Saturday, February 12, 2011

The Top 5 Urban Horror Movies

One of the major categories that I appreciate in horror is blaxploitation, and while some people say that has passed us by, I say it is alive and well. I recently was given a copy of "Black Santa's Revenge" and that my friends is living proof that the Urban Horror market is alive and well.

I'm not black, but I have African American (black) friends and they love horror movies with "brothers and sisters" cast in leading roles. I for one am hoping that people do Mexploitation films because I feel like my people aren't represented well in horror,but I digress.

Here are the Scary Film Blog's top 5 Urban Horror Movies:

blacula

5. Blacula - While I haven't done a full review of this one, it's a favorite of mine none the less. This 1972 film is a shining example of taking a good horror formula and making it for an African American audience. I loved it, and I love the sequel, it's a shining example of Urban Horror in an era that would allow you to say a lot more in film, not necessarily show more. There are some lines in this vampire tale that you can't get away with today, because film makers are far more "pc" than I'd like them to be.

wes craven people

4. The People Under the Stairs - This 1991 film really made some great box office hysteria when it came out. I happened to remember fondly going to the movie theater and waiting in line, hearing my friends say stuff like, "I can't wait to see The People Up Under Them Stairs" as if that was the title of the movie. Sure, it's a Wes Craven film but Ving Rhames takes center stage when he has to fight flesh-eaters from beyond! Or if not beyond, under them stairs!

bones dvd

3. Bones - I have no idea how anyone would think that Snoop Dogg is a great actor, but he somehow made his way into a great urban horror movie with this better than expected piece of work. Bones is a 70's gangster movie trapped in a horror package and despite some terrible lines and stupid decisions by the characters in the film, there is a great deal of finesse and care taken to bring you a new scary piece of urban horror. If you haven't seen this one, watch out for Pam Grier, she's still hot.

def by temptation

2. Def by Temptation - I recently reviewed this one, and despite not being a great film, it has a lot of key moments that made me rethink the whole urban horror tag. Samuel L. Jackson is in it, which is one major reason to see it, but there is enough scary points to make you question your own reality. If ever there was a reason why young men should stay away from hot women, it's this one, man, I'm scared of any bar where hot chicks are hanging out. Then again, I'm scared of bars anyways, because I'm a nerd and a horror geek with a crazy imagination.

tales from the hood

1. Tales From The Hood - The best of the genre, is not even a new film. This anthology horror film is one of my favorite horror films of all time. It features several stories that will scare you to death. Of course my favorite is the abusive father story as it is something that I had to go through in my life, well stepfather, but still, this movie packs a serious punch and it is worth checking out. If you haven't seen it, you're just missing out on a tremendous opportunity to see some great, slick Urban horror.

There you have it folks, my top 5 Urban horror films. Of course, I've seen far more blaxploitation than the average person, and while there are a lot of films that I could've shoe horned in here, I decided to go with these 5. Obviously, we can argue what is better and what is worse, but since no one really reads this site and comments enough, I'll have to take my list and run with it, until someone comes up with more movies.

NO, Ax'Em is not going to grace my lists, unless I do a "worst" horror movie list. But even Ax'Em with all the terrible things I've seen with it, isn't the worst film ever made...and NO Troll2 isn't the worst either...trust me, you don't want to see what I've seen...because I've seen the worst, worst than you can ever hope to imagine. Maybe I'll do a list later...just not now, I'm going to go and play scrabble (aka words with friends) by myself, because i have no friends.

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