Horror Noire is a 2019 documentary about black people in horror movies that premiered on the streaming channel Shudder but is, in October 2020, streaming for free on Amazon Prime (where I saw it). It’s one I’ve wanted to see and I should have just sucked it up and paid for another streaming service (Shudder), especially since it sounds like its getting more and more (good) originals.

As to this documentary, it’s a history of how black people have been represented in horror movies… and how black audiences respond to that. There’s a number of interviews with either black film makers or the actors who appeared in some of the films discussed. It says quite a lot that the only actors I could identify on sight were Tony Todd (Candy Man) and Keith David (who was proud his character didn’t die in first film: The Thing). The only film maker I recognize on sight was Jordan Peele. It’s kind of interesting they get the actors and actresses who played the Black Friend characters from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, one of the Friday the 13ths, and the Craft to do interviews.

As to the history presented, it’s fairly well done and informative. They argue that the first black horror film was Birth of a Nation, something I wouldn’t have called. For as horrific as that film is, I (as a white dude) never saw it as “horror”. They then move through the decades, covering some periods where there were almost no black rolls (in general and most certainly in horror), to the blacksploitation period in the 70s (Blacula mattered!), to the tokenism and the tropes of the 80s, the rise of black film makers in the 90s (Tales from the Hood?!), and finally to the modern era (Get Out, of course, but pleasingly The Girl With All The Gifts too).

This is a pretty solid documentary with one rather significant failing… it’s short and there’s ultimately not enough to say. Which isn’t a fault of the film itself but of the history of film making. But it’s still a good watch, especially for film buffs and people who like film history.

Score: 82