20 Black-led horror movies and TV shows

Antebellum is one of those Black-led horror films whose reach sometimes exceeds its grasp, but it is nevertheless a chilling movie, and it succeeds in large part thanks to the committed performance from Janelle Monáe. In this case, they portray Veronica Henley, who is kidnapped and forced to adopt the identity and position of an enslaved person in a Civil War reenactment park designed to reinstitute the Confederacy. Part The Village and part Get Out, Antebellum manages to be a horror film that has a great deal to say about how America’s troubled past continues to impinge on and hamstring both its present and its future.

Attack the Block perfectly combines comedic and horror elements into a delightful whole. Its story about a group of public housing teens who have to fight back against aliens is small in scale but all the more effective because of this. In addition to being entertaining in its own right, Attack the Block is notable for helping to raise the star status of John Boyega, who would, of course, go on to play a large part in  Star Wars as Finn.

Ryan Murphy is one of the most prolific creators in Hollywood, and his new series, which stars Niecy Nash-Betts, is the latest incarnation of his enduring interest in horror. Nash-Betts is, of course, perfectly cast as the detective charged with investigating a series of horrible events. The series quickly established itself as one of Murphy’s better offerings, and, like all good horror, it manages to take on some weighty issues, particularly regarding religious faith.

Master proves to be a perfect showcase for Regina King, who has repeatedly shown her remarkable versatility and comfort in psychological horror. In this film, she portrays Gail, the first Black president of a university in New England. However, she soon finds that her role is far more sinister and that the university is an inhospitable place for people of color.  Master digs deep into the issues that it raises, using the conventions of horror to interrogate the ongoing scourge of racism in America, in particular in its institutions of higher education.

Candyman manages to be frightening both because of the ideas at its core and its use of smart ideas in its storytelling. The film largely focuses on Virginia Madsen’s Helen Lyle, whose life becomes intertwined with the figure of the Candyman, a Black man who was lynched. It’s a fascinating and terrifying film in which American racial violence has a long and bloody aftermath. It remains a pivotal entry in the slasher canon, spawning several sequels and a remake.

Jordan Peele’s Us, like his feature film debut Get Out, is a horror film filled with big ideas and genuine terror. Lupita Nyong'o is truly extraordinary in the role of Adelaide, a young woman whose family is terrorized by a group of doppelgängers who invade their seemingly peaceful neighborhood and wreak havoc and death. There are numerous twists and turns in the story, and the final revelation forces the viewer to rethink the entire film they’ve just watched. The series’ internal mythology may raise more questions than it answers, but there’s no question the movie is another remarkable offering from one of today’s most skilled horror auteurs. 

Even though Octavia Spencer is best known for her more sympathetic roles, she showed her range in Ma, in which she plays Sue Ann "Ma" Ellington, whose seemingly benevolent exterior hides a sinister and murderous intent. Indeed, much of the film’s impact stems from Spencer’s performance and the way the role subverts her established star persona. So great is the power of her performance that one even comes to sympathize a bit with Sue Ann, despite the monstrous lengths to which she goes in an effort to expiate the damage to her psyche.  

Based on the novel by Matt Ruff, the HBO series Lovecraft Country  focuses largely on Jonathan Majors’ Atticus "Tic" Freeman and Jurnee Smollett’s Letitia "Leti" Lewis as they journey across the Jim Crow South and encounter horrors both of this world and out of it. The brilliance of the series, like its source material, is its ability and willingness to use horror to explore the real-life histories and traumas of America’s racist past. The story can be a bit convoluted and confusing at times, but it is still rewarding for those willing to stick with it.

George Romero essentially reinvented the zombie film with Night of the Living Dead. In addition to the unsettling horror of the zombies, the film is notable for including a Black lead, Duane Jones’ Ben. Even though, unlike so many other characters, he manages to survive until the end, he is ultimately shot by the police, who mistake him for being a reanimated corpse. It’s a jarring and tragic end, and his demise — and the burning of his corpse — is Romero’s bit of scattering commentary on the way the police state far too frequently brutalizes Black bodies.

Spike Lee has devoted his career to drawing attention to the numerous issues facing African-Americans. In 2014, he turned his attention to the horror genre in Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. Though it is a remake of an earlier film — Gānja & Hess — it has more than enough of the director’s style for his admirers to enjoy. Moody and haunting and deeply atmospheric, it’s a film that manages to succeed both on its terms and as an homage to the original, and Stephen Tyrone Williams gives a remarkable performance as Dr. Hess Greene, who becomes transformed into a vampire after being stabbed with an ancient dagger.

