Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a round springform pan; set aside.
Using a food processor, process the cookies and sugar together until you have crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse 1-2 times. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheat oven for 8-10 minutes or until the crust is set.
Using a double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently. Once the chocolate is smooth, remove it from the heat and allow the chocolate to cool.
While the chocolate cools, beat together cream cheese, sugar and cocoa powder. Add eggs one at the time. Slowly add in the cooled chocolate and beat until just combined. Pour over prepared crust.
Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour. You will want the top to appear dry and there to be almost no movement in the center. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Transfer, with cheesecake still in the pan, to refrigerator and cool overnight.
Drain the cherries, reserving the juice. Combine ½ cup of the reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla. Remove from heat and let cool.
After the cake is refrigerated overnight, remove the sides from the springform pan. Top with cherry filling and whipped cream.
Notes
*If you don't want to make the topping from scratch, you can always just use a can of cherry pie filling.