Ernest R. Dickerson
In this Shudder Original series, master filmmakers and genre experts celebrate and dissect the most terrifying moments of the greatest horror films ever made, exploring how these scenes were created and why they burned themselves into the brains of audiences around the world.
Severin Films chief David Gregory and House Of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse query a global roster of more than 60 horror writers, directors and scholars that include Eli Roth, Joe Dante, Mark Hartley, Mick Garris, Ernest Dickerson, Joko Anwar, Ramsey Campbell, David DeCoteau, Kim Newman, Jovanka Vuckovic, Luigi Cozzi, Tom Savini, Jenn Wexler, Larry Fessenden, Richard Stanley, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Brian Yuzna, Gary Sherman, Rebekah McKendry and Peter Strickland in a candid discussion of the very best portmanteaus in fright film/TV history. The film leads us from the very first examples of the anthology film in early cinema, right up to the present day - without forgetting of course the endearing impact that the likes of Vincent Price and Peter Cushing had in creating some of the most memorable classic films ever made.
Revealing, intimate documentary spotlighting the Hollywood horror community.
The untold history of Black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre, delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them. Robin Means Coleman’s seminal book presents the living and the dead, using new and archival interviews from scholars and creators.
A unique portrait of how art and activism for black people in film are indivisible from race and cinema.
Double Play is about anolder man named Ostrik who returns to Curaçao and his childhood after many years abroad. Ostrik reminisces about 1973 and the events surrounding a game his father played which had major consequences for Ostrik’s youth. The dramatic poverty and colourful landscapes provide the background for the leads who represent Curaçao’s melting pot: a story of pride and humiliation, money and love, ambition and hope.
Documentary about veteran character actor Dick Miller, whose career in and outside of Hollywood has spanned almost 200 films across six decades, featuring a diverse range of interviews with directors, co-stars, and contemporaries.
Abby Collins's quiet life as a wife and mother shows no trace of her past work as a military special-ops expert -- until the day her husband is kidnapped. With no alternative, Abby must resort to her long-dormant lethal skills to save her spouse.
On the evening of Sept. 7, 1996, Mike Tyson, the WBC heavyweight champion, attempted to take Bruce Seldon’s WBA title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At this point in his career, Tyson’s fights had become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon, where the ever present hype of the professional boxing scene would come face to face with the worlds of big business, Hollywood, and hip hop. Sitting ringside was controversial rapper Tupac Shakur. Shakur and Tyson were friends, a feeling of kinship linked them as each rose to stardom from poverty only to be thrown in prison. Following Tyson’s victory, Shakur and “Iron Mike” were to celebrate at an after party, but the rap star never arrived. Shakur was brutally gunned down later that night, and the scene in Las Vegas quickly turned from would-be celebratory revelry to ill fated and inopportune tragedy.
In this documentary directed by Spike Lee, he interviews the cast and crew of his 1989 film DO THE RIGHT THING. It also includes footage from a twentieth-anniversary screening of the film.
A strange creature is brought into an animal clinic. Nobody can identify the beast, but when it bites the veterinarian seconds before it dies something starts to change within him.
A look at the visual design of the film The Shining (1980).
An overview of the making of, and a look at the continuing popularity of, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
Their town always had two proms, one for the whites and one for the blacks. When both proms wanted the same DJ, Brianna McCallister suggested combining the proms, which would also mean more money for decorations. However, her idea shook the town up, especially after a white student was let off for the same offense that a black student was suspended for. Can the town overcome racial tensions and finally combine the two proms?
A tribute to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, featuring contemporary filmmakers, writers, performers, and cultural critics.
Two curious teenage boys break into an old mortuary looking for thrills, only to find themselves stalked by a former teacher who is a very real vampire looking to increase the ranks of the undead.
A short documentary about the making of Spike Lee's biopic, 'Malcolm X'.
Current filmmakers such as Ridley Scott and George Lucas reflect on the importance and influence of the epic classic "Ben-Hur".
Miracle's Boys is a six-part miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Jacqueline Woodson, shown on The N in February 2005. The series was directed by Neema Barnette, LeVar Burton, Ernest R. Dickerson, Bill Duke, and Spike Lee and was filmed on-site in Harlem, New York. It also includes a theme song by rapper Nas.
Set in the 1970s, Tom Spader is an attorney who is determined to end what he has dubbed "the colored man's losing streak." When his winning of a high-profile case thrusts him into the limelight, he decides to moves his wife and their two kids out of their mixed lower-middle-class town and into the posh enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut.
The early years of a television sports powerhouse are chronicled as ABC becomes a player in the NFL coverage by putting their full resources into a major showcase. Executive Roone Arledge (John Heard) recruits former Dallas Cowboys quarterback 'Dandy' Don Meredith (Brad Beyer), along with Keith Jackson (Shuler Hensley), and the combative Howard Cosell (John Turturro) as commentators for the broadcasts, which become funny, odd trio events to millions of viewers. Jackson departs the show after the first year to take over the network's focus on college football, and former New York Giants star Frank Gifford (Kevin Anderson) takes his place, ruffling Cosell's feathers. Then things get really crazy!
Moyher's good boy Benny Silman from Brooklyn becomes an economics student at Arizona State University for the sun and sexy girls- and the proximity of gambling paradise Las Vegas. Benny aces his studies, being a mathematical genius, but the one who earns money from him at sports is bookie Troy, who however recruits him as subcontractor, making a few thousand for himself. The next year Benny starts for himself, with a few dozen student vassals, and makes a hundredfold.
The true story of two African-American teen radio reporters and their documentary investigation of a notorious child murder.
