Slotherhouse (2023)
Sloth on a Killing Spree/Horror Comedy
A sloth is adopted as the mascot of a sorority house and proceeds to go on a killing spree. This emerges as entertainingly tongue-in-cheek
Horror Comedy
Horror Comedies are works that balance horror elements with Comedy. The first works to do so were the Old Dark House thrillers of the 1930s/40s, which reworked the more serious thrillers of the previous decade with comedy stars.
Abbott and Costello met the Famous Monsters in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) and assorted other monsters thereafter. The monster comedy/monster bash has remained a comedic staple thereafter. A good many horror comedies have also been in the realm of genre Parody.
The true growth of the horror comedy came in the 1980s, particularly after works like The Evil Dead (1981) and Re-Animator (1985) patented a form of outrageous splatter-heavy horror mixed with Black Humour or outright comedy slapstick sequences.
The Zombie comedy emerged not long after and, along with the Gonzo Shark Film, has become a major genre niche since the 2000s, putting their respective creatures up with the most ridiculous conceptual mash-ups or title puns.
House II: The Second Story (1987)
Haunted House/Horror Comedy
The first sequel to House, this is largely unrelated to its predecessor and plays itself with a sense of humour to emerge as the superior film. Now a skull opens doorways in the house into different eras
I Survived a Zombie Holocaust (2014)
Zombie Outbreak on the Set of a Zombie Film
A New Zealand-made entry into the zombie comedy stakes. This has the amusing idea of having a zombie outbreak occur during the shooting of a zombie film
Eat Brains Love (2019)
Zombie Romantic Comedy
The appealing idea of a romantic comedy/road movie where both characters are zombies. The plot is all over the place but the premise is conducted with some amusement
Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009)
Zombie Social Satire
The social metaphors of George Romero’s original zombie films has been missing from the modern equivalents. This takes them up again with great enthusiasm, making a critique of USA attitudes post 9/11, hammering its message home with all the subtlety of a 26-point headline
Otis (2008)
Psycho Film
Film about a big overweight psycho who abducts girls and makes them enact a fantasy of being a cheerleader. Produced by one of the directors of The Blair Witch Project
One Cut of the Dead in Hollywood (2019)
Zombies on a Zombie Film Set Comedy
One Cut of the Dead was one of the freshest and most hilariously original takes on the zombie film of recent. This is a sequel
Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)
Haunting/Campy Horror
The third of the Prom Night films, a direct follow-on from the second in which Mary Lou becomes a campy Freddy Krueger-like villain firing off bad puns amid her dispatches
Revenge of Billy the Kid (1992)
Goat-Human Hybrid Amok/Splatter Comedy
A British entry in the 1980s splatter comedy. An aimless comedy about idiotic hayseed yokels with occasional moments of bloodletting and a half-human, half-goat creature running about
Teenage Exorcist (1991)
Possession Comedy
Written by and starring 80s Scream Queen Brinke Stevens, this offers an occasionally amusing comedy take on the possession and exorcism film
You Might Be the Killer (2018)
Slasher Deconstruction/Possession by Indian Mask
There have been some clever and witty deconstructions and parodies of the slasher film in recent years. This starts in with an immediately captivating hook where the title phrase is turned around on the protagonist
R.I.P.D. (2013)
Afterlife Police Force
This feels like someone has simply copied the idea of a secretive law enforcement agency from
Silent But Deadly (2011)
Movie-Set Psycho Comedy
Jason Mewes of Jay and Silent Bob fame is cast as a rarely speaking, goat-loving hick psycho. The film comes with a number of other offfbeat characterisations that you feel should have made for an amusing horror comedy but instead everything slips into a shrill one-note pitch
Transylvania Twist (1989)
Horror Parody
A Roger Corman produced horror parody that conducts send ups of most of the horror icons of the 1980s – Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, Michael Meyers etc – without being particularly funny
Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014)
Storm of Sharks/Deliberately Bad Film
Sequel to the bad movie phenomenon Sharknado Accompanied by a host of celebrity cameos, there is less the cheerful absurdity of the original than a film that is trying to recapture a spontaneously generated fad
