Cinebago’s new series at the Northwest Film Forum, hosted by “Oprah of the Underworld” Isabella L. Price, pairs burlesque and scary movies. Ganja and Hess, Bill Gunn’s 1973 vampire thriller starring Night of the Living Dead’s Duane Jones, is the most critically appreciated of the series and the most interesting from the point of view of race. Per Price: “The main character is almost terrified of enjoying sex because that would give in to the stereotype of the hypersexual black man. Both characters are dealing with the perception of what white culture views black people to be, but the vampirism is a way for them to be free of that fear.” If horror reflects our terrors and traumas, it can also embody our best hopes—albeit sometimes in a negative cast.

Read the full article here. by Joule Zelman