Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s Horror Noire, a historical deep dive into Black representations and their expanded meanings in American horror movies, was adapted into a 2019 documentary by Shudder. Now, to make good on its projects, Shudder has released an anthology of the same name, centering in Black horror — cast, directors, writers, plot themes and devices. Consisting of six tales conjured up from short stories, Horror Noire is both a stepping stone towards something bigger and a nice chance to view what we have around us.
Would it seem accurate to say that Jordan Peele had been behind the newest resurgence of Black horror? Get Out was, well, The Movie. I previously discussed his latest involvement when reviewing Candyman, which was a movie that felt purified after leaning into darker territory. Aesthetics that are reveled in the Monkeypaw Productions are cast to the wind in Horror Noire. The common denominator in this anthology is that the stories are connected to the reality of being a Black American, whether in this current state or in a Reconstruction-era throwback. However, each story is calibrated differently in terms of fantastical limits, the influential roles of society and race, and the utilization of scare tactics.
All of the stories have a strong core in what they want to be about — the type of confidence that can overcome script fumbles, lengthy running time (most of these could have been under ten minutes), and other misses. The Lake, which stars Lesley-Ann Brandt as a teacher who is intrigued by the legacy of a lake, goes strangely sideways (and perhaps not in a great twist) when myth and high school teacher-student relationships are mixed into the stew. Bride Before You is a Southern gothic that tackles the then-significance of a woman needing to continue the family lineage but is unable to bear children; unfortunately, it finds itself lost in tension-building to see that there is an easier shortcut to the ending. Rachel True witnesses a religious cult’s influence over her scholar husband in Fugue State, but melodrama has the upper hand and loses its grasp on a potential lingering effect.
The other stories — Brand of Evil, Daddy, and Sundown — have original merits of creativity and touches of humor among its despondent and creepy vibes. In Julien Christian Lutz’ Brand of Evil, Brandon Mychal Smith is an artist that offers to draw a mural for a food bank, but temptation is difficult to fend off when he is offered large sums of money to design specific symbols orated by an anonymous caller (these symbols are soon revealed to be related to Neo-Nazis). While the ending might feel like a children’s cautionary tale, the struggle between giving to the community and earning our personal worth is universal (even us regular folk can sell out!).
Jordan Peele movies might now be the blockbusters, but what I hope Horror Noire can accomplish is making room for Black horror to thrive in different climates. Sundown, which feels like a pitstop in A Black Lady Sketch Show territory, has our protagonist canvassers in deep, fiddling, doo-wop doo-doo when they are stuck in a “sundown town” (easily identified by the sign that says “No Black People Allowed After Dark”) for the night. This and movies like one of my personal faves The Fits is the utopia we should strive for.
Horror Noire
2021
dir. various
153 mins
Short films include
- The Lake, directed by Joe West
- Brand of Evil, directed by Julien Christian Lutz
- Bride Before You, directed by Zandashé Brown
- Fugue State, directed by Rob Greenlea
- Daddy, directed by Robin Givens
- Sundown, directed by Kimani Ray Smith
Now streaming on Shudder
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