Re-Elected (2020)
Zombies of US Presidents
Horror comedy about an attack by the zombies of resurrected former US Presidents
We Are Zombies (2023)
Zombie Comedy
A zombie comedy from the Quebecois trio who were responsible for Turbo Kid, this takes place in a world where zombies are less a horde than an annoyance who have been relegated to the fringes of society
Wasting Away (2007)
Zombie Comedy
Horror comedy told from the perspective of four friends who are unaware they have been transformed into zombies. The contrast of their reactions with everybody else as they flee in terror is mildly amusing for awhile but this is essentially a one-gag film
Saturday the 14th (1981)
Genre Parody
Friday the 13th so changed the horror genre that within two years it produced two four parodies of its title. From Roger Corman, this is more of an occasionally amusing parody of classic monster movies than the slasher film
Vicious Fun (2020)
Support Group for Serial Killers
Horror comedy set around the wonderfully appealing idea of a support group for serial killers
Santa’s Slay (2005)
Demonic Santa Claus
Christmas horror film with wrestler Bill Goldberg playing a demonic version of Santa Claus
The Vagrant (1992)
Yuppie Tormented by a Homeless Man
Directorial outing from makeup effects artist Chris Walas who created the Gremlins and Cronenberg’s The Fly. This Bill Paxton as a Yuppie who buys a home and is driven paranoid as it keeps being invaded by a vagrant
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1953)
Two Idiots Meet Dr Jekyll
The third of Abbott and Costello’s comedic meet ups with the Famous Monsters – in this case a series of lowjinks as they encounter Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (played by Boris Karloff)
Killer Sofa (2019)
Possessed Recliner Chair
A New Zealand-made horror comedy. Oddly this is not, as the title might suggest, about a possessed sofa but a possessed recliner chair
Burying the Ex (2014)
Zombie Ex-Girlfriend Comedy
Joe Dante makes a zombie comedy. Dante is in his element and the film overspills with classic horror references but Dante feels like he is playing slow catch up with what the zombie genre has become
The Horror of It All (1964)
Old Dark House Comedy
For all that Hammer’s Terence Fisher was raised to the status of cult director, there are efforts such as this unfunny Old Dark House comedy that reveal that he was not always on form
Horror Hospital (1973)
Mad Scientist Comedy
Bizarre entry from the Anglo-horror cycle with Michael Gough as a mad scientist creating zombies and driving a deadly armoured Rolls Royce
Hell Town (2015)
Soap Opera Parody/Slasher Film
This has a witty idea – a parody of a soap opera combined with a slasher film. This is amusing, but the rest of the film consists of frenzied caricatures and a dearth of laugh out loud moments
Fresh Meat (2012)
Maori Cannibals Comedy
New Zealand comedy in which a teenage daughter discovers that her father Temuera Morrison is a modern-day Maori cannibal cultist. Everything is given a very broad playing
Frankenhooker (1990)
Frankenstein Parody
Frank Henenlotter of Basket Case fame modernises the Frankenstein film Here Frankenstein creates a body out of parts from Time Square hookers. Amusing but eventually a film where the humour is too broad
Final Cut (2022)
Zombies on a Zombie Film Set Comedy
One Cut of the Dead was one of the freshest takes on the overworked zombie film in recent years. Here Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius conducts a French remake but misses the mark
Exorcism at 60,000 Feet (2020)
Exorcism on an Airplane/Bad Taste Comedy
A possession film set on an airplane. This sets out to parody exorcism movie cliches but makes a beeline for outrageous bad taste humour. It does include a great cast of genre regulars
Elvira’s Haunted Hills (2001)
Bimbo Horror Hostess/Genre Parody
The second film outing of US horror hostess Elvira, which is construed as a parody/homage to the Roger Corman-Vincent Price Edgar Allan Poe films. Everything is overrun with Elvira’s cheesy puns and double entendres
The Cottage (2008)
Kidnapping Comedy/Backwoods Brutality
Andy Serkis and Reece Shearsmith are inept kidnappers in this black caper/horror comedy – imagine something like A Life Less Ordinary peopled with characters from a Guy Ritchie crime drama
Cannibal Comedian (2023)
Cannibal Stand-Up Comedian
A film that fairly much sells you in its deliberately ridiculous title concept – a cannibal who sets out to find success as a stand-up comedian.
