The 40 Best Horror Movies Starring Black Actors and Actresses
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. For this list, I'm excluding all-black films (e.g., Blaxploitation, "urban,"...
The Black Death: A Brief History of Black People Dying in Horror Movies
"No way. I've seen this movie. The black dude dies first."
- Professor Harry Phineas Block (Orlando Jones), Evolution
"Ooh, I'm done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this!"
- Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J), Deep Blue Sea
"Did you know that the black guy doesn't always die first?"
- sinister email, The Mangler 2
"Everybody knows black guys get it...
Types of Black Horror Movie Characters
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" (most widely represented by Mantan Moreland and the catchphrase often...
Don’t I Know You…? Black Horror Character Actors
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 them from. Before you walk up and ask them, "Do...
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...
Best Black Horror Movies of 2023
Cinema in 2023 boasted a slew of surprise hits and surprise flops, but one constant was the Black presence in horror. Not necessarily a year of earth-shattering accomplishments, 2023 was for Black horror more about consistency and variety, broadening the typical Black roles into period pieces, ghost stories, mad scientist tales, horror-comedies, and family-friendly fare. As with last year,...
Black Horror Movies Per Year: 1970-2023
How Much Have Black Horror Roles Increased?
Tracking the number of modern horror movies per year with significant* Black roles. For details on specific movies, refer to:
1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
*Admittedly, "significant" is a subjective term that varies by era.
Best Black Horror Movies of 2025
My choices for the best horror movies of 2025 featuring Black performers are a bit more top-heavy than last year's, but there’s still a remarkable number of films worth recommending. If, like me, you're of a certain age, you have to marvel at the fact that there are actually 30 Black horror movies in one year worth recommending, whereas...
Best Black Horror Movies of 2022
There was a time not too long ago that it would be difficult to create a “best of” list of horror movies featuring black leads in any given year, since there were so few of them, and the ones that did exist were of such dubious quality. But thankfully, things have changed in both quantity and quality over the...
What New Horror Movies Come Out This Week?
Horror Movie and DVD Release Dates Schedule, updated weekly, every Tuesday.





























