What Is The Most Haunted City In U.S.?

In case you’re one of the people tripping off that fact, The Urban Daily found thirteen horror movies where the black person actually sees  the end credits roll.  Hit us in the comment section and tell us your favorite horror films.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Samuel L. Jackson and LL Cool J represent for us in this science fiction thriller. A team of scientists try to discover a cure for Alzheimer’s by experimenting with shark brain tissue. In testing on the animals, the team actually make the sharks faster and smarter. Most figured Sam Jackson and Uncle L would be the first to go. We were partially correct. Samuel L. Jackson gets eaten by a shark, while LL survives to kill the last predator. Though audiences rolled their eyes as LL Cool J played a cook, we applauded that a black cook in a horror flick survives. How’s that for balance?

House on Haunted Hill (1999)

A remake of the 1959 classic, House on Haunted Hillcenters around a rich couple with a disintegrating marriage. The two are rich and rent an abandoned insane asylum for a Halloween party. The hosts offer a milli to whoever can stay in the abandoned looney bin for the night. Little do the hosts and guests know the asylum is definitely haunted. Taye Diggs stars as an uninvited guest who shows up to hob nob with the rich. He soon discovers he’s being chased by the spirits of the asylum because his ancestors were the reason behind the asylum closing back in 1931. He survives to tell the spirits he is adopted and is innocent of anything his ancestors did.  You can pick your friends, but not your family.

13 Scary Movies to Watch for Halloween(Moviefone)

13 Ghosts (2001)

The Tony Shaloub vehicle is another remake from the company that brought us House on Haunted Hill. Tony Shaloub plays the nephew of a ghost hunter. When Shaloub’s money starts acting funny, he moves his kids and nanny, played by Rah Digga,into a mansion his presumably dead uncle has 12 ghosts held captive in the basement, which makes for 12 angry ghosts. A power company accidentally hits a mechanism and all the ghosts are freed one by one.  We come to find the whole thing was a ruse to get Shaloub in the house to become the 13th ghost. So is this film some sort of metaphor about slavery or something? After all, didn’t some slaves sacrifice themselves so others could make it to freedom? On second thought, I might be reaching here.

Anaconda (1997)

In this adventure-horror movie, we get two for the price of one. No, Jennifer Lopez isn’t black , but a minority surviving in a horror film is a win for us all. Lopez plays a leader of a National Geographic film crew heading to the Amazon Rainforest to capture the life of the land’s natives. Ice Cube is her cameraman. The crew is kidnapped by a snake hunter trying to kill the biggest anaconda on record. By the end, Lopez and Cube are the only surviving members of the film crew. They kill the snake hunter and the anaconda by blowing up a smoke stack the snake was caught in after devouring the snake hunter. I said Cube and Lopez was a win for us, not that the movie was believable. You know we are not messing with snakes in the jungle!

The Craft (1996)

The Craft was a teen screamer type film. An oddball girl moves to a new school and befriends girls who are rumored witches. The three girls believe the new girl will complete their coven and the cast spells on their respective high school nemeses. Rachel True of Half and Half fame is one of the witches whose idea of getting even witha racist bully is by casting a spell to make the bully’s hair fall out. She begins to feel bad as another witch in her clique becomes greedy for power. Rachel True’s character was never in any real danger of not surviving. However, she makes the list because we know how Hollywood will implement a nonsensical plot line to get rid of the melanin wealthy characters.

Stigmata (1999)

Nia Long’s gorgeous self  has a supporting role in the supernatural horror movie. She survives because most of the scary and unexplained things happen to her friend, Patricia Arquette. Patricia Arquette plays an atheist who is tortured by spirits. Her wounds are those of Jesus. She gets puncture wounds through her hands, mysterious whip lashings on her back, and bleeds from her head indicating she wore a crown of thorns. Nia’s character does the smart thing and loves and cares for her friend when she has to, but keeps her at a distance.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)

In the sequel to the slasher horror, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Brandy plays Jennifer Love Hewitt’s college roommate. B Rocka wins a trip to the Bahamas and invites a few friends to go along. The trouble is it’s hurricane season on the tropical island. The crew begins to get stalked by the fisherman Hewitt’s friends killed in the first one. Brandy does her best cliche scream queen performance. She runs and screams, trips and falls, but never dies. Honestly, the only reason why I watch this movie is for when Brandy utters her first curse on film. She said “bulls**t” and everyone gasped. My first thought was, “They let Moesha curse now?!?!?”

Have an idea for a Halloween Party? Share It Here!

Gothika (2003)

Halle Berry’s supernatural thriller, Gothika, featured the Oscar winner as a psychiatrist in a women’s hospital who wakes up one day and realizes she’s a patient having been accused of murdering her husband. Berry becomes close with her former patient, Penelope Cruz. Cruz warns Berry of a ghost in their midst. Come to find out the ghost Cruz was talking about inhabited Berry’s body to kill her husband because he knew there was corruption going on in the mental hospital.  The ghost helps the women escape the asylum and figure out how they got in the asylum. Cruz and Berry eventually make it out of the hospital alive and start a new life as friends. I was hoping they would’ve become more than friends, if you smell my cologne, only because I was a high school teen when this came out. Need I say more?

