Have you ever watched a scary movie with a significant black character in it and prayed he or she didn’t die first?! Well, of course you have. But the black guy dies first stigma hasn’t always been the case for a few famous black actors and actresses who managed to smartly survive or butt-kick their way through to the end of many horror sub-genres.
In celebration of Halloween, MadameNoire is highlighting black actors (and their characters) who made it in popular horror films… sometimes as the lead! Black viewers of these films didn’t have to scream at the screen for unnecessarily killing off the brother or sister — thinking, “he or she could’ve made it.”
Keith David, The Thing (1982)
To kick off our list is David who became one of the first black horror film survivors in a significant role. This is a pretty big deal since before the 1980s all we had were black exploitation horror films re-imaging horror film classics like Blacula (1972), Blackenstein (1973) and Abby (1974), which was sued for being a ripoff of The Exorcist (1973). But David played a different kind of role as Childs, a chief mechanic of U.S. Outpost 31 in Antarctica. He survived “the thing” infestation along with MacReady (Kurt Russell).
Shavar Ross, Friday the 13th: The New Beginning (1985)
During a marathon of watching the Friday the 13th series about a decade ago, I thought to myself, “there’s a little black boy (Ross played Reggie) in part five. He’s a kid; they can’t off him.” Then, I remembered he’s still black and the characters in part three in this series didn’t stick around too long. In fact, a few more were killed in this sequel (SPOILER) including some of Reggie’s family members. But even though this film features a copycat killer right before Jason Lives (1986), at least he was one of the few who made it. And he did a pretty good job at playing the scared child part too.
Kelly Jo Minter, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
It’s definitely not the best film or sequel in the series, but it’s notable for keeping a sister alive. Minter played Yvonne, the best friend part to the lead scream queen. But for some reason after a little torture from Freddy Krueger, she survives and helps save the day too. But maybe her survival was to make up for killing off Kincaid (Ken Sagoes) FIRST in A Night on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) after he survived A Night on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).
Brandon Quintin Adams, The People Under the Stairs (1991)
Not only did Adams survive this Wes Craven horror flick, he was the lead actor and a black child actor at that. Adams played Poindexter “Fool” Williams, a young black male with aspirations to become a doctor someday whose family is facing eviction from evil slumlords in LA. After breaking an entering the slumlord’s home with two adults, Fool makes gruesome discoveries about his slumlords and what’s hiding in the basement. The film has gone on to become a cult classic, a box office hit and one of Craven’s best.
Jada Pinkett-Smith, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Jada Pinkett-Smith (without the Smith during these days) was on top of her Black Hollywood game in the 1990s after many starring roles. But before she was slaughtered at the beginning of Scream 2 while somehow getting her credit and face on the movie’s posters, she starred as a lead in another horror film. In this cult classic she played Jeryline on work release at a boarding house with other townsfolk when the collector arrives with demons. Not only does she kick some butt, but she’s the sole survivor of the film.
Angela Bassett, Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
OK, so Vampire in Brooklyn is not your standard slasher or gory horror flick, but it still has a body count along with many comedic moments. This is a cult black horror film classic starring Bassett and Eddie Murphy — who were both on top of Black Hollywood’s thrones at the time. Bassett played Det. Rita Veder who turns out to be a half-vampire and almost mate of Murphy’s Maximilian, a Caribbean vampire.
Ice Cube, Anaconda (1997)
Ugh, like Indiana Jones, “I hate snakes!” Creature features are the worst and by the worst I mean the scariest. But after Ice Cube’s character Danny got over there being snakes that big, he (along with Jennifer Lopez) battle his way through bone-crushing snakes and a villain for survival.
Duane Martin, Scream 2 (1997)
Now Martin’s character Joel never actually encountered face-to-face or knife-to-body the Ghostface killer, but he kept it so real in this movie he had to be on this list. I mean, just look at this viral photo above. Joel represents how black people would react to horror situations in real life — as this was a movie within a movie. He refused to get gutted or slashed like Gail Weathers’ (Courtney Cox) previous cameraman, and he got the heck out of dodge and survived.
LL Cool J, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
LL Cool J survived two horror films in the later 1990s. He survived the 20th anniversary Halloween (1978) sequel and a creature feature, Deep Blue Sea (1999). But in the former, LL Cool J played Ronny, a security guard, who escapes Michael Myers by getting accidentally grazed with a bullet from a soon-to-be victim.
Loretta Devine, Urban Legend (1998)
Devine played Reese Wilson who admires Pam Grier’s 70s black exploitation films. After getting shot in order to save the day from a vengeful psycho using urban legends to kill off college students, she kind of did — even though she was called a rent-a-cop. She’s still considered a whole lot of woman, if you ask me.
Brandy Norwood, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Brandy who played Karla was supposed to die in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, but as a popular teen idol it makes sense this was changed. According to IMDB.com, the fate of Karla’s was switched with Nancy’s played by Jennifer Esposito. SPOILER ALERT: Instead, Nancy dies when picking up the first aid kit, and Karla survives. As a kid before watching the film, my main concern was seeing my teen idol in a horror film and watching her get slaughtered. And I always loved scary movies! But I understood, black people didn’t usually make it; it was triumphant to see her play dead and show up at the end of the film beat up, but breathing.
Taye Diggs, House on Haunted Hill (1999)
Diggs starred as the male lead in this horror classic’s remake. He played Eddie Baker, one of six strangers who had to make through the night of a haunted house in order to win some dough. He made it alright!
Rah Digga, Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
She’s another one who kept it real. Rah Digga played Maggie Bess, the nanny of a family invited to an inherited mansion full of ghosts. But at the end, she survived by staying the heck out of the haunted’s way and called out white people as crazy and yelled, “I QUIT!’ I don’t blame her; I would too.
Busta Rhymes, Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Busta Rhymes is the other brother (and rapper) to make it out alive in a Halloween sequel. He played Freddie Harris who karate chops (or whatever he was doing to fight off Michael Myers) his way to survive.
Naomie Harris, 28 Days Later (2002/2003)
Another sister got to kick some butt and survive. 28 Days Later is what put Naomie Harris on the map. And her character, Selena, is no typical scream queen. She did anything she could to survive after the zombie outbreak.
Halle Berry, Gothika (2003)
Berry played crazy oh so well. It turns out her character, Dr. Miranda Grey, wasn’t the crazy one after all. It was her husband played by Charles S. Dutton. This suspense thriller is still well… suspenseful and creepy enough for more characters to have been offed or to have a different fate for our lead actress, but Berry at the height of her game and after winning her Oscar, survived.
Sanaa Lathan, AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
In this photo, Lathan’s character Alexa Woods looks scared poopless. As she should, since she’s cornered by an alien. But Woods — like any heroine — stops being a scream queen and victim, and starts kicking butt for her survival. She even teams up with the Predator to stop the aliens.
Morris Chestnut, The Cave (2005)
I bet you a lot of the ladies were happy to see this brother make it. I mean, it’s not like he could make it out of the hood as a star athlete and scholar in Boyz n the Hood (1990), LA’s horror or the sequel to Anaconda. But in this horror flick, he played a diver named Top Buchanan, who survives bloodthirsty creatures in a dark and creepy cave. One of many places a brother should not go.
