Alternate Title – Welcome to the Blumhouse: Black as Night
Release Date:10/1/21; Amazon Prime Genre: Horror Rating: NR Director:Maritte Lee Go Studio(s):Amazon Studios, Blumhouse Productions, Amazon Prime Video
Story:Part of the Welcome to the Blumhouse series of horror films for Prime Video. A resourceful teenage girl leaves childhood behind when she battles a group of deadly vampires in Black as Night, an action-horror hybrid with a strong social conscience and a biting sense of humor. Fifteen years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, a new threat leaves its mark on the Big Easy in the form of puncture wounds on the throats of the city’s vulnerable displaced population. When her drug-addicted mom becomes the latest victim of the undead, 15-year old Shawna (Asjha Cooper) vows to even the score. Along with three trusted friends, Shawna hatches a bold plan to infiltrate the vampire’s mansion in the historic French Quarter, destroy their leader, and turn his fanged disciples back to their human form. But killing monsters is no easy task, and soon Shawna and her crew find themselves caught in a centuries-old conflict between warring vampire factions, each fighting to claim New Orleans as their permanent home. Source: bloody-disgusting. com.
Release Date:10/2/18; DVD, VOD Genre: Horror Rating:R Director(s):Rusty Cundieff, Darin Scott Studio(s): Universal 1440 Entertainment, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) Running Time: 111 mins. Cast: Keith David (Portifoy Simms), Bryan Batt (John Lloyd), Kedrick Brown (Booze), Alicia Davis Johnson (PollyAnnas Hockenbull), Creighton Thomas (Cliff Bettis). Story:Keith David is Mr. Simms, who will present four horrific stories of lust, greed, pride and politics through tales of demonic dolls, possessed psychics, vengeful vixens and historical ghosts. Mr. Simms’s haunting stories will make you laugh… while you scream. TALES FROM THE HOOD 2 is squarely in the tradition of outrageous, entertaining anthology horror, but it also addresses serious issues with a forceful point of view, just as folklore has done throughout history. Source: Dread Central.
Release Date: 10/16/16; Tallgrass Film Festival Genre:Drama Rating:NR Running Time: 92 mins. Director(s): Aaron Greer, Seth Panitch. Studio(s): Gettin’ Grown Productions, University of Alabama. Cast: Morgan Auld (Eli), Christopher Livingston (Michael), Lamman Rucker (Dr. Johnson), Keith David (Dean Holmes), Sydney Morton (Melanie), Nathan James
(ER Doctor).
Story:In 1967, both Eli Rosenberg and Michael Dubois have a problem. For Eli, only one medical school in the country will accept him: Meharry Medical College, an all-black medical school in Tennessee, a considerable distance from his life in Brooklyn, New York. For Michael, only one medical school in the country will do for him: Meharry Medical College, his successful father’s alma mater, and therefore his, whether he likes it or not.
Both Eli and Michael are outsiders from radically different backgrounds forced to work together inside the pressure cooker of medical school in the turbulent 1960s. At odds from the very moment they meet, Eli and Michael not only clash with each other, they battle the indecipherable mysteries of medicine, two warring professors, and a student body warily distrustful of both of them. Ultimately, it is upon the anvil of riot and revolution on the day of Dr. King’s assassination, that each must answer the question that has haunted them from the beginning: is a physician, a healer, in service of self, or is their true calling “Service to Man?”
Inspired by a true story.Source(s): servicetoman.com, official site; IMDB.
Status: Pre-Production Release Date: TBA Genre: Biography/Historical/Drama Rating: Unknown Studio(s):TMG Entertainment Running Time: 120 mins. Director: Bill Duke
Cast: Blair Underwood (Nat Turner), Keith David (Nathanial), Eric Roberts (Captain Hunt), Mindy Robinson (Mary Barrows), Mike Epps (Nelson), Kym Whitley (Momma Bridgette), Lester Speight (Hark), Todd Bridges (Jack Waller), LisaRaye McCoy (Esther), Kendrick Lamar (Young Nat Turner).
