From Black (2023) Review – A Derivative and Labourous Ritual Horror

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are reviewing another Shudder exclusive – From Black.

A familiar horror concept

This movie is new to 2023. We have explained the ending to this one so if you are looking for answers click the link — From Black Ending Explained article.

From Black is basically the same concept as the fantastic British, Irish occult horror A Dark Song. There are a few key differences, though. Namely the fact that From Black is a labourous chore of a movie and A Dark Song is a compelling and innovative indie horror. From Black follows the story of a recovering drug addict. She is found by her cop sister covered in blood on the floor of her house but what happened?

We learn that she is a grieving mother. Her son vanished years ago, in no small part due to her neglect. It eventually becomes clear that the woman was attempting to perform a ritual, all in the hopes of bringing back her deceased son. The only question is, did it work?

Well, I say the only question. There is at least one more that I can think of. Do we care? I certainly didn’t. I was too busy fighting off yawns and a strong desire to fall asleep. From Black is a boring horror movie which offers nothing unique. It takes things from numerous different horror classics, throws them all in a pot and hopes something intriguing comes out. From Black has no ideas of its own.

Slow and boring

We trudge from one boring scene to the next with little reason to care. Characters are unlikable, writing is substandard, the backstory is poorly developed and devoid of substance, and the oh so important ritual is dull and lacking in suspense.

“From Black is a boring horror movie which offers nothing unique. It takes things from numerous different horror classics, throws them all in a pot, and has no ideas of its own.”

It’s all incredibly bland and deeply uninteresting. It is one of those movies where you hope and wish for something interesting to happen only to leave disappointed. It plods along lazily before fizzling out at the end with no fanfare.

The messy and convoluted timeline doesn’t help. The movie jumps back and forth between the past and the future, expanding on current events in the story by taking random trips into the past — offering little to no hint of the jump, only to bounce back again a few minutes later.

Now, I will admit that I was tired watching this movie, but still, there were a few moments where I found myself legitimately confused. I repeatedly had to ask my fiancée where we were at… “Is she still on heroin here?”. “Who the hell is that guy?”. “Wait, is she sleeping with her own sister?”. And so on and so forth. It feels poorly defined and a little bit messy.

Unlikable characters and simplistic writing

From Black suffers from a cast of bland and unlikable characters. Headed up by “protagonist” Cora, it is difficult to find a character to root for here. Jennifer Lafleur’s detective Bray offers the most hope, still, her white meat good cop character feels plastic – almost like something right out of a police propaganda movie.

“The dialogue here is ripped straight from a 15-year-old’s ’emo phase’ diary, complete with brutal use of metaphors and edgy ‘you don’t understand me’ rhetoric.”

The less said about Cora the better. I am not sure whether we are supposed to feel sympathy for her or just really dislike her. She is crass, obnoxious and difficult to care about.

This is made all the worse by the simplistic writing. The character dialogue here is ripped straight from a 15-year-old’s “emo phase” diary, complete with brutal use of metaphors and edgy “you don’t understand me” rhetoric. It’s rather painful stuff and a bit embarrassing in parts.

Do the rituals offer hope?

The “bereaved parent wanting to communicate with their dead child” is a common trope. Movies like Pet Sematary and many others have done this all before. It’s not particularly interesting or unique; the intrigue comes in the ritual itself and what comes after. The monkey’s paw element is always expected. You know the person won’t simply get what they want, there has to be a catch. Something has to go wrong. So the place that horror movies like this can shine is how they approach the middle part. Unfortunately, From Black doesn’t deliver on this, either.

There is no sense of sacrifice here, no real deep occultist lore, no interesting manipulation of the person performing the ritual. It’s just bland and ordinary. Salt creating barriers, symbols drawn on the floor in chalk, noises randomly coming from around the house. It’s all been done before. The things that come as a result of the ritual are all too immediate, as well. There is no waiting around to see whether things have worked. No doubt or hint that the whole thing may be a hoax. Results are instant and all too easy to come by.

“There is no sense of sacrifice here, no real deep occultist lore, no interesting manipulation. It’s just bland and ordinary salt barriers and chalk symbols. It’s all been done before.”

Much of this is due to the rituals being something of an afterthought. From Black is far too content to put its weight into its drama element. Whereas A Dark Song devotes the vast majority of its focus to the rituals taking place, From Black is far more content putting much of its attention on Cora’s daily struggles. Be it her job, her issues with her ex-partner, or her attempts to cope with her grief. It gets lost in the reeds on mundane stuff, leaving the most intriguing elements feeling poorly fleshed out. The movie would have benefited greatly from a more focused approach.

Good looking but with a few issues

From Black is a decent looking movie. It is well filmed and looks great for the most part. It isn’t without its technical issues, though. Whereas the soundtrack is okay, featuring a visceral scratchiness and almost industrial feel, the sound mixing is terrible. The music is incredibly loud, drowning out conversation at times and feeling somewhat jarring. It’s a mess and makes for an uncomfortable watch.

Acting is okay, I suppose. Anna Camp feels out of her depth. Her performance stretches to being loud and pulling occasional angry faces. She rarely puts her body into her performance and her emotion feels forced. Jennifer Lafleur is fine as the classic good cop character. John Ales is a bit mixed as Abel, having some decent moments but, also, some rather weak ones towards the end. Travis Hammer, as Wyatt, is your token Southern drug addict, complete with syringe hanging out of his pocket. His character is pointless but he seems to be having fun chewing the scenery.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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