Marginalized groups — such as women, people of color, and the queer community — have not always gotten the critical attention they deserve. Fortunately, each of the projects highlighted in this month’s VOD/web series feature seek to correct this, and shine a light on the history of black horror, a misunderstood queer film icon, and women changing the cultural landscape.
“Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror” is a documentary featuring filmmakers, celebrities, and scholars discussing black characters throughout horror cinema. Then, “Making Montgomery Clift,” another doc, takes an intimate look at the late star, as chronicled by Hillary Demmon and Robert Anderson Clift.
“Ladies First with Grace Helbig” is a new web series and chat show. Comedian and YouTuber Grace Helbig interviews empowered women from various professions, including prominent television stars.
Here are Women and Hollywood’s VOD and web series selections for November.
VOD
Professor Robin R. Means Coleman, who wrote the book that is the basis for this doc, as well as co-screenwriter and Graveyard Shift Sisters founder Ashlee Blackwell, join several actors and filmmakers to discuss the representation of black characters in horror films. Some of the other interview subjects include Jordan Peele, “The Craft’s” Rachel True, and “Candyman’s” Tony Todd.
They delve into topics such as the first instances of black characters in scary film scenarios — like as the villains in “The Birth of a Nation” — the importance of “Night of the Living Dead” and the “Blaxploitation” subgenre of the 1970s. The subjects also explore how black characters have evolved from ’90s pics, such as “The Craft,” to today, with films like “Get Out.” “Horror Noire” also looks at the tropes that have previously defined black horror characters, like slasher movies’ “the black guy always dies first” rule.
Watch “Horror Noire” on Shudder.
“Making Montgomery Clift” (Documentary) – Directed by Hillary Demmon and Robert Anderson Clift
Although he never got to meet his famous uncle, Robert Anderson Clift’s life was heavily influenced by Montgomery Clift. Growing up, Anderson Clift’s father, Brooks, became a meticulous historian of his brother, preserving tons of memorabilia and hoarding tapes of recorded phone conversations with Monty — as he was called by his intimate circle — or of people who talked about him. Many are revealed publicly, for the first time, in this documentary.
Brooks’ obsession seemed to continue with his son, who’s partner, Hillary Demmon, joined him to direct “Making Montgomery Clift.” The doc works to dispel misconceptions about Montgomery’s star image — that his death was the “longest suicide in Hollywood history,” or that he was tortured over his bisexuality — and also emphasizes that, even towards the somewhat maligned end of his career, Clift was a dedicated, talented actor.
The film is also very much a work about the Clift family. Making it not only helped Robert understand his uncle, but his father as well, as Brooks’ passion for preserving his brother’s legacy sometimes baffled his family.
Brooks and the rest of the family were always unhappy with the inaccuracies in the two definitive Clift biographies — by Robert LaGaurdia and Patricia Bosworth — the latter of whom appears in the documentary to discuss her interactions with the swoon-inducing star, as a teen, and to defend her work. “Making Montgomery Clift” is the Clift family’s attempt to set the record straight about its most infamous member.
Watch “Making Montgomery Clift” on iTunes.
Web Series
“Ladies First with Grace Helbig”
Comedian and Youtube star Grace Helbig interviews influential women on this new weekly talk show. The first guest is actor and comedian Margaret Cho, who starred in and was instrumental in bringing the first sitcom about an Asian-American family to TV screens: “All-American Girl.”
Helbig also interviews Nicole Maines, the first trans actor to play a superhero on television, Nia Nal on “Supergirl.” Rocket scientist Dajae Williams, UCLA Gymnastics coach Valorie “Miss Val” Kondos Field, three-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, and Peppermint from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” are some of the other subjects.
Watch “Ladies First” on Facebook Watch.
