Mixing comedy with horror is a tricky venture but when it works like Re-Animator, Shaun Of The Dead, or Peter Jackson’s fabulous gory/funny Dead Alive you crave to see more. Here are 10 more that really deliver- they’re witty without forgetting that they are a horror film. And a blast to see with friends.
Black Sheep (2006) Wildly exuberant horror film by director Jonathan King. Henry Oldfield (Nathan Meister) returns to his family home in New Zealand to sell off his share of the land to his brother Angus (Peter Feeney), who has been doing some creepy genetic experiments on the livestock. Before long Henry is fleeing the countryside with an animal rights activist named Experience (Danielle Mason) chased by a rampaging herd of baaaad cannibalistic sheep. Sick, twisted, and riotously funny.
Grabbers (2012) Tentacled alien creatures wash up on the shores of a remote Irish island. The only one of the first targeted victims that escapes unharmed is the town drunk. So everyone heads to the local pub and gets hammered to remain immune to the monsters. Director Jon Wright creates wonderful fleshed-out characters in this fishing village and the leads are incredibly appealing. Not to mention the creatures, which are fabulous.
Dead Snow (2009) Writer/director Tommy Wirkola’s hilariously grisly tale of a group if hapless medical students on a skiing vacation who, while up at a cabin in the Norwegian Alps, disrupt a bunker filled with frozen Nazi zombie soldiers. Much carnage and laughs ensue. Think of this as Night Of The Nazi Dead.
John Dies At The End (2012) Cult director Don Coscorelli (Phantasm) scores with this surreal sardonic comedy about a bunch of stoners who are trying to save the world from a new drug called “soy sauce” which causes massive hallucinations and the release of terrifying creatures that will destroy the world. Really outlandish and sharply constructed, this is psychotically satisfying.
Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil (2010) Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are two redneck friends who are thrilled to inherit a cabin in the woods. When one of them attempts to rescue a drowning co-ed her friends mistakenly think Tucker & Dale are something out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This leads to a bone-headed attack which results in people falling into wood chippers and impaling themselves on wooden stakes. Eli Craig’s gruesome horror comedy deserves major cult status.
Housebound (2014) After a dumbly executed robbery surly Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly) is given house arrest by the court and forced to return to the shambling spooky house of her childhood with her estranged cheery mom (wonderful Rima Te Wiata). That’s when she starts to suspect something supernatural is going on. What “it” is actually turns out to be even more demented. The finale with Kylie and her mum clawing through walls and climbing over the roof in terror is just insane. This rollicking film by Gerard Johnstone is just sensational.
Severance (2006) The Office meets The Hills Have Eyes. Members of the sales department of Palisade Defence are sent to a “team building” wilderness retreat in Eastern Europe only to find themselves hunting targets of a bunch of crazed killers. Directed by Christopher Smith, it’s good gory fun.
Slither (2006) James Gunn’s terrific film stars Nathan Fillion (Castle) as the Sherriff of a small town who has to deal with alien life forms landing on earth and infecting everyone. These creepy worm-like creatures (reminiscent of the equally wonderful Night Of The Creeps) and their rampant infestations deliver squirm-in-your-seat scares and equally well-deserved laughs.
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer (2007) Jack Brooks (played with athletic, affable charm by Trevor Matthews) is a young plumber with anger management issues. A college professor unearths a crate in his backyard with a skeleton (and a live heart) that possesses him and transforms him into a Jaba-the-hut-like toothy creature with tentacles in front of the class. It’s up to Jack to channel his rage in a more productive way to save the other students. Directed by Jon Knautz this is a compulsively enjoyable wild ride- with old school prosthetic special effects and lots of testosterone to spare.
Cherry Falls (2000) A psychotic killer is bumping off virgins in a small town so the high school kids get together and throw an awesome rave where everyone will get laid in order to keep themselves from becoming targets. “It’s a hymen holocaust!” one teen screams. For once in a slasher film, the slutty kids don’t die. Starring Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr (just terrific), Candy Clark & Michael Biehn, director Geoffrey Wright’s witty dark comedy is not without its scares too. Out of print on DVD for years, the new Shout! Factory Blu-ray of this lost classic is a revelation.