Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror

content warning: racism, racial violence

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror is a documentary about the role of black creators, artists, and audiences in the development of American horror cinema. It is adapted from the incredible book of the same name by Robin R. Means Coleman by director Xavier Burgen and screenwriters Ashlee Blackwell and Danielle Burrows.

This is a sleek documentary with an all star cast of black filmmakers, writers, and actors discussing horror. Burgen pairs his interview subjects in a beautiful empty movie theater while the projector runs in the background, showing off clips of the films being discussed in the moment. Additional interviews feature individual artists speaking on their research on and personal history with horror.

The clips evolve in quality and presentation throughout the film, framed in the context of how they were seen at the time. For example, Birth of a Nation flickers in its almost-square aspect ratio in the center of the screen, while a montage of 1950s and ‘60s sci-fi horror films are framed inside a period television screen. The blacksploitation films of the 70s are suddenly an explosion of color not seen before in the film, finally filling the screen in a broad variance of quality through a more modern widescreen ratio.

American Author Tananarive Due gets to explain the thesis of the film. Right before the film transitions into the first subject, D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation, Due says “Black history is black horror.”

Horror is a genre that reacts to fears and trends in (and of) society. Horror Noire breaks down how racism and a genuine fear of black people in America defined so much of American horror. Black filmmakers who stepped in to tell their own horror stories saw their work suppressed in theaters or actively censored until the early 90s unless those stories matched up with the expectations of how black people were to be portrayed in horror.

Horror Noire is a sobering watch or read. I strongly recommend any horror fan, and especially horror critics, engage with both texts. Even after reading the book, the documentary still felt incredibly upsetting. So much of what defines the imagery of American horror in the black and white era is racism. From poster art to decades of literal removal from the narratives, the history of the role of black people in American horror cinema is a history of racism. The documentary really pushes this point home by intersplicing discussions of contemporary events, such as connecting Jim Crow-era lynchings with the kind of “safe” characters black actors were allowed to play.

The strongest aspect of the documentary is the incredible casts of subjects brought in. These are professionals in the field of horror discussing their experience navigating a system defined by racism. Actors like Rachel True, Tony Todd, and Keith David discuss the kind of roles they were allowed to play in horror films. That alone could be its own documentary as actor after actor discusses the tropes of the roles—the supportive friend, the monster, the sacrificial lamb, etc.—they were allowed to play, let alone audition for. Directors like Ernest R. Dickerson and Rusty Cundieff get paired off to discuss their experience growing up as black horror fans and creating horror films about black people. Robin R. Means Coleman, Tananarive Due, and Jordan Peele are interviewed separately to discuss the history and craft of writing and creating horror narratives as black artists.

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror does go into some heavy topics. However, there is a sense of joy and celebration in the actual discussion of horror. Watching the excitement come out over segments on Rachel True’s role in The Craft, or indie films like Attack the Block and The Girl with All the Gifts, or even the universal praise for Pam Grier as she pops up again and again in touchstone horror films is like watching the sunrise. This is a documentary film driven by a passion for and appreciation of horror films in spite of the many flaws and downright harmful tropes discussed.

Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror is streaming on Shudder.