"Fact-based story about the sexual harassment suit filed by Anita Hill during the appointment trials of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court during the George Bush Presidential administration. The film gives both parties a fairly even presentation and does not try to assess blame. It does, however, show a lot of background political maneuvering that took place, particularly on the part of Kenneth Duberstein, an administrative spin doctor."
The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.
in 1957 an African-American criminal lawyer (Courtney B. Vance) defends his nephew, who faces the death penalty for murdering a white boy. Charles S. Dutton, Kadeem Hardison, Garland Whitt and Lonette McKee costar in this drama of racial and social tensions.
Jim Natter, the leader of a violent Kuk Klux Klan lodge, is shot dead. His teenage son Eric Natter is found nearby, and taken into police custody for his protection pending the investigation. While four cops drive him to a safe-house, they are ambushed. Three of them shot dead, including Deputy Lawrence, and his black partner Jerry Robinson is accused of the murders.
In the not too distant future, a new deadly sport is the only way to stop a war that will kill millions. Fix (Snipes) is the creator of the sport, but the spotlight has always been on Ramzey (Cain), this hothead must use this game to stop the Revolution.
An undercover police officer named Rock Keats befriends a drug dealer and car thief named Archie Moses in a bid to catch the villainous drug lord Frank Coltan. But the only problem is that Keats is a cop, his real name is Jack Carter, and he is working undercover with the LAPD to bust Moses and Colton at a sting operation the LAPD has set up.
A man on the run is hunted by a demon known as the Collector.
Mason is a man down on his luck with nothing to lose when he's approached to lead a group of wealthy hunters on an expedition in the Pacific Northwest. But things get really twisted when Mason discovers the group isn't after wild animals -- they're after him.
Four Harlem friends -- Bishop, Q, Steel and Raheem -- dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. Bishop, the magnetic leader of the group, has the gun. But Q has different aspirations. He wants to be a DJ and happens to have a gig the night of the robbery. Unfortunately for him, Bishop isn't willing to take no for answer in a game where everything's for keeps.
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
A documentary about Director Jonathan Demme's cousin, an Episcopalian minister in Harlem.
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
Set in Curacao in the 1940s, Ava & Gabriel: A Love Story tells of the painter Gabriel Goedbloed, who arrives from Holland to paint a mural of the Virgin Mary in a local church. Gabriel is black, originally from Surinam. The colonial Antillian society proves less than tolerant towards him, especially after he chooses as his model a young Black teacher, Ava
An evil succubus is preying on libidinous black men in New York, and all that stands in her way is a minister-in-training, an aspiring actor, and a cop that specializes in cases involving the supernatural.
Opens with Bleek as a child learning to play the trumpet, his friends want him to come out and play but mother insists he finish his lessons. Bleek grows into adulthood and forms his own band - The Bleek Gilliam Quartet. The story of Bleek's and Shadow's friendly rivalry on stage which spills into their professional relationship and threatens to tear apart the quartet.
A 1990 PBS documentary, directed by Spike Lee, around the topic of A cappella music. Artists that performed as part of the documentary include The Mint Juleps, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Rockapella and The Persuasions. It also stars Spike Lee, Debbie Allen and a cameo appearance by Samuel L. Jackson.
Everyone in town knows the old Vincent place is haunted, but when the local Frat inherits it, we find out if the rumors are true. Two stories about witches getting ready to meet with the Devil, and a schoolteacher who never ages
Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
Fraternity and sorority members clash with other students at a historically black college during homecoming weekend.
A naive young scientist unwittingly helps mobsters build a laser weapon, then has to try to reclaim it from them in this crime drama parody.
An insurance salesman inadvertently gets trapped after dark in an apartment building that is terrorized by a street gang called "The Vampires."
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
The story of Nola Darling's simultaneous sexual relationships with three different men is told by her and by her partners and other friends. All three men wanted her to commit solely to them; Nola resists being "owned" by a single partner.
During a protracted drought, Solem (Marian Rolle) uses her magical powers to protect her village from evil spirits. She also provides food, searching the wilderness for edible plants. During one foraging mission, she encounters an evil spirit who impregnates her. Solem's fellow villagers believe her power to be derived from her virginity, and when she gives birth they ostracize her. She then embarks on a quest to purify herself and restore balance to the world.
Russell Walker is a young, successful manager of rap performers, handling acts for the Krush Groove label, including Run-DMC and The Fat Boys. When Run-D.M.C. has a hit record and Russell needs more money to press more copies, he borrows it from a street hustler and soon regrets his decision.
An alien slave crash-lands in New York City while being pursued by two Men in Black bounty hunters. His attempt to find a place for himself on Earth parallels that of the immigrant experience.
Zack Homer takes over managing the barbershop after Joe is killed for trying to rip off his "investor", Mr. Lovejoy. All Zack wants to do is run a traditional barbershop giving traditional haircuts, but modern styles have passed him by and business is slow. One evening, Mr. Lovejoy shows up to offer Zack the same deal he gave to Joe. It could turn his business around, but what will he have to give in return?
Featurette included on the Criterion Collection's release of Gordon Parks’ feature debut, The Learning Tree. This documentary, produced in September 2021, features filmmakers Ina Diance Archer, Ernest R. Dickerson, and Nelson George, and curator Rhea L. Combs.
One in a series of 13 documentaries on renowned American poets produced by the New York Center for Visual History. Described by director St. Clair Bourne as “a narrative performance documentary,” this category-defiant film on the life of poet and writer Hughes and the times in which he lived and worked moves from America to Senegal to Paris, from the 1920s Harlem Renaissance to the Black Pride awakening of the 1960s.
