You never have to wait until Halloween to press play on a good horror movie marathon — a day like Friday the 13th is a good reason to, if you ask us! From classic slasher franchises that never get old, to new age thrillers carving out a fresh legacy in horror film history, you’ve got more than enough options out there to get anyone hooting and hollering well into Mischief Night or any time you deem it to be spooky season.
Take a look below at a few recent faves that feature Black actors in the main cast, specifically to get your binge jumpstarted:
RELATED: 10 Black Horror Movie Characters That Really Let Down The Culture
When considering the history of Black characters in horror films, we’ve admittedly not always been seen in the best light — we’re barely seen to the end of the film, if we’re being honest! There have been a few occasions when the savior of the day happens to be Black, or at the very least one of us made sure to be one of the smarter characters in the film. However, there’s a whole other side of the scary movie spectrum when someone of our culture ends up being the big bad of the night. While it isn’t a common practice to root for the killer, you can’t help but give a guilty pleasure salute to the handful of Black villains in cinematic history for making it look oh-so good to be bad.
From a few vampire queens to not one, but two iterations of the infamous classic killer Candyman, we put together a list of the best Black horror movie villains to scare their way across the big screen.
Not for nothing, but we’re scared of you!
Keep scrolling to see who we chose, and let us know who your favorite Black horror movie villains are:
1. Prince Mamuwalde aka Blacula in Blacula (1972)
Played by:
William Marshall
2. Dr. Hess Green in Ganja & Hess (1973)
Played by:
Duane Jones
3. Dr. Henry Pride aka Hyde in Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)
Played by:
Bernie Casey
4. Katrina in Vamp (1986)
Played by:
Grace Jones
5. Temptress in Def by Temptation (1990)
Played by:
Cynthia Bond
6. Candyman in Candyman (1992)
Played by:
Tony Todd
7. Maximillian in Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
Played by:
Eddie Murphy
8. Mr. Simms in Tales from the Hood (1995)
Played by:
Clarence Williams III
9. Vampire Vanessa in Blade (1998)
Played by:
Sanaa Lathan
10. Jimmy Bones in Bones (2001)
Played by:
Snoop Dogg
12. Red/Adelaide Thomas in Us (2019)
Played by:
Lupita Nyong’o
13. Sue Ann in Ma (2019)
Played by:
Octavia Spencer
14. Ms. Eloise in Spell (2020)
Played by:
Loretta Devine
15. Anthony McCoy, aka The New Candyman in Candyman (2021)
Played by:
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Best Of The Baddest: Black Horror Movie Villains We Love To Hate
was originally published on
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