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Artist’s Black History Month Portrait Series Spotlights Black Horror Icons
Celebrating Black History Month in his own way, artist Francesco Francavilla has been doing something pretty awesome over on Twitter this whole month. Each day of February thus far, Francavilla has paid tribute to a different black horror icon, drawing up portraits of each while also highlighting their accomplishments within the genre.
The artist kicked things off with Noble Johnson on February 1st, an actor/entrepreneur who “starred in early horror classic like The Mummy and King Kong.”
Subsequently, Francavilla has paid tribute to Rosalind Cash (The Omega Man), William Marshall (Blacula), Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead), Danai Gurira (“The Walking Dead”), Bernie Casey (Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde), Marki Bey (Sugar Hill), Wesley Snipes (Blade), Marlene Clark (Ganja & Hess), Keith David (The Thing), Grace Jones (Vamp), Eugene Clark (Land of the Dead), Rae Dawn Chong (Tales from the Darkside), Laurence Fishburne (Event Horizon), Angela Bassett (Vampire in Brooklyn), Benjamin Sherman Crothers (The Shining), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later), Percy Rodrigues (“his voice-over on horror movie trailers – Jaws, The Exorcist– made him The Voice of Horror,” Francavilla notes), Jada Pinkett (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight), Bolaji Badejo (Alien) and Kevin Peter Hall (Predator).
Check out some highlights below and be sure to follow Francesco Francavilla for more!
NOBLE JOHNSON
Just like Chaney, Noble was an actor of 1,000 faces. He starred in early horror classic like THE MUMMY & KING KONG & was also an entrepreneur, founding his own studio to produce movies made for the African-American audience #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHorrorMonth #Day1 pic.twitter.com/4XkaHRaMc6— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 1, 2019
WILLIAM MARSHALL With his imposing 6,5 ft height and a deep bass voice (he was also a opera singer), William Marshall was the perfect choice for the leading role of Blaxploitation’s very first (& very successful) Horror: BLACULA! (1972) #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHorrorMonth #Day3 pic.twitter.com/DqOMO5sRvU
— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 3, 2019
DUANE JONES
Fist African-American in a non-ethnic lead in US major motion picture (1968′s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD). Also the 1st a black actor had a starring role in a horror film. Big thanks to Maestro Romero for this perfect casting #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHorrorMonth #Day4 pic.twitter.com/3ZpJdxGoly— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 4, 2019
DANAI GURIRA
One of the most badass black characters (if not THE most badass of all!) in the Horror genre, @DanaiGurira not only kicks butts as Michonne in @WalkingDead_AMC but also as Okoye in the history-making @theblackpanther movie! #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHorrorMonth #Day5 pic.twitter.com/B4ijpjXfPi— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 6, 2019
WESLEY SNIPES
Long before @TheBlackPanther, another @Marvel black superhero jumped off the comic pages onto the big screen w/ 3 great horror movies (one directed by @RealGDT ) from 1998 to 2004: BLADE! Starring @wesleysnipes (we miss ya) #BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth #Day8 pic.twitter.com/9NXFaIFxqW— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 9, 2019
GRACE JONES
Long before FROM DUSK TIL DAWN there was another night club run by vampires: VAMP (1986). Put together 80s horror and the charismatic, multitalented, vampiric @Miss_GraceJones and you get a guaranteed entertainment! #BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth #Day11 pic.twitter.com/RpCuivv37F— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 12, 2019
BENJAMIN SHERMAN CROTHERS
Scatman (as he was known in the industry) Crothers was not only the voice of Scat Cat in THE ARISTOCATS & Jazz the Autobot in TRANSFORMERS, but also the telepathic head chef at the Overlook Hotel in THE SHINING #BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth #Day16 pic.twitter.com/OkaRYIUDhg— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 17, 2019
JADA PINKETT@jadapsmith stars as a demon slayer in highly entertaining little cult horror TALES FROM THE CRYPT PRESENTS: DEMON KNIGHT, directed by black director Ernest Dickerson in 1995. Jada returned to horror in 1997 with SCREAM 2 #BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth #Day19 pic.twitter.com/tFchj8R7BU
— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 20, 2019
BOLAJI BADEJO
Before @actordougjones @benfransham @martimatulis & co there was 6’10” Nigerian actor/artist Bolaji Badejo giving life to what became an icon of not just horror and sci-fi but movies in general: Ridley Scott’s ALIEN (1979) #BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth #Day19 pic.twitter.com/UworfA4Hr6— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 21, 2019
KEVIN PETER HALL
After ALIEN, I had to go w/ another icon of the Horror/SciFi movie genre: PREDATOR, 1987! Played by 7’2″ gentle giant Kevin Peter Hall, who also played the beloved bigfoot Harry in HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS, among others#BlackHorrorMonth #BlackHistoryMonth #Day21 pic.twitter.com/V4fGcd8ljE— FrancescoFrancavilla (@f_francavilla) February 22, 2019
Exclusives
‘Dead Mail’ Exclusive Images: SXSW Horror Movie Begins With a Blood-Stained Postal Box Delivery
One of the genre films we’re looking forward to checking out at SXSW this year is Dead Mail, written and directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy and premiering on March 9.
Meagan Navarro will be reviewing Dead Mail for Bloody Disgusting as part of her SXSW coverage, and she writes in her preview for the upcoming fest: “Dead Mail leans heavily into the ’80s analog aesthetic, delivering a unique crime thriller unafraid to get offbeat with its dark narrative. Expect its characters to be as atypical as Dead Mail‘s sense of style.”
In the SXSW 2024 horror film…
“On a desolate, Midwestern county road, a bound man crawls towards a remote postal box, managing to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help message into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the county post office and onto the desk of Jasper, a seasoned and skilled “dead letter” investigator, responsible for investigating lost mail and returning it to its sender. As he investigates further, Jasper meets Trent, a strange yet unassuming man who has taken up residence at the men’s home where Jasper lives.
“When Trent unexpectedly shows up at Jasper’s office, it becomes clear he has a vested interest in the note, and will stop at nothing to retrieve it…”
Sterling Macer, Jr., John Fleck, Susan Priver, Micki Jackson, Tomas Boykin, and Nick Heyman star in Dead Mail. Preview the film with an exclusive image gallery below.
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