Black Friday is somewhat mediocre but not a total loss as a horror comedy. It almost gets over the hump into good territory but is held back by clumsy and sluggish editing that kills the pace when it needs be moving faster. Probably could be funnier as a horror comedy… and probably could be scarier too (or at all).

The film is set in a toy store on the eve of Black Friday… the employees generally are not a fan of being at work on Thanksgiving evening. But that’s when the meteorites start to fall bringing with them alien biomass that quickly converts the Black Friday shoppers into gooey mindless zombies and/or space monsters.

I’m all for a bit of retail satire, especially having worked on Black Friday myself for a number of years. But I don’t think the movie really embraces that satire well enough. There’s plenty to mine there, just ask any retail grunt. It does a bit better mocking the retail environment and coworkers like the Store Manager, District Manager, and The New Guy.

The film stars a few unknowns and then peppers in some genre favorites like Bruce Campbell and Michael Jai White (plus Devon Sawa). I’d say the cast is the best part of the film… them and some surprisingly well acted/directed dramatic character development scenes. It’s better than it should be and almost tipped the scales on the flick.

The creature effects are generally nicely done. Mostly all the effects are practical man-in-suit creatures with an appropriate and admirable goop factor. Nothing is particularly scary, but that’s in tone with this goof of a movie.

The final act though is a total sluggardly mess. Which is unfortunate since the movie almost achieves something on its low budget and low ambitions. It’s decently fun if you want a lark of a horror comedy or want a little retail revenge humor.

Score: 73