Name: The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2021-06-11T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Mike Epps, Katt Williams, Bresha Webb, Lil Duval, Zulay Henao

The opening scene of The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2 is a mess of over-lit neon, with Katt Williams’ Dr. Mamuwalde strutting down an Atlanta street like a vampiric peacock, and it’s clear this film has no idea what it wants to be. A horror spoof? A comedy? A parody of Fright Night with a side of Blacula? Deon Taylor’s sequel to his 2016 misfire Meet the Blacks is a muddled, unfunny, and tonally confused mess that squanders its talented cast, including Mike Epps as Carl Black, a bestselling author who moves his family back to his childhood home—only to suspect his flamboyant neighbor might be a vampire.

The film’s central premise—a pimp who may or may not be an actual vampire—could have been a riotous send-up of horror tropes if the execution were sharper. Instead, Taylor and co-writer Corey Harrell rely on cheap jokes about crass stereotypes and over-the-top gags that fall flat. The humor is as stale as the film’s repetitive visual palette: Hawk V-Plus anamorphic lenses can’t save shots that are either too bright or too dark, with no sense of atmosphere or tension.

Where The House Next Door stumbles most is in its lack of originality. The script recycles tired horror-comedy beats without adding anything fresh. Katt Williams, usually a scene-stealer, is wasted in the role of Dr. Mamuwalde; his performance lacks the manic energy that made him memorable in Friday After Next. Epps, too, seems bored by the material, delivering a flatline performance devoid of the charm he brought to the first film.

The few moments that work—like Lil Duval’s deadpan reactions as Cronut or Andrew Bachelor’s goofy turn as Freezee—are overshadowed by the film’s structural missteps. The pacing is erratic, jumping between half-baked set pieces without any narrative cohesion. Geoff Zanelli’s score, while competent, can’t mask the lack of suspense or genuine laughs.

Taylor’s direction is uninspired, relying on broad comedy and cheap jump scares that never land. Even the film’s production design feels lazy, with Atlanta standing in for a generic urban setting without any distinctive flair.