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Good ole Samuel L. Jackson appears again on this list, only this time he survives. As FBI Agent Neville Flynn, Jackson must protect a federal witness and save an airplane overrun by snakes in an attempt to kill said federal witness. Although meant to scare, many laughed throughout the whole thing. The first two people to get killed are a couple earning their Mile High Club membership. Getting killed by the animal wasn’t the black snake moan the woman had envisioned when she decided to get frisky. Plus, the ubiquitous line, “I’m tired of these motherf**king snakes on this motherf**king plane!”

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

You probably thought black people didn’t start surviving horror movies until we entered a post-racial America. Ron O’Neal survived the film because he had a bit part as the former partner to the private eye determined to catch a killer who killed two children seven years earlier. O’Neal gives his former partner some advice and helps in minor ways. Call this grasping at straws if you want to, but a black man surviving a horror film in 1979 was one small step for him and one giant leap for black actors in future horror movies. Sort of.

The Thing (1982)

Keith David stars in the cult classic as a minor hero in the unfolding of the events. The Thing is about an alien who takes over different organisms’ bodies and imitates them. An Alaskan Malamute breed dog wandered somewhere it shouldn’t have been and a helicopter was trying to shoot the dog. After a grenade is inadvertently set off and the dog survives, a team of National Science institute researchers adopt the animal. When The Thing embodies the dog, Keith David burns it to death with a flamethrower and the subsequent autopsy reveals what type of  creature their fighting against. That is until The Thing starts taking over human bodies and causes paranoia within the group of researchers. Stuff like that makes me glad I’m a writer and not a scientist.

I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

People only remember this movie as the proposed Lindsay Lohan comeback vehicle that was a box office dud. Despite the fact maybe 100 people in the world cared enough to watch this movie, Garcelle Beauvais plays a hero. She is part of the police squad assigned to capture the serial killer terrorizing a small town. If Beauvais is smart as we like to think she is, she won’t be putting this on her list of acting credits. That movie could probably get her thrown out of a few casting offices.

Devil’s Advocate (1997)

The plot of the film centers around Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, and Al Pacino. Reeves is a hot shot defense attorney who has never lost a case. He gets a pedophile acquitted of heinous charges, despite knowing of his client’s guilt. He is then recruited by a prestigeous law firm run by Pacino. After Reeves accepts the job, his first client is Delroy Lindo. Lindo plays a voodoo sorcerer who ritually sacrifices an animal. Using freedom of religion as a defense, Reeves keeps his pristine record in tact. Lindo isn’t necessarily in danger, however any time you continue to live after messing with the devil is cause for a celebration. *Insert snarky remark about The Illuminati here*

From Our Partners

20 Hottest Halloween Costumes (Heavy.com)

A How-to-Guide For A Non-Racist Halloween Costume(BlackVoices)

VIA EUR:

All kinds of Michael Jackson products – including cell phones and X-Box add-ons – could be coming down the pipeline if a judge signs off on a merchandising deal, reports the Associated Press.

The current administrators of the singer’s estate have presented several proposed contracts to a probate judge for approval. The agreements offer a taste of how the King of Pop may be sold in the coming months and years.

Trading cards, T-shirts, calendars, lighters, stuffed animals that play Jackson’s music and games are among the tangible items being considered. So too are denim products and high-end clothing lines, according to the filings.

But Jackson seems destined to try to conquer the digital domain too. Some of the possible products include cell phone screen savers, X-Box themes, video games and digital tattoos for characters in games such as “Second Life.”

The proposed deals are between Jackson’s estate, concert promoter AEG Live and Bravado International Group Merchandising Services. The contract calls for Bravado, which is Universal Music Group’s retailing arm, to receive worldwide merchandise rights. AEG Live will retain rights to sell certain merchandise related to Jackson’s canceled London performances, the agreements state.

As previously reported, a separate agreement is being pursued between the estate’s administrators and Columbia Pictures for a feature length movie based on footage of Jackson’s preparations for his 50 comeback concerts in London. The studio paid $60 million for the rights to the project, the contract filed in Los Angeles Superior Court states. Jackson’s estate — which primarily benefits his mother and three children — would receive 90 percent of the profits from the film, according to the agreement. A judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday to consider the proposals.

Attorneys for the current administrators of his estate, attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, have stated in court records that they believe Jackson’s estate is solvent. One of the men’s attorneys, Jeryll S. Cohen, wrote in a court filing on Friday that the merchandising and film and other entertainment agreements are expected to generate “advances in the high eight figures.”

Negotiations for other deals are also in the works, Cohen wrote. The administrators have the authority to combat unauthorized merchandise, and the deals provide Bravado with access to the use of Jackson’s name, image, symbols, emblems and other trademarks. Jackson’s estate would have input into which products are ultimately manufactured, the proposed agreements state.

An amendment to an agreement between Jackson’s estate and AEG Live allows for a traveling exhibit of the performer’s memorabilia. Exact details of the exhibit were redacted, but it calls for the displays to be shown only at museums or venues that both sides agree on. If approved, the agreements would continue a trend that Jackson seemed to be pursuing in his final months — marketing products based on his days of superstar status.

