Demon Knight (1995) directed by Ernest Dickerson (The Walking Dead) is an action-packed slasher full of guts, gore, and evil demons. The film stars William Sadler as hero, Brayker, Billy Zane as The Collector, and Jada Pinkett Smith as badass Jeryline. The fate of humanity rests in the hands of unlikely duo, Brayker and Jeryline. They fight off demonic douchebag, The Collector, who unleashes an army of demons. Brayker has an all-powerful key to protect humanity. But can Brayker and Jeryline stop The Collector in time to save the universe?

With an epic 90’s soundtrack, innovative kills, and empowered female characters, Demon Knight has everything a good slasher should. The film opens to the Crypt Keeper’s (John Kassir) haunted house with that familiar Tales from the Crypt theme song. Suddenly I’m back in 1995, watching this movie on a tiny TV. Though I’d seen this flick as a teenager, I somehow forgot it existed.

Thanks to the amazing and brilliant people behind Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019) I was reminded of how important Demon really is. After watching Horror Noire, I learned that Jeryline was one of the very first Black Final Girls. A Final Girl is the slasher’s female survivor that subverts normative gender stereotypes to ultimately kill the killer. In short, she’s the badass bitch who doesn’t need a man to save her. As Horror Noire so brilliantly touched upon, the problem with Final Girls? They tend to be white—really white.

Read More –Women in Horror: Tales from the Crypt – Demon Knight – Psycho Drive-in