Grab your television remote and your subscription app because you’ve been missing years of unsettling, cadaver-kicking goodness. That ends this Halloween.
Black horror has definitely changed over the last half century. Hollywood's early days sidelined and misrepresented Black characters, but today's renaissance, with Black creators finally at the helm, has a genre providing a better space for social commentary, personal storytelling and gobs of nerve-wracking tension.
My list below celebrates the incredible contribution of Black filmmakers, actors, and storytellers who have shaped the world of horror. Their work transcends traditional Hollywood horror by blending elements of racism, identity, and survival with supernatural and psychological terror, often providing a platform for empowerment and change. Old or new, these films always bring a lasting combo of thrills and thought-provoking insight.
The Classics
The “Classics” are the building blocks Jordan Peele uses to scare the baJEEzus out of us. It’s not fair to compare them against more recent movies because these are the parents of the whole industry. Rag ‘em if you like, but remember: The first version of anything isn’t perfect. The first “airplane” was just two wooden wings and a rope, and it killed its pilot when he allegedly jumped off the roof of a mosque.
So here’s my list of the venerable oldies. I’ll make them quick in case you've got some catching up to do.
“JD’s Revenge” (1976)
Here we have a supernatural blaxploitation film mixing elements of psychological thriller and horror. Directed by Arthur Marks, this movie tells the story of New Orleans resident Isaac "Ike" Hendrix (played by young Glynn Turman), a mild-mannered law student and cab driver who gets possessed by the spirit of a vengeful 1940s gangster named JD Walker.
“Sugar Hill” (1974)
This is another blaxploitation horror film uniquely blending elements of voodoo, revenge, and the supernatural. Directed by Paul Maslansky, the film follows the story of Diana "Sugar" Hill (played by Marki Bey), a photographer who seeks revenge after a ruthless crime boss murders her boyfriend, Langston, in a bid to steal his nightclub.
It’s not often you see a revenge flick make a nutty left turn into hiring a voodoo queen to summon hordes of former slave zombies to unleash gankage on the Italian mob. Take it for what it’s worth and grin at the show.
“Blacula” (1972)
Now this is a fun film that tells the story of Prince Mamuwalde (played by William Marshall), an African nobleman in the 18th century who makes the mistake of propositioning Count Dracula to divest from the African slave trade. (Ha! He's Dracula! Being a blood-sucking parasite is all he does!) So, Drac tells him he should’ve stayed in the “jungle,” turns him into a vampire, and curses him with the name, "Blacula." He then locks Mamuwalde in a coffin for centuries until he’s later released onto the streets of LA with more swag and masculinity than Lestat could ever muster.
Yes, the movie heaps on limited, stereotypical representations of Blackness, but it also has meaningful moments, like when “Blacula” derides his own “slave name” and answers only to “Mamuwalde.” Oh, and he eats plenty of white cops, making him an agent of Black power in a Hollywood industry that delivered precious little of that.
“Ganja & Hess” (1973)
This story is sure to dredge up memories of your old toxic fling. Dr. Hess Green (played by Duane Jones, known for “Night of the Living Dead”), is an anthropologist who gets infected with vampirism after being stabbed by his assistant with an ancient dagger from the Myrthian culture—a fictional civilization that practiced blood rituals. Hess soon develops an insatiable thirst for blood. When George’s estranged wife, Ganja Meda (played by Marlene Clark), shows up looking for her husband, she and Hess form a complicated, rocky romantic relationship emblematic of the kind of co-dependent affairs many of us can unfortunately relate to.
Going Modern
Black horror films saw a resurgence in the 1990s with a noticeable shift from the flawed, superficial blaxploitation era of the ’70s. After “The Wiz” and Diana Ross singe-handedly killed blaxploitation, Black-centered horror began edging toward a more mainstream integration of Black stories, characters, and creators. The 90s saw a blend of horror and urban narratives reflecting stubborn social and political realities still plaguing Black communities. It also generously made space for Black actors, directors, and more serious themes to take center stage. Examples of this fresh, genuine growth can be seen in the movies below:
“Candyman” (1992)
"Candyman" was one of the first movies to make little white kids throw a towel over the bathroom mirror. This is the tale of an eternally furious lynching victim, played by the ever charismatic Tony Todd, who unloads his wrath indiscriminately upon jokers who dare put an old curse to the test by saying his name five times in front of a mirror. The plot, taken from a short story by Clive Barker, muddles its message by presenting the vengeful murder-phantom as a hungry specter seeking to expand his own legend, but it manages to deliver a thrill with upbeat cinematography and staging.
“Demon Knight” (1995)
“Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight” is a 1995 American horror comedy, directed by Ernest Dickerson, that never got the love it probably deserved. Jada Pinkett (not yet a Smith) plays a young protagonist dragged into an unseen war between smooth-talking demon Billy Zane and the rest of the whole planet. Zane wants to open the doors to hell on earth, as he already has on many other worlds, but he can’t do it so long as somebody is wielding the blood of Jesus as a ward against his demon hordes. It’s a straight up action flick with commendable special effects for the time, plus it stands out with Pinkett as the scrappy protagonist rather than the first Black character to die. (More on that in an upcoming BGX article.)
