Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror

The documentary follows the place of Black characters in horror cinema from the beginning. It starts with the silent era; how Black characters were shown in one of the founding films of American cinema is taken up directly. Then come the zombie films of the thirties, using accounts from Haiti. In the sixties one film changes everything: a zombie film with a Black actor in the lead, and its ending is read together with the political events of the period. A separate wave appears in the seventies. Afterwards the characters are the first to die for a long stretch. Xavier Burgin directs. Jordan Peele, Tony Todd, Keith David, Rachel True and Ken Foree speak in it. The source is Robin R. Means Coleman's book of the same name; the author appears in the film. Its form is conversation; those speaking sit in pairs and watch the films together, commenting. The matter it treats is the genre's relation with Black audiences; horror both excludes and offers a language. Rachel True describes her experience on one film and says she was left out of the publicity material. The documentary covers the recent period as well and describes the change in the genre. The narrative follows film history chronologically and proceeds through many examples. Its limit is scope; it runs short and many subjects are passed over quickly. Who it is for: viewers who like horror cinema and documentaries on film history. Who it is not for: it is surface level, the examples pass fast, and it asks for knowledge of the subject.