Black Horror Movies

Scary Sistas: A Brief History of Black Women in Horror Films

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Scary Sistas: A Brief History of Black Women in Horror Films

Originally posted on Pretty-Scary.net

Black women in cinematic history have long faced the double-barreled Hollywood stigma of race and gender “otherness,” their fleeting moment of glory coming in the ’90s when “You go, girl!” was introduced into the popular lexicon. On the more formal level of Oscar recognition, meanwhile, the black female images thus far celebrated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have been limited to “the three ‘M’s”: mammies (Hattie McDaniel), mystics (Whoopi Goldberg) and mammaries (Halle Berry).

With Goldberg’s career on permanent hiatus, the number of black actresses who now routinely headline mainstream theatrical films holds tenuously at one: Halle Berry (although any more like Catwoman might change that real quick). Queen Latifah had a run for a while, but she, like so many black actresses, found safer avenues for acceptance in music, TV and being “straight.” The Taraji Hensons, Gabrielle Unions and Sanaa Lathans of the world get occasional leads in all-black fare, but mainstream top-billing is elusive.

However, a peculiar and unexpected refuge has emerged for other black women struggling to find steady gigs: horror movies.

Since the 1970s, horror films have provided something of a haven for black actresses, serving up roles they wouldn’t otherwise get in more mainstream Hollywood genres and freeing them from the obligation of doing it doggy-style with Billy Bob Thornton. Sure, “types” still exist in these roles (the voodoo sexpot, the mystical darkie), but in general they tend to be larger, more prolific parts — often leads — with less of the stereotypical finger-wagging characteristics detailed in the 2001 study The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America (e.g., 89% of black actresses were found using vulgar language on screen vs. 17% of white actresses. Holy shit!).

In the ’70s, “blaxploitation” horror provided a wealth of substantive lead roles for black actresses (Abby, Sugar Hill, Ganja and Hess), even trickling over into mainstream films (The Omega Man, The Beast Must Die) and overseas into foreign productions (Black Mamba, Night of the Cobra Woman).

In the ’80s, as Reaganomics saw unemployment “trickle down” into all phases of African-American life, opportunities for black actresses dried up, but there were still notable exceptions like Breeders, Vamp, Angel Heart and one of the only all-black horror films of the decade, the uber-campy Black Devil Doll from Hell.

But things picked up as the ’90s dawned and have looked back little since. Black women have been featured as the heroine in major horror releases like Gothika, Demon Knight, 28 Days Later, Supernova and Alien vs. Predator, while Aaliyah’s final screen role came as the titular Queen of the Damned. Plus, with the straight-to-video industry booming, they’ve played lead roles in poorly-spelled “urban horror” fare like Cryptz, Zombiez, Vampz and Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood.

In the 21st century, a string of black female-led psychological thrillers — Beyonce in Obsessed, Taraji P. Henson in No Good Deed, Sanaa Lathan in The Perfect Guy, Regina Hall in When the Bough Breaks — have found an audience amongst filmgoers who might shy away from hardcore horror but are eager to watch black women put the smack down.

Whether it’s ingrained stereotyping of heroic empowerment, black horror heroines are typically hard-nosed and take-charge, unlike the often weepy, shrieking “final girls” of slasher fame. They tend to kick proverbial ass, even going so far as to drop some kung-fu action in flicks like Devon’s Ghost and Shadow: Dead Riot.

As such, they typically don’t survive the rigid moral structure of conventional slasher films (See Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3, Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Friday the 13th Part 3 and 5 though 7, Dr. Giggles, Halloween 2, Halloween: Resurrection, Scream 2, etc.), perhaps because they’re more prone to insult a maniacal killer’s sexual prowess — as Kelly Rowland does in Freddy vs. Jason — and then deal with the consequences. Nevertheless, the sistas have established quite an impressive history in the horror genre. Following are some select highlights. You go, girls! Or stay. Really, you should stay.

Select Filmography of Black Women in Horror Cinema

1930s:

1940s:

1950s:

1960s:

1970s:

1980s:

1990s:

2000s:

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