The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster

Death is a disease and Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes) intends to cure it. The black teenage genius comes from a rough neighborhood where drugs and death is all around. When her brother is killed, she puts her theory to use.

This is obviously trying to adapt Mary Shelley's Frankenstein into a modern 'ghetto'. There are moments of good tension. I actually find the school more compelling than the monster story. The 'monster' does not have enough screen time. Brother and sister should have more time together before and after the transformation. This movie needs to be about their relationship. The most interesting monster performance is Kango. The father is also interesting. This movie has a few good moments and probably a fine elevator pitch. It struggles to hold together in the second half.

This movie was listed among horror films, but it doesn't belong in that category. The core concept about the struggles of Black people within their own communities is good, but it wasn't portrayed as one might expect. While the attempt to explore it from a sci-fi perspective was interesting, the execution was poor. The trailer gave a vibe of horror and suspense, but it delivered only the latter.

The lead character performs well, and her development is solid. The young girl also fits her role. However, I wish the lead had more depth-perhaps a darker personality and a stronger obsession with her mission.

The VFX are poor. Honestly, the science aspect doesn't make sense. The character is portrayed as a nerd, but she seems to know little about physics or chemistry, although she's good at biology. We see electrical circuits, diodes, gates, and anatomy pictures in her books, but she is far more naïve than her portrayal suggests.

It feels as though the movie was initially written by an adult but later taken over by a child.

Well, this 2023 movie titled "The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster" from writer and director Bomani J. Story was watchable. But that was also about there was to it. The storyline is just a take on the classic Mary Shelley "Frankenstein" story, except it is set in modern times.

And that just doesn't make "The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster" an outstanding movie experience, because writer and director Bomani J. Story doesn't bring anything new or innovative to the table. So this movie is one that came quietly and will disappear just as quietly.

It should be noted that the acting performances in the movie were good, especially by leading actress Laya DeLeon Hayes (playing Vicaria). And it was nice to see Chad L. Coleman (playing Donald) in the movie as well.

Visually then "The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster" was okay. It was not a movie that made use of a lot of special effects, and whatever practical effects that were in the movie were adequate for what they were. I wasn't impressed though.

The movie runs at 91 minutes, but it is a somewhat bland viewing experience. And this is hardly a movie that I will recommend for horror fans to rush out and get to watch. If you are familiar with the "Frankenstein" story, which I assume you are, then you have essentially already seen "The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster".

My rating of "The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster" lands on a four out of ten stars.

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.