I expect this one hits different if you’ve ever worked retail in the US on a major holiday. Not just Black Friday, but Christmas, Labor Day, etcetera. Even now, I bear the scars of that time – both in body and mind. To see the doors part, and that cacodemonical crowd hurtle in, intent on bargains that are, in reality, anything but and unwilling to part with a single cent more than they think they ought to pay. They flood towards you, a tide of living, hungering flesh…really, it was only a matter of time until someone turned that particularly American ordeal into a zombie film.

Anyway, I survived my share of Black Fridays, so, obviously, I loved Casey Tebo’s Black Friday (2021) from top to bottom. It’s a fairly brisk film, getting down to business with the precision of an early-bird opening. A selection of quick off-screen kills foreshadows the horrors to come. The gradual mutation of the crowd of unruly shoppers is well-handled; not subtle, but appropriately grisly and gory with some nice practical effects throughout.

Oh sure, there’re no real surprises plot or character-wise, save that Bruce Campbell plays against type for much of the film, but it just works. The characters are all nicely fleshed out with some brief build-up that, if you’ve worked retail, you feel in your bones. And even if we don’t get to know too much about any of them (then, how much did you know about your co-workers?), when one is inevitably picked off, you feel something – even if it’s just relief.

Altogether, the cast, headed up by Devon Sawa as the amiable punch-clock hero, evokes that strong sense of unity mixed with annoyance – or outright disdain – that seems so familiar to the long-term retail worker. Us against them, where ‘them’ is a hideous hodgepodge of every rude, impatient customer ever to darken your register.

There are some standout performances, of course. As noted above, Bruce Campbell breaks from his usual routine to give the audience a somewhat nebbish store manager with a few nice moments of pathos sprinkled throughout. And Michael Jai White is as quietly competent as ever, and gets to pull some nice action sequences utilising a wide array of tools.

Beyond that, there’s not much to it. The ending is suitably dreary, but with some hope for our remaining heroes. But the whys and wherefores of the alien (?) invasion that kicks everything off are largely just background for the more immediate interpersonal conflict between the dwindling staff. Which is as it should be. A zombie film is only as interesting as its survivors, after all. I give this one four angry customers out of five.