It might help to not think of black comedy as being defined as being humor about "cannibalism, rape, genocide, terminal illnesses," but rather to think of it as gallows humor.
Gallows humor is, loosely, defined as humor in the face of impossible situations. The most famous historical example is probably Oscar Wilde, on his death bed, saying "either that wallpaper goes, or I do." In other words, it's not so much jokes ABOUT eating people or cancer or anything likewise unpleasant, but about finding some humor within those situations.
Before we get too uplifting here, remember that the humor can be seen from either side in an "impossible situation" with an agressor/victim.
American Psycho has a number of scenes like this. Remember when Bateman is about to kill his buddy and yet instead of threatening him, all he can think to do is wax poetic about Huey Lewis and the News. It's hip to be square, isn't it? Even with an axe in your hand? Another famous movie example is the bit about chianti and fava beans from Silence of the Lambs. Joking around in a very, very dangerous situation.
The flip, and actually perhaps the more classic side, is one in which humor is found in the the face of the seemingly endless or impossible to escape misfortune of the protaganist. The best (well, I say best, but usually when I say that I just mean my favorite so... :) ) example in film might be After Hours, a movie in which our increasingly desperate hero consistently finds himself in what are (fairly, if lightly) terrifying situations that are also increasingly funny. There's not too much to do but laugh as he tries, and keeps on failing, to escape SoHo.
And Bon makes the other point I would have liked to, but probably more eloquently than I could have, which is, of course, always, always context!
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