10 Greatest Horror Comedies

WhatCulture

Enjoy screaming at these horror movies… screaming with laughter.

Transcript

00:00For those that can't hack the spookier things in life, horror comedies are here to save the day.

00:05Making the diseased undead perfectly palatable, taking the bite out of vampires, and cutting

00:10right to the funny bone better than any flailing machete, they aren't afraid to laugh at the poo

00:15in Spooky. I'm really trying hard here guys. Combining the best of both worlds, you really

00:20can laugh till you cry with these classic and beloved films that have both scared beyond belief

00:25and give an ample opportunity to giggle your way to a new pair of abs.

00:29With that in mind, I'm Ash from WhatCulture and these are the 10 greatest horror comedy movies of all time.

00:3710. Creepshow

00:39George A. Romero and Stephen King come together to pay respect to the horror comics of the 50s with

00:44a fantastic and funny anthology of five short films. With the respective royalty of horror novels and

00:49zombie movies joining forces, it's hardly a surprise that the film is a cult hit. Altogether, it's a

00:55quite brilliant, campy and sometimes creepy anthology which wears its love for the genre on its sleeve.

01:01King and Romero prove a winning partnership and Tom Savini's effects work, as always, is fantastic.

01:06It's truly a melting pot of the weird and wonderful. Joe Hill, King's author's son, also cameos as a

01:12little boy reprimanded for reading horror comics by his father in the framing story for an extra dose of

01:18self-referential laughs. 9. Ghostbusters

01:22There is no need to retread the plot of Ghostbusters here. The film is one of cinema's most

01:27beloved spooky comedies and is as much a soft, squishy treat as the Marshmallow Man of its final

01:32scenes. Combining family-friendly fun with hideous hellbeasts is like a date at Alton Towers with your

01:38mom. There's Jules' one per list. The special effects of the film are wonderful for the time and the

01:43dialogue is sublime. Ghostbusters has so many highlight moments throughout and such a clever

01:48story that it is hard to pick out particular areas which stand out from the whole. Though I'm

01:52certain a certain sucking ghost has made its mark for all the wrong reasons. I thought this was a PG

01:57film. 8. Fright Night

02:00The main plot involves Charlie Brewster, a young horror movie fan who is convinced his new neighbour,

02:06Jerry Dandridge, is a vampire. He is, of course, as any self-respecting monster hunter would know,

02:11correct. Sarandon is cast brilliantly as the old-style, suave vampire who has designs on

02:16Charlie's girlfriend. When Charlie fails to get anyone to believe him, he turns to the jaded

02:21Vincent to help him. Fright Night was well ahead of its time as a horror parody, being impressively

02:25self-referential in the same way Scream would be years later. The effects work is fantastic,

02:30and Holland, who went on to direct Child's Play, impresses with his directorial debut.

02:367. Evil Dead 2

02:39The original movie, The Evil Dead, was a pioneering, low-budget showcase in guerrilla

02:43filmmaking, and a seriously good horror film. It was inevitably going to be hard to follow up with

02:48a direct sequel, considering the blood budget was well and truly spent. Instead of chopping up a few

02:53new cows, however, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell very cleverly changed the approach to this part-remix,

02:58part-sequel. Whilst the focus is still very much on demons and gore, this time around there is a clear

03:03focus on black humour, and many argue that Evil Dead 2 is overall the superior film.

03:09And, of course, it's where the best version of Ash is brought into the series. We're pretty similar.

03:14I mean, I got rid of a spider from my room the other day without crying, so I'm pretty sure I'm

03:17qualified to take out some other monsters. Badasses, or even Bad Ashes. I've gotta stick together, you know?

03:246. Beetlejuice

03:26A sickly-sweet couple, the Maitlands, discover that they are in fact very dead after a car crash

03:32renders them as ghosts. And soon their house is to be bought by the Dietz family, yuppie New Yorkers

03:37who move in and start to change everything. In a spectacular sequence, they visit a kind of

03:42netherworld for the afterlife and meet their caseworker, Juno, who informs them that they

03:46must scare the Dietz family out of their home if they want rid of them. She also warns them away

03:51from any contact with Beetlejuice, a self-proclaimed bio-exorcist. Irresistible as a greasy gravewalker

03:57can be, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice soon turns up for some fun. A wonderful comedy

04:03with Burton on peak form, he rings terrific performances from an excellent ensemble, with

04:08everything from musical stylings to Jim Carrey-level paranormal face-melting.

