‘The Purge’ Gets Comical Twist With ‘Meet The Blacks’

Ever since the Wayans brothers wrote, directed and starred in “Scary Movie” the parody genre has gone on to live much longer than anyone expected. Watching people poke fun at the horror of scary movies has made audiences laugh for years and while Marlon and Shawn are nowhere to be found in “Meet The Blacks,” it appears to have enough comedic chops in the bag to ensure a lot of laughter as they take on “The Purge” series.

At first, “Meet The Blacks” seems like a run of the mill comedy about Mike Epps’ Carl Black moving from the hood to Beverly Hills. One would assume that it was just going to be about adjusting to their new well-off neighbors and being one of the few black families on the block. Well, it’s sort of like that. Anyone who has seen any of “The Purge” movies knows the gist. For 12 hours, all crime is legal including murder – and it’s usually the rich who prey on the poor during that time in this neighborhood. Being the new kids on the block, it appears the Blacks are on everyone’s radar and audiences get to see all the action and laughs right from the start as Epps and the rest of his family work overtime to ensure they’re alive at the end of the night.

The absence of the Wayans brothers may be confusing to some since this is the genre they made popular back in 2000 with the first “Scary Movie” and continued to perfect when they revised things with “Haunted House” in 2013. Even though the famous brothers had no part in this film, Epps is funny enough to hold things down as his streetwise charm and knack for one-liners shine. It doesn’t hurt that he’s going up against Mike Tyson and Lavell Crawford and is living in a world where George Lopez is in the White House (you think Trump will approve?). So it’s safe to say those who find joy in movies that put a comedic twist on films that are supposed to scare will like this one written by Nicole DeMasi and Deon Taylor.

“Meet The Blacks” opens April 1.