what it does in the third act. Violent, tie up loose ends, and close arcs with meaning. I have several issues with the second act.

Most of my problems in the second act revolve around the difficulty in varying something from the moment "the event" occurs and the excessive educational/doctrinal speeches that exist. When the main character does it in the beginning, it seems genuine, an act of rebellion, and affirmation, it makes sense. When several other supporting characters do it throughout the movie, in an even more obvious way, it becomes a bit too much. Not everyone in a neighbourhood behaves, thinks, and speaks in the same way, and it ends up sounding more like the writer's voice than the voices of those characters.

There are also some issues with the editing and sound, with some cuts and sound effects that seem for a straight-to-DVD release, but nothing too serious, because the director knows where he wants to go and does a very good job on his debut, with some interesting shots, and starting with the identity it gives to that community from the first act.

In terms of performances, I feel that there are weaknesses in some of the supporting cast, but Laya Hayes is fantastic. She was able to carry the whole film on her shoulders, with several behavioural and emotional nuances, and it's easy to predict a promising future career for her. A star, for sure.

Overall, a very interesting debut feature, filled with good ideas, bringing something new to the table and to the "Frankenstein concept", which could have been brilliant if it was more polished.

A different take on a classic horror tale. I felt the pacing was good enough to keep me from looking at my phone, the jump scares weren't too predictable, and the cinematography was a1. Wasn't too preachy, some scenes were irrelevant, only issues I had was the ending was a little underwhelming and no subtitles in English. Compared to these other ridiculous "horror" films that are just excuses to show excessive gore with a basic story, this one was well done. Good movie if you're looking for a different type of horror film, take these other reviews with a grain of salt, & for 7$ you can't lose.

I really did. The cast is uniformly very good to excellent. The lead (the "angry black girl" if you will), Laya DeLeon Hayes, gives a performance that is warm, human, funny, intense; her range is there. The rest of the cast was great with particular props for. Denzel Whittaker, Tracie Frank, and. Chad L. Coleman as standouts for me.

Now for the rest. The direction was spotty but decent. The cinematography was bizarre - the outdoor shots were often actually gorgeous; however, the indoor shots were awkward and sitcom-y, often to the point of taking this viewer out of the moment. Now for the script. This group of extremely talented, mostly young actors deserved so much more. There was no explanation for why anything happened (can't say too much without spoiling the plot). The dialogue started strong but kind of fell flat about halfway through. It's possible editing is to blame for some or even most of that.

All in all, it's a not-unpleasant but disappointing way to blow off some time, but it will leave you wishing for what could have been - because it could have been great.

This COULD have been great, it really could have. Maybe it just needed an extra 10 or 15 minutes to flesh out Vicaria & Chris' relationship, to SHOW us how close they were rather than just tell us. Maybe it needed to show a bit more of Vicaria's school life, to show us just how much of a genius she is rather than just tell us. Whatever it's lacking, it's not lacking much of it tbh.

While, yes, it IS a retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it's also more than just that. It's a story of familial bonds, and how far one young woman will go to keep those bonds alive. It's a story that gives the Creature a better chance at finding the familial love that Shelley's Creature was so cruelly denied. It's a story that doesn't just update the source material to fit our current world, but also updates the hope within.

Denzel Whitaker puts in a solid performance as Kango, the local drug lord; Keith Holliday is equally good as Kango's second, Jamaal; Chad Coleman is REALLY good in his limited screen time as Vicaria's dad, Donald; but Laya DeLeon Hayes is the real star (as she should be, playing the lead role) as Vicaria, the strong, determined young woman fighting to revive her brother and thereby restore her family.

Honestly one of the best adaptations of Mary Shelley's iconic novel I've ever seen.