Given the emphasis on cultural diversity in our society today, one would hope that we could be "color-blind" on certain things, but that's not always the case, especially in entertainment. (Is the term "Urban Music" still used? I haven't heard that one in a while.) There are still those who label something like the latest Tyler Perry film as an "African-American Movie", instead of just a movie, or by identifying it by its genre. Why should a movie be identified by the race of the cast -- especially if the film's story isn't necessarily race specific? There are those who would most likely label The Inheritance as an "African-American Movie". Why can't we just call it a horror film?

As The Inheritance opens, five cousins -- Simpson (Shawn Howard Michael), Lily (Rochelle Aytes), Tyrone (Darrin Dewitt Henson), Karen (Golden Brooks), and Henry (D.B. Woodside) -- arrive at a large house (which looks like a school) for a family reunion. Simpson has brought along his business partners, Julie (Jenny Weaver) and Martin (Edward Nattenberg). The group is supposed to meet with a group of their relatives known as "The Elders" and Simpson hopes to do a business proposal to them. Upon arriving, they find a note stating that The Elders won't arrive until the next day, so that group spends the night partying. The next morning, Simpson is surprised to find that Julie and Martin have left. Uncle Melvin (Keith David) and the other Elders arrive and tell the cousins the tale of Chakabazz (Lanre Idewu), a slave who was lynched, but survived. He then became a powerful man who offered the other slaves freedom, but at a terrible price. Uncle Melvin explains that, generations later, the debt to Chakabazz is still being paid, and the simple family reunion suddenly becomes a night of terror.

Checking out the website for The Inheritance, I see that it played at the Twin Cities Black International Film Festival, the American Black Film Festival, the Urbanworld Film Festival, and the International Black Film Festival Nashville. So, based on that, I guess the makers of The Inheritance consider it to be a "Black movie". While I can't really comment on that, I can say that the movie is definitely a departure for the genre. When I think of "Black" horror films, the only things that come to mind are old blaxploitation films like Blacula or more relatively recent fare such as Tales from the Hood or Bones. Those last two films seem to set a particular tone in the genre, as they played like supernatural versions of the Boyz in the Hood-like films which were popular at the time.

The Inheritance takes more of a traditional, gothic approach to the horror, playing like a combination of the class "old, dark house" (or school) movie, with a dash of Rosemary's Baby. The inclusion of the slave background story gives the movie a unique twist. I honestly can't remember another horror movie which went down that particular path.

However, this interesting plot point can't save the story in The Inheritance. The opening does us the favor us telling us each character's name, but then we learn little about them. The whole thing with the reunion is muddled and at times, I wondered if anyone knew why they were there. The last 30 minutes feels like an extended chase scene through the woods -- basically any plot development stops and we watch the characters run around. Also, there's a question of what exactly is stalking the cousins -- Are they ghosts or people in costumes or both? These weak-points in the story really hurt what could have been solid film. The movie has a nice look and it never has a totally low-budget feel. (There is one gag dealing with words written on a window which works really well.) Again, the movie's central concepts are a nice mixture of the old and the new and I can't help but feel that if The Inheritance's structure had been more firm it could have been an impressive little movie.

The Inheritance makes me wonder why anyone would voluntarily go somewhere where it's cold on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Image Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 19 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing no overt grain or defects from the source material. The colors look good, but the picture is bit dark. Despite this, the image has a nice crispness to it which provides good detail. But the picture is flat for a Blu-ray Disc. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.1 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. While the film's third act may grow tiresome with the chase through the woods, these scenes provide excellent surround sound and stereo effects. We get a sense of everything happening off-screen thanks to these detailed effects. The subwoofer also gets in on the action during these scenes and the other shock moments.

The lone extra on The Inheritance Blu-ray Disc is a TRAILER for the movie.