By Mo Moshaty

Okay, so it’s got a 4.7/10 rating on IMDb BUT, horror-comedy Black Friday, directed by Casey Tebo, finds itself smack dab between Thanksgiving gore and Christmas carnage. The film unfolds over one crazy night at the ‘We Love Toys’ store and gives us a blow by blow of the chaos of the over-consumerism and holiday must-gets that every retail worker loathes….oh I forgot to mention that there’s parasitic shoppers and a strange alien.

The film begins on Thanksgiving night, which, let’s stop and talk about consumerism right here: having to leave the comfort of your home, not to mention your family and a hot meal so Denise can get 70% off of her White Diamonds gift set will always chap my ass. Anyways, at a nearby warehouse, an alien parasite crash lands on Earth and quickly infects a storage worker turning them into a hungry, slobbery and rotting zombie – so we know off the bat – it’s gonna get real, real quick.

Back in ‘We Love Toys’ land, we meet Ken (Devon Sawa). Ken’s bitter, not only because working Thanksgiving and Black Friday sucks but because his personal failures keep stacking up. He’s got custody issues, he’s doing, what to him is, menial retail work when he knows he’s capable of getting further in life and just the normal doldrums of a human trying to make it in this world on the shoestring budget we’ve been forced to accept. Ken, same, girl, same.

Every store has to have a manager that knows even less about how to run things than the people beneath them yet overcompensates by being ‘by the book’ ’cause heaven-forbid they have any critical thinking of their own. Enter Jonathan (Bruce Campbell), the resident goof-ball and levity in times of crisis amidst all the ensuing and frightening frenzy. Thank goodness for that co-worker who makes a shift worthwhile. Ken is soon joined by Marnie (Ivana Baquero) who’s demeanor speaks to a deeper understanding of Ken and his plight, we can almost see those ‘off the floor’ chats about life playing out in their interactions. And no Black Friday would be complete without the seasonal employee with something to prove because 1: we all need a check and 2: we wanna be still at this job in February. Chris (Ryan Lee) can’t wait to get selling and his zest for the crowds has the others reeling and employees like the elder stateman Ruth (Ellen Colton), ‘I’ve already had enough’ Brian (Stephen Peck) and over-the-top survivalist Archie (Michael Jai White) punch in.

It’s time to open doors. The crowd tumbles in and there’s a lot of the expected pushing and trampling, face scratching and weave snatching but something is a bit more than they bargained for – face eating??? Several shoppers look to be infected with some strange virus that turns them into blood thirsty zombies and now ‘We Love Toys’ has become a fortress of fear. As the shit hits the ever-lovin’ fan, the crew enlists the help of every ready Archie to take charge of the situation because, quite simply, he’s been waiting for a day like this! His capabilities, kick-ass martial arts and his realist views make him a natural leader but when it all gets too much, poor Archibald is tested to his limits. All of the chaos sends the crew scrambling to barricade themselves into the store as the infection spreads like goodwill (ha from where?) across the aisles until the infected shoppers tumble out of the store and amalgamate into a gelatinous blob Slither-style that we could say is a perfect reflection of never-ending corporate greed, commercialism and the money-churn.

Armed with makeshift weapons, they confront the parasitic monstrosity in a desperate bid for survival. This tense standoff pushes each of the crew to confront their own fears, insecurities and strengths. Ken and Marnie’s resiliency triumphs as they become the new leaders and rally the stores survivors to take up the proverbial sword and fight back while Jonathan hides in his office like the big, dumb coward he is and then has second thoughts at the zero hour and finally makes a singular unselfish decision. We leave our crew sheepishly stepping out of ‘We Love Toys’ at the crack of dawn as the store collapses under the weight of the alien creature. A pressing (pun intended) metaphor for the fact even though they’ve escaped with their lives, the monster still swells; consumerism is hungry hippo. After all, Christmas is just around the corner.

Black Friday’s satire and heart checks consumer culture, retail worker drudgery and the dehumanizing of that worker that can happen when a shopper is disgruntled. The story is messy at times but it’s a darkly comedic reminder of the human cost behind the quest for the best holiday deal. So maybe just sit there and eat your food this Thanksgiving.