04:125. The people under the stairs

04:16The story revolves around an oppressed black community being extorted by their white landlords.

04:21Vin Grames' burglar, Leroy, decides on revenge and attempts to rob them,

04:24along with his partner and a young kid named Fool.

04:27The landlords, credited as man and woman, are played by Wendy Robey and Everett McGill,

04:32reprising their marital partnership seen in Twin Peaks. Both performances are turned up to 11.

04:37Robey is a paranoid psychopath and McGill is a cannibalistic, bondage-suited monster.

04:42And you thought the Pulp Fiction gimp was bad?

04:44We later discover that the couple's daughter, Alice, is a physically and mentally abused prisoner.

04:49The couple have been kidnapping children for years, but none have lived up to their demanding

04:53standards and those that have failed are kept as prisoners in the basement,

04:57much like me and my horde of ex-boyfriends. It's a bizarre movie with a really weird payoff,

05:02walking the line between creepy and corny with deft precision.

05:064. Brain Dead

05:08Also known as Dead Alive and lauded as the goriest film to ever grace screens,

05:13this is an early Peter Jackson splatter-fest set down under. The prologue introduces us to the

05:18deadly Sumatran rat monkey as it is captured by a zoologist. It doesn't stay captured for long,

05:23however, and what follows from here is an astonishing amount of slapstick violence and

05:28gut-churning gore. Featuring intestines that come to life, a womb violent enough to put teeth

05:33to shame and some seriously inventive ways to split a body, it showed the promise of Peter Jackson

05:38and his talent as a director in what was only his third feature at the time. Considering this is

05:43the same guy who directed Lord of the Rings, I honestly would pay any money to see Legolas have

05:47a shootout against Sumatran rat zombies.

05:503. The Frighteners

05:53With a great performance from Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister, a kind of third-rate exorcist,

05:58psychic and con-man, we've seen him use three ghosts to set up hauntings in people's houses before

06:02coming in to investigate and clear the house of paranormal activity, collecting a fee on the way out.

06:07Now that's all well and good, but it soon turns nasty when a slew of murders are linked to the

06:11Sillipbang spook remover. The Frighteners is wonderfully well-written with some great black

06:16comedy. It has some insanely good moments of CGI for the time and a particularly excellent performance

06:21from Combs, who is absolutely on form as the deranged FBI man. There are a handful of particularly

06:26dark moments and the creation of the soul-taker creature which Frank takes on is very impressive.

06:322. Shaun of the Dead

06:34Shaun of the Dead is a loving send-up of the shuffling zombie subgenre and a love letter to

06:39Romero. It was a big break for director Edgar Wright and writer Simon Pegg, essentially transposing

06:44their TV sitcom space to the big screen. Shaun and Ed shuffle through the opening scenes,

06:49hardly noticing the transition of those around them into the undead. As society descends into madness,

06:55Shaun manages to step up to the plate and becomes defender of his small band of losers.

06:59For fans of the zombie genre, there are plenty of nods to the classics of Romero and the cast are a

07:04veritable who's who of Channel 4 comedy. But most importantly, it's the most fitting response to a

07:09zombie apocalypse ever. A beer really does solve everything.

07:131. What We Do in the Shadows

07:16What We Do in the Shadows cleverly uses the mockumentary format and is brilliantly executed,

07:21depicting a plot that relies on great characters as we get to look at the daily lives of vampire

07:26roommates. These are no twilight vampires, though they do sparkle with charismatic charm.

07:32Their beings are hundreds of years old, out of touch with modern life, and struggling to fit

07:36into a society they equally want to be a part of and prey on. It's a fangtastic display of bloody

07:42good filmmaking that you're sure to want to sink your teeth into. Dracu ha ha ha.

07:47It plays with the tropes of vampire myths, and the ensemble cast play out a masterclass in comedy.

07:52They dress badly, they struggle to cope with domestic life, they fight and argue,

07:56and show all the flaws of humanity whilst remaining convincingly inhuman.

08:00It's a film you can come back to time and time again and still enjoy for being so f***ing good.

08:06Whoops, sorry. Werewolves, not swearwolves.

08:09And that's our list! What's your favourite film that gets you screaming with laughter?

08:14Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

08:16I've been Ash and this has been WhatCulture. Make sure to subscribe to the WhatCulture

08:20YouTube channel for more lists like this, and don't forget to visit whatculture.com

08:24for daily news and articles.

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