Two African-American women, breaking different ground: freshwoman Jasmine (Zoe Renee) is advancing up the road to academia, while Prof. Gail Bishop (Regina Hall) is the first black woman to assume the post of residence hall “Master” of a New England college. Her classmates snicker upon learning of Jasmine’s accommodation, but won’t say why. Every year since 1955 a witch targets one student to kill. It’s a tradition as old as the halls of the elite (read: predominantly white) Ancaster College, a non-existent, but real-sounding institution said to have been founded around the same time as our democracy. Why should Jasmine live in fear of bad grades when it’s the witch haunting her upstairs dorm room that’s doing most of the expelling, head first and out the window? It was around the time Bishop winged us with, “It’s not ghosts, it’s America and it’s everywhere,” that the formula became clear. As if cross-burning and institutional racism weren’t horrifying enough subjects to dramatize, writer-director Mariama Diallo’s first feature relies heavily on bunkum and hoo-doo to underscore the obvious. It’s a no-win situation: horror fans will be put off by the heavy-handed messaging, while those searching for social significance will be left horrified. (2022) — Scott Marks