Many of the most notable examples of Black horror are to be found on the big screen, but the 2010s and 2020s have also seen a flourishing of small-screen terror. The series Them, for example, has explored the evil of racism that always seems to lurk in the American psyche. Though the first season is set during the 1950s and the second during the 1990s, both show how pervasive and enduring anti-Black racism is and remains, and this, in its own way, is even more terrifying than the supernatural events that are usually the source of fright.

From is one of those series that can be described in one word: ambitious. A skilled blend of drama, science fiction, and horror, it manages to continually add layers and complexities to its story. It’s all anchored by a strong performance by Harold Perrineau, who plays the sheriff of the small town at the heart of the story. It’s a show that always keeps the viewer guessing about just what’s going to happen next, even as it also manages to be deeply disturbing.

Lee Daniels might be best known for his skill at directing emotionally overwrought melodramas, but in The Deliverance, he turns his attention to the horror genre. The film largely focuses on Andra Day’s Ebony Jackson, a troubled but recovering alcoholic whose life is turned upside down by a sinister presence living in her house. The Deliverance veers wildly into camp during its second half. While it is not particularly scary, there’s still a lot of unintentional humor, particularly from its exorcism scenes.

Brandy delivers a terrific performance in The Front Room, which focuses on her character, a struggling mother and adjunct professor whose life becomes even more complicated when her husband’s racist stepmother, Solange (played by Kathryn Hunter), moves in with them. The film leans into the grotesque and the inherent terror of mother-and-daughter-in-law relations. While it does not hit every note as effectively as it wants to, it still manages to be gripping and disturbing.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the recent renaissance of Black-led horror films is the sheer diversity of genres in which creators work. The Blackening, for example, draws heavily on the conventions and tropes of the slasher film, ultimately using them in subversive ways to draw attention to the limitations of that genre. It’s not a particularly subtle movie, but the obvious affection between the friends and the whip-smart humor make it a brilliant horror parody.

Jordan Peele made his entry into horror filmmaking in a big way with Get Out.  Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris Washington, a young Black man whose visit to his girlfriend’s parents’ house turns into a true nightmare once it’s revealed they’re transplanting the brains of young Black people into the bodies of older white people. The brilliance of Get Out lies in its ability to be thought-provoking and terrifying, using the conventions of horror to probe the racist subconscious of American society. It also features a remarkable performance from Kaluuya, and the rest of the cast is uniformly excellent.

Jordan Peele turns his directorial eye to aliens in Nope, focusing on Daniel Kaluuya’s OJ Haywood Jr. and his sister, Keke Palmer’s Em, as they confront a terrifying alien creature lurking around their family farm. Like Peele’s other works, Nope is visually striking, deeply unnerving, and terrifyingly thought-provoking. It also features a remarkably frightening creature design and, thanks to Peele’s sharp sense of humor and the impeccable performances from its leading cast, it manages to be a horror film that stays with the viewer long after the credits roll.

Blacula, as its title implies, emerged during the Blaxploitation craze of the 1970s, and its center is the African prince Mamuwalde, who, unsurprisingly, is turned into a vampire by none other than Dracula himself. While its title has more than a little campiness, the film has its fair share of scares. Moreover, it’s a key piece of Black filmmaking that demonstrated an audience for Black-led horror films, particularly since it ended up being one of the year's highest-grossing films.

Black Box is an ambitious blend of family drama, horror, and science fiction, focusing on  Mamoudou Athie’s Nolan, who goes to Phylicia Rashad’s Dr. Brooks and tries to recover his memory after a car crash. There’s more to Dr. Brooks than meets the eye, however, and Nolan has to contend with her efforts to try to replace his consciousness with that of her dead son. Black Box, like the very best horror movies, knows that the best examples of the genre are those with genuine emotional stakes.

Tales from the Hood, as its title implies, is an anthology film with separate stories that use horror to explore actual social issues. Tales brilliantly blends elements of horror and comedy to draw much-needed attention to the problems affecting African-Americans, ranging from police brutality to gang violence. It might be more than a little corny — particularly from the point of view of 2024 — but this is precisely what makes it such a fun and sometimes genuinely disturbing film to watch.