Details: On 3/6/15, the Daily Film Forum reported Blair Underwood to star as Nat Turner. Robinson Squared announces Nat Turner | Story of a Prophet, set to star Blair Underwood as Nat Turner, Lester Speight as Hark, Keith David as Nathanial Turner and Kendrick Lamar as the young Nat Turner. Bridging generational gaps and historical divides to tell the true story of this man of God that has been perceived by many as a diabolical religious fanatic is written and produced by the award-winning filmmaker Kenya Cagle.
Cagle with his passion for filmmaking and creative literary mind has aligned forces with Bruce L. Turner, one of the descendants of the Nat Turner family to bring the amazing talents of Blair Underwood, Lester Speight, Keith David, Kendrick Lamar and a host of other Black Hollywood stars to feature in the new motion picture Nat Turner | Story of a Prophet based on the best-selling, top-rated screenplay novel written by award-winning filmmaker to highlight the facts that the textbooks seem to omit. This film is about the greatest slave insurrection in United States history and will be directed by Hollywood veteran director Bill Duke.
Nat Turner led an insurrection that changed the course of American History and African American pride. This is not only a story from historical court records and books on the subject matter, but actually features elements from oral family history that Cagle received while interviewing Turner’s descendants. Source(s): Daily Film Forum; IMDB. Book Cover: Official Facebook Page
Details Year of Release: 2011
Direct-to-Video Genre: Horror /Thriller Rating: Unrated Runtime: 1 hr., 24 mins. Studio: Image Entertainment Director: Robert O’Hara
A New Meaning to Blood Relatives
Cast
Rochelle Aytes (Lily), Golden Brooks (Karen), Keith David (Uncle Melvin), D. B. Woodside (Henry), Darrin Dewitt Henson (Tyrone), Shawn Michael Howard (Simpson), André De Shields (Uncle Grady), Lanre Idewu (Chakabazz), Adriane Lenox (Felicia), Edward Nattenberg (Martin), Novella Nelson (Aunt Bee), Jenny Weaver (Julie)
Synopsis Five cousins, Karen, Henry, Lily, Tyrone, and Simpson, have been summoned by “The Elders” in their family for an impromptu family reunion at a remote mansion in the snowy woods. With the exception of Karen, a successful doctor who desires some family bonding time, the cousins assume they will soon receive their share of the family fortune, which dates back several generations. In particular, Simpson, hopes to make a business deal with The Elders and has brought along his bosses, a white couple named Martin and Julie.
Upon arriving at the mansion, the cousins learn that The Elders will not join them until the next day. Their mysterious Uncle Melvin thoughtfully provides a case of wine and a bag of weed. That night everyone is having a good time until Lily, seemingly possessed, goes into a wild dance then freaks out when she finds a bloody message, “the flesh is the strength” written on a window. After calming Lily down, everybody goes to bed. Later, as Martin and Julie are about to have sex, Julie is murdered and Martin disappears.
When Aunt Felicia arrives, she attempts to warn Lily about the family’s ties to the occult and the ominous events that lie ahead.
Eventually The Elders show up. Eccentric and clad in African attire, they sit the cousins down and Uncle Melvin tells them the family history. Centuries earlier, Chakabazz, a prophet and slave with supernatural abilities, promised his followers that he would lead them out of bondage and provide them with wealth as long as they offered him their children. He spares one child so the family line can continue, and proclaims that this blood sacrifice must continue with each generation. Back then, tradition was paramount, but today the cousins don’t take this story seriously, and wonder about their share of the family fortune.
After the meeting with The Elders, cell phones stop working, doors start locking and the cousins realize that they are to be the next sacrifices to Chakabazz. Karen takes a bath, falls asleep and dreams of having sex with Chakabazz. African warriors begin attacking the cousins. Lily tries to escape by car, only to crash into a tree. When the others reach her, they find the body of Martin in the back seat.
Running blindly through the woods, the cousins stumble upon a bonfire where The Elders are calling Chakabazz to claim their sacrifice.
Eventually, only Karen and Simpson make it back to the mansion, and while Simpson tries to contact the outside world on his laptop, Karen, influenced by Chakabazz, kills him with an ax blow to the head.
Source(s): Entertainment Guide, Geektyrant.com, Rotten Tomatoes, Eurweb, The Examiner, HK and Cult Film News, Heroic Times, Films Critic United, Needcoffee.com. Photos: Moviemansguide.com, The Ringmaster’s Realm; IMDB.
Black Cinema Connection 