“A man has got to be able to see his face.” - Blacula (1972)

lotta good stuff in this but all i remember is rachel true gets horny for blacula

Important and insightful and just an overall good horror doc.

—2019 Films Ranked—
Current Position: #1/17

I haven't read the source book, but this plays very much like Rob Epstein's film adaptation of The Celluloid Closet, sharing not only the same general narrative trajectory, but also that film's use of filmmakers, actors, and academics to echo the same points and retell the same stories as the source text. It's an important subject and the film is generally well put together, though, like the Epstein film, I wish this went deeper and that the focus wasn't solely on Hollywood -- how about some coverage of outsiders like Chester Turner, or films like Breeders or Friday the 13th: Part V, neither of which fall as neatly into the categories of tropes that this spends much of its runtime defining? Still, very much worth a watch for the personality and personal observations that the assembled interviewees bring to the material.

Very good documentary! Love the behind the scenes perspectives from some of the film makers and actors and perspectives of those influenced by them. I felt prior to watching that it would trash black exploitation movies but found that we are in agreement that there are some really entertaining ones. I also found a few gems that I didn’t know about to check out.

A solid documentary from Shudder. All I had to see was Keith David (The Thing) and Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead) to get excited. Now I just want to see them together in a horror flick.

This film takes the time to point out and deconstruct horror tropes, that are negative towards black people. The world has a long way to go, but it is nice to see things headed in a better direction by the end of the film.

Another good reason to check this out is to see what you can add to your watch list. Ganja & Hess, Tales From The Hood & Abby are all flicks I haven't seen and am now looking forward to.

Only true negative to me was how quickly they had to move. I think this would have been better served as a mini-series.

4 Shudder fucking rules out of 5

Could've easily been an insightful yet standard bonus feature, but is easily elevated by its casual framework, having less talking heads and more creatives, colleagues, and friends shooting shit with each other as much as debating the gains and strains of representation. Feels as much like communities bonding over genre as it does a representation 101. Even as these various black creatives, thinkers, and performers are complaining about horror's more problematic elements, they're enthusiastic. The criticism comes from a place of love. Horror is a communal genre, so it should belong to more communities.

Exec-produced by me, so recusing myself from a rating 😜

Entertaining and often enlightening Horror Noire serves as a great introspective on the genre through a unrepresented minorities lens. Can almost guarantee one will find a film or two for the watchlist to boot.

Would recommend.

P.S. I would give so, so much to sit in on the Keith David and Ken Foree interview.

Education matters.
Representation matters.
Black lives matter.

This was great, will definitely buy the book. Nice to see this analysis of black folks in horror films. The documentary was filmed well and had great interviews with folks from the films.

A must watch if you give a shit about the history of film

BHM Challenge 2021

Loved this! *rolls up sleeves* I got some watching to do!!

Phenomenal documentary about the history of black horror, with some of the biggest voices involved in that history. I do wish it was longer, went into more detail with specific films, and had more voices involved in the discussion, but this was great! Hopefully brings more people to seek out these films and become a part of the discussion and change in cinema moving forward. A lot of movies mentioned that I’m rushing to find ASAP.

Perspective is extremely important and I think this does a great job at bringing that to a large group of people that didn’t previously have it.

Um testemunho sobre a história do horror, suas lacunas e suas ressignificações.

Interesting insight into the history of black representation in horror films. However, it was a bit short and I wish there had been a bit more of a deep dive in some areas.

This was an interesting watch. I like how it juxtaposed things. It was especially interesting in relation to the movies I’d already seen if things I didn’t know about them got mentioned or it was framed in a way I didn’t even consider when I watched it before.

Very solid doc, had some great insight from the interviewees and gave a well rounded overview. That said, points off for the stupid fucking candyman take, the doc is pushing this wacko narrative there that somehow that movie is problematic for having tony todd as the villain while totally missing the point of the movie while simultaneously the interviewees are arguing the exact opposite. Really dilutes the message. Also, they framed get out as game changing, which it was, but they never once mentioned that it changed standards specifically because of how much money it made, which feels like an oversight.

Exceptional. I like how the doc both starts and ends talking about GET OUT, rightly acknowledging that films tremendous importance and impact. And holy shit, do I have movie homework now.

Absolutely loved this one 🤩