A lawsuit filed in January by “Thriller” director John Landis accused Jackson of trying to turn the groundbreaking 14-minute music video into comic books and video games. The director also sued over a proposed Broadway show based on “Thriller.” Landis owns some of the creative rights to the project and didn’t grant approval to the ventures Jackson was apparently pursuing.

The Thriller Dance is legendary and will live long with Mike’s music. No one can top the King of Pops performance of The Thriller Dance but with its unforgettable beat and memorable choreography people have been reinventing this dance, turning it into their own versions.

Check them out: 

Harlem Tribute

Mike and his controversies

VIA EUR:

It’s been 26 years since Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video was released, and the woman who played his love interest is just now filing a lawsuit claiming she hasn’t been paid her share of royalties [click here to read].

TMZ.com reports that Ola Ray is suing Jackson and his production company to receive her cut of profits from the groundbreaking 13 minute clip, in which her character watches her boyfriend (Jackson) turn into a dancing zombie [click here to read].

“We spoke to Ola Ray’s attorney, who tells us the former Playboy Playmate is suing for breach of contract,” TMZ stated. “We’re told Ola’s not sure exactly how much she’s owed — her accountants will figure that out.”

Check out our Urban Daily Noisemakers below:

Lawsuits seem to follow Michael Jackson around like those zombies did in his iconic “Thriller” video. The latest legal snag comes from the clip’s director, John Landis, who claims the singer owes him profits from the video for the last four years.

Landis – who co-wrote and directed the 14-minute video in 1983 – filed the suit last week in Los Angeles Superior Court through his company, Levitsky Prods., against Jackson and Optimum Prods.

“After a spectacular theatrical premiere, the ‘Thriller’ video became a worldwide megahit and an iconic pop culture phenomenon that has continued to generate profits for defendants Optimum Prods. and Michael Jackson, who have wrongfully refused to pay or account for such profits to plaintiff,” the suit said.

The action accuses Jackson of “fraudulent, malicious and oppressive conduct” in failing to pay Landis 50% of the net proceeds. The suit includes the 1983 agreement between Jackson and Landis covering the video and an hour-long documentary, which Landis also directed.

News of the lawsuit comes two days after the Nederlander Organization announced it had obtained rights to produce a musical version of “Thriller,” with Jackson due to be involved in “every aspect” of the creative process.

Michael Jackson will help develop his groundbreaking “Thriller” video into a musical theater production, producers said today (Jan. 26).

The theater production will recreate the tale of the 14-minute horror film spoof based on the title song. In the video, a young couple are on a date when the boy — played by Jackson — becomes a werewolf.

“This musical will be the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of ‘Thriller’ and Jackson will participate in every aspect of the creative process,” said the Nederland Organization, which has acquired the rights to the musical.

“Thriller: The Musical” will include songs from the 1982 album “Thriller” and its 1979 predecessor, “Off the Wall.”

The “Thriller” video, featuring dancing zombies and horror film star Vincent Price, was first aired in 1983 and became a staple of MTV. It was directed by filmmaker John Landis, who said it cost $500,000 — about 10 times the cost of the standard music video of the time.Jackson’s spokesman, Dr. Tohme Tohme, said in the Nederland Organization statement, “The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so let the music begin.”

SOURCE: Billboard

Quincy Jones will deliver the keynote address at the 2009 South By Southwest Music Conference on March 19.

Jones is expected to discuss the power of music to influence and create positive change in the world and the responsibility of the artist to use their craft to unite people to better mankind.

His current projects include the recently released book “The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey and Passions,” a feature film documentary on Brazil’s annual Carnival Festival that will benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Brazil’s impoverished Favelas; a mini-series on Louis Armstrong, a duets album with Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder; and a tribute album of his recordings featuring artists such as Usher, John Legend and Amy Winehouse. He continues to work on plans for a chain of nightclub-restaurants.

SXSW Music Convention runs March 18-22 in Austin, Texas.

SOURCE: Variety.com

Previously: ‘Michael Jackson Presents A Doctor’s Note For Court,’ ‘Michael Jackson Now To Appear In Court’

Michael Jackson won’t have to make a trip to London after all. The lawsuit filed against him by Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa of Bahrain has been settled “in principle,” however, both sides said details of the arrangement are to remain private.

After first claiming an illness could prevent him from flying to London for the breach-of-contract trial, Jackson agreed last week to testify in person. But Al Khalifa’s attorney Bankim Thanki announced that the two parties have come to a confidential agreement that they will sign soon.

“As Mr. Jackson was about to board his plane to London, he was advised by his legal team to postpone his travels since the parties had concluded a settlement in principle,” a London spokeswoman for Jackson said on Sunday.

Al Khalifa had claimed Jackson accepted $7 million to record an album, write a memoir and stage a Broadway show, but failed to deliver on any of the arranged collaborations. The sheik sued Jackson for return of the money.

The courts took the unusual step last week of issuing tickets to media outlets wanting to attend the hearing on Monday, in anticipation of the huge press and public interest his appearance was likely to generate.