“Vampire in Brooklyn” (1995)
Ah, Eddie Murphy. For every “Dreamgirls” award there’s always a “Pluto Nash” thumping around under the floorboards, waiting to give audiences a puzzled look. We know Murphy was out to turn blaxploitation on its head with “Vampire in Brooklyn,” and we admire that. His movie is hit and miss on that front. Murphy was still deep in his Rich Little phase, donning make-up, wigs and hats to play nearly half the cast in his movies. It worked well in “Coming to America,” and it still draws smiles in “Vampire.” Directed by renowned horror master Wes Craven, the movie came up short at the box office but is regarded as a strong cult classic by fans. If you watch (and you probably should), try to enjoy the passion Murphy injects into his roles and not let the plot holes waylay you.
“Tales from the Hood” (1995)
Another movie with a deserved cult following, “Tales from the Hood,” delivers four short urban-themed horror stories using the springboard of three dealers buying some ‘spishy drugs from wacked-out funeral director Clarence Williams III. Each tale reflects troubles nagging the Black community, including domestic abuse, street violence and police corruption. This is certainly not a young movie, despite its updated conventions. But it still manages to get giggles and entertain, and the special effects and puppetry are top notch. Come for the crooked cops getting their zombie comeuppance; stay for the KKK dude beatdown by a million little whoop-ass puppets.
Full-on Present
The groundwork laid in the 1990s unquestioningly set the stage for a modern renaissance in Black horror. That renaissance redefined the genre and used the language of fear to confront race, history, and identity in ways that had rarely been seen. Visionary filmmakers like Jordan Peele, Nia DaCosta, and others deftly crafted films that terrified audiences while pushing society’s sins right into America's lap. It was in this age that Black horror not only found success in niche and indie markets but achieved mainstream recognition and critical acclaim. The success of films like “Get Out” and “Us”proved horror could be both commercially viable and intellectually stimulating while artfully focusing on Black narratives.
At this point, Black horror was no longer just a sub-genre—it was a vital part of the broader horror landscape, a lasting, evolving cinematic force poised to continue shaping the genre for years to come.
“Get Out” (2017)
Peele’s 2017 directorial debut is psychological horror with so many clammy fingers in Black America’s head there’s no way to walk away from the credits without feeling haunted for hours, or giving your white boo a dirty side-look.
This movie drips with the ugly echo of wealthy white Americans hijacking and exploiting Black bodies for centuries, all with the government’s blessing. I can’t say much without spoiling it for the one or two people who still haven’t seen it, but sit down with this movie when you can this Halloween. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Peele, and critics say it’s one of the best films of the 21st century for a very good reason. If you haven't yet seen it, that's on you. Fix this quickly.
“Us” (2019)
Jordan Peele’s 2019 follow up to “Get Out”—“Us”— is another Peele pick that lays heavy on the psychology. In Peele’s written and directed movie, the world’s shadows are haunted by mysterious, decrepit doppelgangers eager to cut ties with the people who share their souls. That’s you and me, folks; we share their souls, and they no longer want to share. And by “cut,” we mean with a machete.
Peele’s ambitious horror dredges up heavy comparisons to the phenomenon of privilege. Innocent families terrorized by doppelgangers represent the oblivious half of humanity that gets to sing and dance and eat cheeseburgers in the sun while our lesser selves skulk about in the shadows, hungering for what we have. As usual with Peele, there is no clear-cut evil in this movie, but plenty of evil deeds.
“Candyman” (2021)
The 2021 version of the 1992 movie more directly dares the audience to come to terms with the horror of this nation’s widespread love of lynching. In this flick, Daniel Robitaille was an artist who made the mistake of indulging a white client's daughter and got mutilated for his affection. The movie delivers the kind of Candyman you don't mind seeing without a shirt (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), but it's no less disturbing. It plays down the phantom’s wanton lust for murder and mayhem and compels audiences to empathize with the specter’s wrath at a system that still manages to coddle de facto lynching under a different name, even today.
“Antebellum” (2020)
“Antebellum” asks, “What if we mix time travel with the very real horror story of American history?” The movie got panned for its violence, but we suspect the real dread was critics' realization that life on a plantation was bloody, exploitative, brutal— and recognized by the U.S. government as perfectly legal for hundreds of outrageous years.
The time travel theme later takes a twisty turn into something else, but if you endure the infuriating violence and abuse you will be rewarded with a very satisfying, crunchy-sounding end. So stick with it.
“The Strays” (2023)
“Strays” is a British horror film that unnerves your whole living room while wrestling with the maddening issue of colorism and the melanin-based, second-class dynamic that’s been infecting western society for centuries. There is very little we can say about this movie without ruining the premise or the ending, but let’s just say working out who the “bad guys” are in this movie is not going to be easy. Colorism makes bad guys out of everybody. Mix it with creeping insanity and you’ve got yourself a very big 'ol fugly mess that shreds whole generations to pieces.
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