In a different context, they tackle Kasi Lemmons’ Eve’s Bayou, traditionally classified as a drama, director Burgin through his subjects explores the horror elements of the film, expanding on the understanding of genre classification. This documentary provides an additional take, exploring not only the historical impact but also how the character of Gus informed horror movies both at the time and for future generations - and how the film itself, experienced by a Black audience, is definitively a horror film. Griffith’s film is an indelible part of any early film history course in the United States and is often simply addressed in terms of technical mastery and its racist storytelling. Griffith’s canonical film Birth of a Nation. Means Coleman, Tananarive Due and others deconstruct D.W. In some instances, Horror Noire redefines what “horror” is in film. As producer and UCLA professor Tananarive Due remarks, “Black history is Black Horror.” With this comparison the film considers how the Black experience, at any given time in history, in and of itself is often inherently part of the horror narrative that is then reflected on screen. Through this juxtaposition it becomes clear how entertainment and art are in constant conversation with the events and circumstances of the time in which they are made. Issues of race are tackled in cinematic terms by interspersing the analysis of the films with news clippings and archival photographs of contemporaneous events. Editors Scott Strobel and Horatiu Lemnei cleverly utilize film clips to emphasize the discourse of the interviews and filmmaker’s conversations - sometimes finishing the sentences of their subjects with dialogue from the films themselves. Hollywood icons including Ernest Dickerson, Loretta Devine, Ken Foree, Keith David and Jordan Peele speak to their experiences working in the horror genre and also reflect on how they have been influenced by the work of their predecessors. The score effectively drives the film in a similar fashion to the way score can create suspense and tension in horror films. Director Xavier Burgin combines interviews, conversations between filmmakers and actors, film clips, archival footage and a series of impressive and informative graphics for an in-depth analysis of the horror genre as it applies to the Black community. More than a movie on movie-making or a film about horror films, it delves into film history, film application, film studies and ultimately American history. Means Coleman, PhD, so it has scholastic integrity going well beyond its simple entertainment value. As a film created under the umbrella of streaming service Shudder (run by AMC Networks), there is an expectation that it will be entertaining and fulfill the desires of a horror fanatic - but this documentary is also based on the book by Robin R. There are films that go beyond the confines of their specific genre to tell a greater story - such is the case with the documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror.
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