These actors and actresses aren't usually the leads in horror movies, but they keep busy in supporting roles as the best friends, the partners, the safari guides and other assorted capacities that probably ensure death. You know their faces, but you don't know their names or even where you know...
Most actors and actresses have to pay their dues before they become famous, and one genre well versed in due-paying is horror. Popular with producers out to make a quick buck yet reviled by critics, horror movies are both high in number and low in esteem, making them perfect...
Everyone knows that the "black guy" (or gal) usually dies in horror movies -- so much so, in some instances, the characters themselves seem to be aware of their inevitable fate. Thus, we have the phenomenon of black "heroic death," in which black characters (usually peripheral) voluntarily sacrifice themselves...
Black people originated the slang of bad meaning good, but that doesn't mean they can't also be bad meaning bad. They've played some of the more memorable baddies in horror history. Here are some of the baddest black villains to grace a horror movie screen. Whatcha gonna do when...
Most confirmed horror deaths by black actors. R.I.P., brothers and sisters, R.I.P.
Tony Todd (15)
Are You Scared 2
Candyman
Candyman 2
Candyman 3
The Crow
The Eden Formula
Minotaur
Murder-Set-Pieces
Night of the Living Dead
Nite Tales
Scarecrow Slayer
Shadow: Dead Riot
Shadow Puppets
The Strange Case of Dr....
Horror movies tend to be thought of as hollow entertainment, but horror has a long history of addressing heavy social issues, whether directly or through symbolic or allegorical means. Perhaps the heaviest of heavy social issues is race relations -- especially in the United States -- but these horror/suspense...
Be they stereotypes or monotypes, they're the "types" that most black characters in horror films inevitably fall into...
The Spook
As the name implies, the spook is spooked by all things spooky. Typically the comic sidekick, he's often spared from death by his ability to make people laugh. The "classic spook"...
Ever wonder how you would fare if you were a character in a horror movie? Would you be the "final girl/guy," or would you be the first to have a harpoon lodged in your rectum? Here's a handy flow chart to help you figure out your fate.
It goes without saying that over the years, Hollywood has had some issues with adequate racial representation in starring roles, and horror is certainly not immune to that problem. However, that doesn't mean there haven't been some excellent "mainstream" (for lack of a better word) fright flicks starring black folk....
Dying in a horror movie is a rite of passage for black actors. Can you name at least one film in which these esteemed (and not so esteemed) actors, actresses, athletes, and musicians have met their maker? If you can, perhaps consider getting some fresh air for a change....
