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Arts & Culture

Rants and Raves: Black History and Women in Horror

Paul Robeson in Oscar Micheaux's "Body and Soul."
Criterion
Paul Robeson in Oscar Micheaux's "Body and Soul."

Check Out the Month-Long Celebration on Facebook

Each month I try to focus on a theme for the Cinema Junkie Facebook page. This month I will be highlighting films and artists for Black History Month and Women in Horror Recognition Month.

There are so many great films and talented people to celebrate in African American cinema that I thought posting clips and links on my Cinema Junkie Facebook page would be the best place to do that. I will have daily links highlighting talented black artists like pioneering filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. I am sad to say that I have never seen any of his films in their entirety, only clips that offer a tantalizing taste of the treasures to be found in the complete works. Here is a video tribute to Micheaux that I found on YouTube.

Montage: Tribute to Oscar Micheaux

February is also Women in Horror Recognition month thanks to blogger and horror maven Hannah Neuarotica who threw down the gauntlet and said let's devote a month to celebrating the women in front of and behind the camera in the dark and delicious genre that is horror. SO I had to get behind that. All month long I will be highlighting women who have made a mark in horror beginning with early scream queen Fay Wray (of "King Kong") and original Goth girl Elsa Lancaster (of "The Bride of Frankenstein") and moving on to women in power behind the scenes like the late Debra Hill (producer of "Halloween" and "The Dead Zone") and the very much alive and kicking Elizabeth Avellan (producer of "Planet Terror").

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Trailer: 'Sugar Hill'

So I hope you will join me for this month-long tribute to black cinema and women in horror... and I think there are even a few films that will provide a crossover between the two like the above "Sugar Hill."