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‘We’ve always liked horror, it’s just that horror hasn’t always liked us.’
We’re looking at Horror Noir: A History of Black Horror,
made by Shudder and based on the book by Robin R. Means Coleman, who is also one of the interviewees.
'Before we think of horror as we know it today, we can go back to films that wouldn't be on our radar's as horror.'
Essentially, this does what is says in the title, it is a history of black horror
and as a straight history, I can’t imagine it being done much better.
I was delighted to see Oscar Micheaux mentioned, who is such a important figure in African American cinema
and yet so often gets left out of the conversation.
I’d never even heard of Son of Ingagi, directed by Amos ‘n’ Andy’s Spencer Williams
and considered the 1st horror film made by an African American,
even featuring a black woman scientist, which in 1940 was not something you saw.
Of course there are the more familiar touchstones;
Night of the Living Dead, in which the casting Duane Jones’
‘You can be the boss down there, I’m the boss up here’
made the movie’s central conflict all the more resonant;
‘Duane just happened to be the best actor to show up on that day.’
Blaxplotation, looking at both the good side...
'Blackula!'
‘Starring William Marshall, a black actor, directed by William Crain, a black director’
and the bad...
All the way up to the present and Jordan Peele’s remarkable Get Out.
‘Black is in fashion.’
But inevitably this is more than a straight history.
‘Black history is black horror’
Firstly in that horror cinema has always been used to express real world concerns
‘is using that metaphor to tell stories about real black problems facing black communities’
so the films give voice to current and historical issues.
‘Slavery has merit I believe’
Secondly in that black representation within film and within the horror genre specifically has been a journey,
‘First thing I did was, when I got a script, I’d count the number of pages before I died’
and a pretty lonely one for a long time.
'I lived to the very end, I survived.'
So the film has what every great documentary has; a story beyond the facts.
‘I can’t see myself’
'I'm afraid it is one of the misfortunes.'
And it’s a triumphal story of a victory over adversity.
’What I liked most about this documentary was that it could have been angry, and it has every right to be,
but it feels more like a celebration.
‘One of the early films where a black woman was a lead’
It certainly doesn’t soft pedal how bad things were,
‘They wanted to do Count Brown’s in Town’
but it always comes back to; look at these incredible films and filmmakers
who worked against the odds to get us where we are now and on to where we are still going.
My only quibble is that, outside of a few British films,
this is really a history of African American Horror,
and I would have liked to see more about the non-English-speaking world.
'You in danger girl.'
But with that one caveat, this is everything I want from a film documentary;
I learned stuff I did not know, I was entertained, and it’s a great story.
Thanks for watching. Who for you are the great names of black horror? Let us know in the comments below.