Sunday, May 19, 2024

Movie Reviews

Reviews of primarily American movies featuring actors and actresses of Black / African-American descent in the horror-movie, slasher, gore, supernatural and related spooky film genres.

Night of the Living Dead 1990 horror movie remake poster
Horror remakes are all the rage these days, so in some ways, the 1990 Night of the Living Dead "redux" was ahead of its time. Sure, the George Romero original is a classic, and a remake could never recapture its magic, but this version, directed by special effects legend...
Scream Blacula Scream horror movie poster
A decent follow-up to the original blaxploitation classic, Scream, Blacula, Scream finds Mamuwalde awakened by aspiring voodoo priest "Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout" Willis (Richard Lawson) because, well, he' s an idiot. Mamuwalde proceeds to turn him into a vampire slave, and then Willis turns his girlfriend Denny (Lynne Moody) into...
Tales from the Hood horror movie poster
Of all the all-black horror movies to receive a theatrical release since the Blaxploitation era (let's say, four), Tales from the Hood is probably the best. Smarter than Bones, with a grander scale than Def by Temptation, and well, it's not Vampire in Brooklyn, TFTH follows the standard Tales from the Crypt...
The Tokoloshe
2013’s Ghetto Goblin was a cheapie from South Africa whose name change from Blood Tokoloshe reflected a cheesiness inherent in the production, but The Tokoloshe is a much more polished, professional affair that thankfully avoided a name change for American consumption, so we don’t have to deal with watching...
2001 Maniacs horror movie
This sequel to the 1964 cult classic Two Thousand Maniacs is more like a remake -- or a "reimagining," if you will -- with a more overt racial connotation, thanks to the inclusion of "Negro" Malcolm (Mushond Lee) and his "Chinaman" girlfriend Leah (Bianca Smith), as Mayor Buckman (Robert...
Abby horror movie poster
The title Abby might sound like a '70s sitcom (I can hear the theme song now: "Abby, she's crabby...kind of stabby."), but it's in fact a Blaxploitation horror movie that plays out unabashedly in the vein of The Exorcist. In fact, it came dangerously close to being called Blackorcist,...
Alien vs. Predator movie poster
Like Freddy vs. Jason, Alien vs. Predator cashed in on two diminished franchises that, as individual sequels, would probably tank. (Personally, I'd like to pitch Ghoulies vs. Air Bud.) Unlike FVJ, AVP has a strong female lead who doesn't look like her brain will seep from her ears if she opens...
Brackula: The Musical movie
When I heard the title of this horror/comedy/musical short, I was first intrigued, then apprehensive, then a bit hungry (I had a bagel; problem solved), and finally intrigued again. I was prepared to see a cheesy, YouTube-quality, anti-Barack Obama skit starring a lookalike in a cape and fangs "sucking"...
The Beast Must Die horror movie poster
This is a fun little film that combines a monster movie with an Agatha Christie-style whodunit. The monster in question is a werewolf, and the whodunit in question is who the hell it is. Calvin Lockhart, who would sadly be relegated to bit parts like Predator 2's King Willie...
The Believers horror movie poster
Ah, the '80s. How could anyone forget the wacky trends of the era: Izod shirts, Rubiks Cubes, ALF and, of course, voodoo. How fondly I recall Saturday nights with the family gathered around the campfire, Grandpa gutting a virgin, Aunt Martha leading the zombies in a three-part round of...