A little bit of melanin in the undead wouldn’t hurt…
Quick! Name a mainstream Black vampire movie (and no, I’ve already mentioned that one above)! It’s not your fault if you can’t: Black folks have often been excluded from fantasy and horror, particularly in the realm of vampire mythology. Even when we are included, it’s extremely rare to see us as protagonists or having a large role within these films.
The Blaxploitation Era
Blaxploitation films, popularized in the early 1970s, were created and aimed at the Black audience. The subgenre contained many subtypes such as crime, action/martial arts, and even musicals such as Sparkle. The concept of horror and vampirism was later introduced in 1972 with the movie Blacula, a film that is often condemn by it’s era. Besides the controversial stereotypes portrayed by the film (and honestly, by the entire subgenre), it paved the way for a few more Black vampire films in the 90s and 00s.
Women in vampire movies…where are they?
I remember waking up at 3 in the morning one day with a cold sweat and the TV was still on. Normally, a Nick at Nite show would be playing (or if it was a Sunday — a random pastor on BET would be yelling from my TV screen), but this time, the channel was on SyFy. Still dazed and confused, I tried my best to figure out what movie was playing and once I was fully awake, it caught my interest. The film was Queen of the Damned and the particular scene playing was when (spoiler alert) vampire queen Akasha (played by the late singer Aaliyah) enters a nightclub, torches it and kills all the vampires inside. Something about the beginning of that scene as she walks through and everyone stops and stares was mesmerizing to me. Seeing such a powerful, sensual, mystical black woman in film made me want to search for more.
[Not] To my surprise, I couldn’t find much. To my knowledge, only 1 other vampire film has featured a Black woman in a significant role: Angela Bassett in Vampire in Brooklyn.
What to expect from Black directors and filmmakers within the subgenre
The lack of representation in fantasy and horror has prompted several Black filmmakers to share their own stories. One particular movie discussed in the course is Suicide by Sunlight, a film about Valentina, a Black vampire who is a daywalker. Daywalkers are protected by the sun during the day due to their melanin. The film is a nice refresher from others in the genre, not only for its representation, but also its deviation from usual romanticism or one dimensional character(s). It is worth the watch and hopefully, we can see more films like this in the future.
