When discussing the history of Black horror movies, the key milestones are typically Duane Jones’ tragic hero in Night of the Living Dead, the scarier side of the Blaxploitation movement, and Tony Todd’s supernatural villain in Candyman. Much less well-known is a ground-breaking 1940 monster movie that not only boasted an all-Black cast but, in a revolutionary move for the time, portrayed them in a positive light.
Adapted by future Amos ‘n' Andy Show star Spencer Williams from his own short story House of Horror, Son of Ingagi arrived when most actors of color were still resigned to playing Mammy and Uncle Tom stereotypes. This was the year after Gone with the Wind, one of the most egregious examples of early Hollywood racism. Blackface, as proven by the likes of serial offender Al Jolson, was still very much the norm.
