Black Film Archive Selects #1: Spectacular Spooks
Get your Black film chills and thrills just in time for Halloween.
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This week marks two months of Black Film Archive (!) To celebrate, I’m introducing the first edition of Black Film Archive’s monthly curated selects. Each month, I’ll highlight some films on blackfilmarchive.com worth your time and attention. With Halloween quickly approaching, let’s discuss two films that are spooky and spectacular.
Abby (1974)
“Abby doesn’t need a man anymore, the devil is her lover now!” reads the tagline of this 1974 Blaxploitation horror.
Abby (Carol Speed) is a recently married marriage counselor and preacher’s wife whose life of picture-perfect piety is turned upside down after she’s possessed by a demon of sexuality that her father-in-law (William Marshall, “Blacula”) excised while working on an astrological dig in Africa. As the demon’s influence grows, so does Abby’s sexual dalliances. Dr. Williams, her father-in-law, rushes to perform an emergency exorcism. Can Williams save her soul?
“Abby” is memorable as it wades the perfect balance between spine-chilling and unintentional humor with grooves, moves, and perfectly rounded 70 ‘fros.
Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled (1918)
“Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled” is a horror-comedy short produced by the short-lived Ebony Film Corporation that tells the story of a young man’s scheme to sell a fake mummy to win the girl he loves. Through the swirls of nitrate decomposition, this early slapstick comedy shines for its delightful humor and storytelling.
Are you looking for even more Black horror in the Archive? I’ve collected them for you here. Happy Halloween!