The trailer for Spell makes no effort to hide that it’s a supernatural horror dripping with hoodoo. This is punctuated with a drawn-out rendition of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s I Put a Spell on You. There are also two other elements on full display before you step into the film: it plays on the classic horror trope of “country vs city” and it’s a distinctly Black horror.

After watching the movie, I can tell you that this was a solid bill of sale for a welcome contribution to all the subgenres of horror that Spell will call home.

Spell starts by introducing Marquis T. Woods (Omari Hardwick) through a whirlwind of scenes. He’s very happily married with two kids (Lorraine Burroughs, Hannah Gonera, and Kalifa Burton); he’s originally from Kentucky, running from his past and an abusive father (Ri-Rharlo Handy); he’s a high-paid lawyer who seems to have few scruples when it comes to taking advantage of other African Americans; and his aforementioned father has just passed away.

It’s a bit of a sprint to get past the inciting event that sets Marquis and his family flying in his private plane from “the big city” to Appalachia.

The next extended scene has the Woods family landing at a tiny airfield to fuel up. We have two smaller interactions, one with Marquis and the aged airfield attendant, and another with Marquis’s son Tydon and a local teen. The scenes complement each other and drive home the preconceptions that the Woods are bringing with them into Appalachia. In Tydon’s case, they challenge these preconceptions. But in Marquis’s case, they seemingly strengthen them.

In horror that plays with the theme of country versus city, these scenes  are important. Movies such as Children of the Corn, Deliverance, and Pumpkinhead each have this moment where the “city” and “country” first collide and set the trajectory for the rest of the film.

After a tense moment with the sheriff, where the Woods family is given one last foreboding warning to turn back, they continue their flight only to be struck by lightning. Marquis wakes up in the antiquated attic of Eloise (Loretta Devine), Earl (John Beasley), and their silent muscle Lewis (Steve Mululu). It’s here where it’s revealed that we’re not only in the Appalachian backwoods but also in the world of hoodoo as Eloise constructs and explains to Marquis what she calls a “Boogity.”

The film runs through a sequence of expected beats during the second act as Marquis trying to escape, futilely at first but quickly learning from his mistakes and “the rules” of the Hoodoo that’s ensnared him.

Hoodoo and the horror genre have a complicated past – one that is complicated even more with the genre’s treatment of Black people. The more prominent entries in the hoodoo subgenre have been influenced by blaxploitation or were told with a white voice/audience in mind.

However, in a post-Get Out world, it’s refreshing to see a new entry in the hoodoo genre told without concern for either. It may have some incomplete thoughts on the relationship between city and country, but Spell still deftly weaves a story using dread and tension. It builds a rich mythology without revealing too much, leaving the viewer in the sweet spot of neither having things overexplained or scratching their heads about what just happened.

Spell will be available on most digital platforms from October 30, so if you’re looking for a new supernatural horror to fall into this Halloween, this is a good contender.

It’s also worth noting that there is some self-harm in the film, so if that’s a turn off for you, keep that in mind.