news its a golden age for black horror films may 29 2019 its a golden age for black horror films for decades black characters in horror movies were objects of ridicule died first or played evil voodoo practitioners but now we're seeing a wave of films created by blacks and starring blacks robin r means coleman texas a&m university octavia spencer is one of te few black women to have a lead role in a horror film universal pictures/youtube in the horror genre black is definitely back the movie ma which premieres on may 31 will star academy award winner octavia butler as sue ann a lonely middle-age woman who clings to a group of teens to the point of obsession ma comes on the heels of jordan peeles critically acclaimed us which is also led by an academy award winner lupita nyongo and lets not forget that peeles previous film get out won the academy award for best screenplay last year black actors have always had a role in horror films but something different is taking place today: the re-emergence of true black horror films rather than simply including black characters many of these films are created by blacks star blacks or focus on black life and culture objects of violence and ridicule for most of film history black actors have appeared in horror films in supporting roles many were deeply problematic in my 2011 book horror noire: blacks in american horror films from the 1890s to present i describe some of these tropes in the early 20th century many films – horror or not – had white actors appearing in blackface the characters could find themselves on the receiving end of especially horrific violence for example in 1904s a nigger in the woodpile a black couples home is firebombed and the pair staggers out charred willie best plays clarence in the 1941 film ‘the smiling ghost john d kisch/separate cinema archive in the 1930s there was a spate of horror films that took place in jungles where blacks were depicted as primitive – sometimes indistinguishable from apes a decade later black characters started appearing in horror films as objects of ridicule actors like willie best and mantan moreland appeared as comic relief – characters for audiences to dismissively mock to be sure there were some instances in which black actors assumed leading roles the 1934 film chloe love is calling you starred black actress georgette harvey as the vengeful mandy in 1957 joel fluellen portrayed the smart and reliable arobi in monster from green hell however often these characters existed to support the survival of their white counterparts from placeholders to full participants for a brief period in the 1960s and 1970s horror films began to treat blacks as whole and full subjects many of these narratives centered on black culture and experiences more often than not blacks played the role of hero for example the 1972 film blacula begins in 1780 and is an indictment of the slave trade and its lingering effects in the 1974 film sugar hill a black female protagonist named sugar with the help of her black zombie army lays waste to a murderous white crime boss and his cronies then there was bill gunns 1973 art-house horror film ganja & hess a gorgeous and deliberative treatise on race class mental illness and addiction it won the critics choice prize at the cannes film festival however no hollywood studio was willing to distribute the film the classic of the era is george romeros 1968 night of the living dead which stars duane jones as ben a strong complex black character who leads a group of whites during a zombie apocalypse confounding the clichéd trope of the black guy dies first ben is the lone survivor of the terrifying battle duane jones as ben in ‘night of the living dead wikimedia commonsin a turn of realism he emerges triumphant – only to be summarily shot down by a militia of white police and civilians bens death which comes at the movies conclusion is as unexpected as it is powerful the scene demands that audiences consider who among us is truly monstrous sadly these glimpses of blackness faded as many horror films in the 1980s 1990s and 2000s reverted to well-worn tropes in some like the shining and annabelle black characters operate as the sacrificial negro who dies to save a white characters life then there are the dozens of films like 1987s angel heart and 1988s the serpent and the rainbow in which black characters appear as wicked voodoo practitioners black is back jordan peeles films should be thought of as an homage to night of the living dead and ganja & hess – films that have strong complex black protagonists in fact peele has notedthat bens fate in night of the living dead which was released as the us mourned the assassination of dr martin luther king jr weighed heavily on him when he wrote the ending of get out peeles character – unlike ben – survives while peele has shown that the genre can be a daring unflinching examination of politics class and race the black horror renaissance has been brewing for some years over the past two decades ernest dickerson – who directed the purge bones demon knight and episodes of the walking dead – and rusty cundieff the director of tales from the hood and tales from the hood 2 have been stalwarts of the genre theyve paved the way for peele as well as newcomers such as meosha bean nikyatu jusu and deon taylor the horror genre is maturing and becoming more imaginative and inclusive – in who can play hero and antihero and who gets to be the monster and savior the emergence of black horror films is just one chapter in a story that includes women taking on more prominent roles in horror films too its about time as jordan peele noted in an interview in the documentary film horror noire the fact that there had been such a small handful of films led by black people was to him the horror itself robin r means coleman vice president and associate provost for diversity; professor department of communication texas a&m university this article is republished from the conversation under a creative commons license read the original article dept news faculty research coleman in the media tamu