What is Black horror?
Black horror is a subgenre of American horror films that view horror through the lens of the Black perspective – characters are Black, the situations can be considered common fears shared amongst Black audiences, and some of them poke fun at racist stereotypes and or flip racist tropes on their head. Currently we are experiencing a golden age of Black horror, where directors state that they are no longer interested in trying to appeal to traditional narratives and their work is being recognized at the highest level of honor within the film system. These films from our catalog are some of the most recognized and critically acclaimed of the genre.
A disparate group of individuals takes refuge in an abandoned house when corpses begin to leave the graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to devour. The pragmatic does his best to control the situation, but when the reanimated bodies surround the house, the other survivors begin to panic. As any semblance of order within the group begins to dissipate, the zombies start to find ways inside -- and one by one, the living humans become the prey of the deceased ones. Watch the trailer here.
During a visit to Transylvania, an African prince gets turned into a vampire by Count Dracula. Sealed in a coffin for several lifetimes, "Blacula" reawakens in 1970s Los Angeles. Leaving a trail of bloodless victims in his wake, he pursues Lina, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to his dead wife. Meanwhile, Dr. Gordon Thomas and top cop Lt. Peters are hot on the bloodsucker's trail. This DVD set also contains the sequel, Scream, Blacula, Scream. Watch the trailer here.
This experimental film follows the exploits of anthropologist Dr. Hess Green, who becomes a vampire after his intelligent but unstable assistant stabs him with an ancient cursed dagger bestowing upon him the blessing of immortality and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant’s beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja comes searching for her missing husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power blood holds. Watch the trailer here.
Over the course of a long, hot Louisiana summer, a 10-year-old black girl, Eve Batiste, discovers that her family's affluent existence is merely a facade. The philandering of her suave doctor father, Louis, creates a rift, throwing Eve's mother, Roz, and teenage sister, Cisely, into emotional turmoil. Eve, though, manages to find some solace with her quirky psychic aunt, Mozelle. Watch the trailer here.
Skeptical graduate student Helen Lyle befriends Anne-Marie McCoy while researching superstitions in a housing project on Chicago's Near North Side. From Anne-Marie, Helen learns about the Candyman, a knife-wielding figure of urban legend that some of her neighbors believe to be responsible for a recent murder. After a mysterious man matching the Candyman's description begins stalking her, Helen comes to fear that the legend may be all too real. This film is currently being remade by Jordan Peele for release in 2021. Watch the trailer here.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (1995) Rated R
Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister but charming Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where -- with the help of its quirky residents -- he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key. Watch the trailer here.
The Girl with all the Gifts (2017) Rated R
Based on the book of the same name by Mike Carey, this film takes us to the future, where a strange fungus has changed nearly everyone into a thoughtless, flesh-eating monster. When a scientist and a teacher find a girl who seems to be immune to the fungus, they all begin a journey to save humanity. But will they lose theirs in the process? Watch the trailer here.
Now that Chris and his girlfriend, Rose, have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined. Watch the trailer here.
A lonely middle-aged woman befriends some teenagers and decides to let them party in the basement of her home. But there are some house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober, don't curse, and never go upstairs. They must also refer to her as Ma. But as Ma's hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma's place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on Earth. Watch the trailer here.
Accompanied by her husband, son, and daughter, Adelaide Wilson returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen. Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilsons into a fight for survival. When the masks come off, the family is horrified to learn that each attacker takes the appearance of one of them. Watch the trailer here.