Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror

source: Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror

So glad this was made. This documentary is very much needed the modern day we live in. This documentary was an eye-opening analysis of how black and POC people, especially men, have been portrayed in movies. Not just movies but in real life aswell, and exposed those who incorrectly portrayed them. We also need more docs about individual black horror films. The genesis of ideas, casting, how they were made!. We still have a lot to go for with the movies, but it's getting better for example with Jordan Peele's Get Out. I can't wait what's to come in the furure with POC movie directors and writers.

Really insightful documentary that assembles a lot of recognisable faces from the black horror community, from the instantly recognisable Kieth David; Get Out director Jordan Peele and the Candyman himself, Tony Todd, there are a number of influential, interesting voices to be heard here who all help to paint a picture of Black characters'/actors' experiences throughout the history of the horror genre. It starts by covering Birth of a Nation, so you know from the start that you're going to hear about a lot of films from over the years, but I think it's great because there's so many I haven't heard of that I now want to see, like "Abby" and "Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight." Overall this is quite a good documentary, it's narrators are all great and a few of them are pretty funny. Everyone's familiar with tropes like the black character dying first or being a shield/sacrifice for the white character, but this documentary shows you where these stereotypes started and in some cases, how they've dissipated over time.

Horror movies have been fascinating, actually horror stories in general have been. But roles for certain groups of people (in this case people of color) have been small to not even existent. Now of course you can make the case for native Americans or Asian Americans, but that can be a different movie (one I'd watch for sure). So this concentrates on Black people in horror movies - in front and behind the camera. Except for a short mention of 90s movies in general (like Boyz'N'the hood) this really does not stray aways from the genre it says in the title it will be about. And while I wouldn't have minded having a nod to something like "In the Heat of the Night", it overall is better to not stray away from the path it set out. This is based on a book, but has so many different people talking about the History of Black Horror movies. If you are a fan of the Genre many, if not all will mean something to you. And watching this almost makes me want to revisit Blackula - I kinda liked it anyway, but with the background you get with this documentary and what the director tells us he had to go through .... it puts a whole new level on the whole thing and viewing experience. As a big Romero fan, just the mention of Night of the living Dead (or any of the others, Ken Foree is one of the people being interviewed) makes me happy. But it is obvious what an impact the movie had and how it was perceived. It is even better to know that the role wasn't written specifically for a Black actor. As Romero has famously said, Duane Jones was just the best actor to audition. When I watched it, I was thinking "wow having the guts to cast someone in the lead role back then ... awesome". And if you had the opportunity to meet Romero you could see him for what he is. Like your good natured Grandpa who was open to everyone. That doesn't change how Night ended - and while I will not spoil that, I'll say it left me quite drained. And if I was or felt that way, hearing how people from that era saw it and how they related, gives it another layer alltogether. I just scratched the surface, the movie mentions good movies and bad movies (and things in between, I really want to watch a movie called Abby now - it sounds horrible ... in a fun and good way) - and I hope if it comes out on Disc there will be at least another hour of additional material/interviews! Ending with some "outtakes" during the end credits rounds up a great overall impression I got from this. Highly recommendable ...

I enjoyed the overview of black people in horror films, and being introduced to a couple of films that I missed when they were released. From scary black voodoo practitioners through "black guy who dies first" to (of course) Night of the Living Dead and on up to Get Out, a group of academics, directors, and actors talk about what the changes meant and how they reacted to it. Why I don't rate it higher is that while the academics and screenwriters and directors had interesting things to say, the actors did not and said basically, only "man, I loved this." Not insightful. I suppose being able to have name actors in the cast means more people might watch the film, but if we're watching a film analysis documentary, maybe we care less about actors and more about the people who have insights they can better articulate. Good info, half-wrong cast.

I loved every minute of this! I even added a few of these movies to my watch list most I have seen throughout the years including the ones from the 70s. My only complaint is it WAS NOT LONG ENOUGH!

This is a well produced documentary telling the story of African American actors in horror movies over the last 100 years. Great guests/pairings. Left out a few movies like 28 Days/Weeks Later, among a few others(especially the 80's). Great conversations and enlightening, especially for the horror fan.

This is an important story, that needs to be told, but this is not the way to tell it. There are so many inaccurate statements in this movie that I almost turned it off. They are clearly trying to present a unified narrative and it just comes off as false, fake and dishonest. The history of black horror is politicized enough as it is. There is no need to add racist ideas to movies that didn't have them, because there are plenty of movies that did (and do) have those issues. This documentary would have benefited from some basic fact checking and 10 minutes of google.

Great commentary and interviews by respected actors, filmmakers, writers and intellectuals on the history of Blacks in cinema and the horror genre. Fun to watch too.

Playing YouTube channel Double Toasted review of Soul Plane in background, they mentioned about the video being sponsored by Shudder,and gave a free 30 day code. Being in lockdown and having wanted to sign up to the service for ages, this looked like the perfect time to sign up. Being a title I saw get praised by RedLetterMedia, I decided my first Shudder viewing would go back to the history of Horror. View on the film: Going right back to the horrors of The Birth of a Nation (1915) in his feature film debut, director Xavier Burgin lays out a fascinating canvas on the progression of black Horror cinema history, from Spencer Williams kicking against the system to get the first "Black Horror" made in Son of Ingagi (1940) and the ground breaking work of George Romero, to the wave of Blaxploitation and black Horror cinema of the 2012. Criss-crossing the clips with interviews of the cast/crew from some of the films and academics, Burgin combines production tales with fascinating academic interpretations of highlighted films. From the Tuskegee syphilis experiment being referenced in Blxploitation films and Bill Gunn using the Horror genre for the deeply personal Ganja & Hess (1973), to Candyman (1992) and the magnificent The Girl with All the Gifts (2016-also reviewed), in bringing to light the history of black Horror.