We all have a darker side of ourselves which we don’t show to everyone. And one of those sides is enjoying dark movies. As everyone doesn’t find dark movies interesting, but there are people who just love investing their time in dark horrors. If you are one of those people then here are some of the best dark horrors of all time to watch and creep the hell out of yourself. By no means this list is exhaustive, there’s much more to essential black horror movies than you may think of. It’s just that some flicks appeal a touch more than others.
We also have a champion film in our ranks that made the black horror community proud. “Get Out” was among the best films of 2017 and bagged the all-important Oscar award for the best screenplay. Then we have the award-winning, Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror which takes you on a trip to the history of black horror in America.
Horror most of the time is originated by the constant rejection and disregard by society, which forces an individual to carve out his bad side, the same is the case with tortured and racism-struck black people.
Essential Black Horror Movies of all times:
Bones(2001):
Initial Release - 26 October 2001
Director - Ernest Dickerson
Bones is an American black horror film that subsumes the characteristics of blacksploitation through the portrayal of a gangster who was murdered. The story of Bones is about a group of youngsters named Patrick, Bill, Tia, and Maurice who buy a rundown building to start a nightclub business. Little did they know about the dark reason for the building’s ruination. During the renovation of a building, a black dog wanders around the property which is the apparition of a respected gangster named Jimmy Bones who was betrayed and killed in 1979 by his own trusted fellows. Then comes the dark night of the opening event of the nightclub when Jimmy is fully resurrected and avenges his death.
Blade II (2002):
Initial Release - 22 March 2002
Director - Guillermo del Toro
The blade is an overly popular movie series that originated in Japan and gained worldwide fame over the years. Blade II is a 2002 Japanese movie and is a part of the Blade film series. It’s among the Best Japanese horror movies. The plot of the story fasts forwards after the events of the first film.
Blade, the lead character is in the quest of his mentor Abraham Whistler who was rumored to be turned into a vampire after he was attacked by the vampires. Then discovers about the Reaper virus spreading among the vampire community which generates the vampire mutation which is harmful to both humans and vampires. In the film Blade finds himself hustling and battling against the fierce animalistic vampires to save the human race from getting infected.
The Loved Ones (2009):
Initial Release - 13 September 2009
The Loved One is an Australian film that revolves around the life of a teenage boy named Brent. The story starts with Brent driving a car with his father and meets with an accident that causes his father to die. Months after the accident, Brent seems to date a girl but he is also suffering from self-mutilation caused out of guilt from the accident.
One evening, Blade thinks of committing suicide ner the hill bt changes his mind at the last moment when someone knocks him out on his way back. When Brent gains consciousness he finds himself in a dark room tied to a chair and learns that his classmate Lola and her father are the ones who abducted him. Lola injects the bleach into Brent’s voice box, but this is just the start.
Attack the Block(2011):
Initial Release - 12 March 2011
Director - Joe Cornish
Attack the Block is a British black comedy action horror film released in the year 2011.
Attack the Block is a movie with a simple plot consisting of petty teenage gangsters who thrive for their lives after regretting getting themselves involved with the alien invaders. The group consists of Moses, Dennis, Pest, Jerome, and Big. The game of run and chase start Moses and his gang to kill one of the alien creatures after the falling of a meteorite. Later, two other underground illegal dealers named Ron and Hi-Hatz get entailed with the chaos and are surrounded by alien creatures all over the place. If you are searching for the best horror movies of 2011 Click here for the list of the best horror movies.
The Alchemist Cookbook(2016):
Initial Release - 13 March 2016
Director - Joel Potrykus
Sean and his black magic tricks that he keeps pulling out of his hat are what you will get to witness in this movie. The black magic element in the film makes it even intense and gory to watch.
The Alchemist Cookbook is an American black horror thriller movie based on the concept of alchemy and black magic. The plot of the film is about a chemist Sean who lives alone in the forest with his cat. He spends all his time experimenting with chemicals learned from an old alchemy book.
Sean seems to have a mental illness for which he needs his pills. He has deepened himself in the experiments so much that soon he is unable to differentiate between the real and unreal. Sean sets a trap in the forest to summon a demon through his black magic transformed from alchemy practices.
Get Out(2017):
Initial Release - 24 January 2017
Director - Jordan Peele
As we mentioned in the opening lines of the blog that this movie got the Oscar for the best screenplay, this film largely pointed out racism in America. Get Out is an American black horror film based on the hypnosis theory.
The story concerns the character of a Black guy named Chris whose life becomes upside after he meets the parents of his white girlfriend. At the first meeting, Chris finds the family’s behavior suspicious. He gets a hypnosis session from his girlfriend’s mother who is a hypnotherapist. Later, at the family’s get-together party Chris learns a weird secret of the family who transplants brains of theirs into the black people in order to sustain immortality.
The First Purge(2018):
Initial Release - 4 July 2018
Director - Gerard McMurray
Enshrining the concept of a dystopian society, this movie was an instant success to the extent that we now have several installments of it. The movie is about an experiment that went wrong. The NFFA that is New Founding Fathers of America a powerful party governing the nation conducts an experiment in the hopes of establishing an ideal crime-free society. As a part of the experiment, they asked the participants to stay for 12 hours on Staten Island are free to purge in any way including murder in return for the prize money of $5000.
However, things don’t go as planned and the experiment backfires when the situation becomes worse after a recording of murderous events goes viral in the nation.
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror(2019):
Initial Release - 15 February 2019
Director - Xavier Neal-Burgin
Horror Noire is a documentary horror film which is an adaptation of Robin R. Means book that goes by the title of Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present. This film is more like a ‘ blast from the past’ covering everything that happened to blacks in American horror history. The film focuses on the history and development of the horror genre with the impact of Afro-American people. The film is informative about the roles played by Afro-Americans in horror films the kind of racism faced. Horror Noire is one of The essential black horror movies.
US(2019):
Initial Release - 22 March 2019
Director - Jordan Peele
The rise of doppelgangers could have been an alternative name to the movie because that’s what it is all about! The US is a 2019 supernatural horror film that follows the life story of a woman named Adelaide who goes on a vacation with her family consisting of two children and her husband. Adelaide is hesitant about the trip as she experiences haunted memories of her encounter with her doppelganger when she was little.
After the trip, she and her family are intruded on by a family of their doppelgangers dressed in red. They are then trapped by their doppelgangers but somehow free themselves and flee only to learn that the whole nation is that doppelgangers have appeared everywhere and are killing their counterparts. Adelaide and her family weren’t the only ones that got attacked, the entire country was under threat.
Black Box(2020):
Initial Release - 6 October 2020
Director - Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour
Black Box is a science fiction black horror film released on the OTT platform of Amazon Studios. The film tells the story of a man who goes by the name of Nolan. After meeting a car accident in which Nolan loses his wife, he also loses his memory which makes him delusional. He feels lost being a single father with no memory of it. Nolan is then forced to undergo an experimental treatment that lets him relive all his past memories in clear detail. While going through this, Nolan questions himself and his true self - identity.