Bride of Chucky (1998)
Child's Play Sequel
Fourth of the Child’s Play films where the importation of Hong Kong director Ronnie Yu doesn’t do much to enliven proceedings, although this does embellish the black humour element considerably
Housebound (2014)
New Zealand Haunted House Comedy
An NZ-made haunted house comedy that runs through a frenzied array of genre plot devices, a couple of minor jumps and some easy middle-of-the-road laughs leaving you feeling there should have been more to it
Bong of the Dead (2011)
Gonzo Zombie Comedy
A film about a marijuana crop that is grown using zombie brains as fertiliser. This starts with a promising gonzo zombie film tone but never quite sustains its approach
The Boneyard (1991)
Zombie Children Overrun a Mortuary
Part of the 80s/90s fad for makeup effects driven popcorn horror – in this case, actually directed by an effects artist. The film moves slow as molasses but the giant zombie poodle and zombie Phyllis Diller do compensate
Bloody Knuckles (2014)
Disembodied Hand/Bad Taste Comedy
Canadian horror comedy that feels like a warmed-over rehash of Oliver Stone’s The Hand. A film made in wilful bad taste that feels like it came along twenty years too late for the mid-80s heyday of Troma
Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh (1991)
Horror Comedy
One of the great deliberately ridiculous horror comedy titles of all time. The film itself telescopes down to an ordinary police procedural with no pharaohs, just an Egyptian serial killer
Bloodsucking Bastards (2015)
Office of Vampires Comedy
Comedy that resembles something of tv’s The Office where Fran Kranz discovers that management is turning his co-workers into vampires as an efficiency measure
Black Friday (2021)
Zombified Shoppers Comedy
A horror comedy that goes the next logical step and turns Black Friday shoppers into a zombified horde. With Bruce Campbell as a store worker who steps into the fray
A Beginners Guide to Snuff (2016)
Wannabe Snuff Movie-Makers Comedy
A comedy about two wannabe brothers who try to enter a horror movie competition by making their own snuff movie, only for everything to start going wrong
Army of Darkness (1992)
Evil Dead Sequel/War with the Dead/Horror Comedy
Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell make their third Evil Dead film. The series hit a peak with the delirious balance of horror and comedy in the second film but here the comedy over-balances and becomes too broad
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Zombie Musical
This claims to be the first zombie musical. Surprisingly enough, it isn’t. A cute idea but you have the sense the only musical the filmmakers had seen beforehand was High School Musical
Amityville Karen (2022)
Possessed Karen
The term Karen has come to mean an entitled woman who complains a great deal. This is a horror comedy about one such Karen who becomes possessed after drinking wine that comes from the Amityville house
Alone in the Dark (1982)
Slasher Parody/Escaped Madmen
Horror film in which a group of maniacs escape from an asylum set out to track down the new psychiatrist. This starts with tongue amusingly planted in cheek and contains a great cast line-up
House (1986)
Haunted House/Horror Comedy
Amiably silly haunted house film with William Katt fighting rubbery pop-up monsters. This doesn’t take itself too seriously. A minor hit that produced three sequels.
George’s Intervention (2009)
Zombie Comedy
A zombie comedy that comes with a mildly amusing premise – where people stage an intervention to stop their friend eating people. This feels a single gag drawn-out as a full length film
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Snake Priestess/Campy Horror
Ken Russell adapts a Bram Stoker novel about a snake cult. In Russell’s hand, Stoker’s serious work is turned into a campy over-the-top comedy overloaded with worm and phallic symbols
Mr Vampire 4 (1988)
Hong Kong Hopping Vampire Comedy
Fourth in the popular hopping vampire saga that spawned six films and an uncredited copycat series, all blending a manic mix of comedy, fantastique moves and Eastern beliefs
Massacre on Aisle 12 (2016)
Murderous Squabbling in a Hardware Store/Black Comedy
This calls itself a horror comedy and is set in a hardware store on Christmas Eve as the staff fall to murderous squabbling after the discovery of a dead body and large sum of money
Knights of Badassdom (2013)
Live-Action Roleplayers Encounter a Demon
This has a winning concept – live-action roleplayers are forced to face a demon they accidentally conjure. Only it becomes a one-joke film with characters delivering mock mediaeval dialogue in falsettos
Me and My Mates vs. the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
Australian Zombie Comedy/Lads vs Zombies
An Australian zombie comedy. The basic premise sets a bunch of lads and their cheerfully Neanderthal, sexist, beer-drinking, sports loving ways up against the zombie apocalypse
Killer Pad (2008)
Party House with a Portal to Hell/Horror Comedy
Directorial outing from Robert Englund who makes the horror equivalent of a frat comedy where three guys rent a palatial home and throw a party as a portal to Hell opens in the basement
The Monster Club (1980)
Horror Anthology
Following the collapse of Amicus Films, producer Milton Subotsky went on on his own to make this horror anthology, the bread and butter of Amicus in their heyday. Though he brings in some major horror names – Vincent Price, John Carradine – the jokey tone failed to find any success
Monster in the Closet (1986)
Monster Movie Parody
Monster movie parody that spoofs a number of classic films, including King Kong where it takes the title literally and the monster makes off with the hero giving the film a certain LGBT community relevance in its day. Contains quite an impressive cast list, including featuring both Paul Walker and singer Fergie as kids
Mother’s Day (1980)
Backwoods Brutality
A parody of the Backwoods Brutality film. One of the very first films produced by Lloyd Kaufman of Troma fame
The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time (2018)
Storm of Sharks/Deliberately Bad Film
The sixth of the Sharknado films, this has the usual crew fighting sharknados throughout history. With this comes the recognition there is nowhere more ridiculous and over-the-top for the series to go
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Clown Alien Invaders
Killer clown film directed by the Chiodo Brothers best known for their makeup effects who come up with an appealing arsenal of sinister clown figures. On the other hand, the film is a one-note joke
Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman (2000)
Killer Mutant Snowman
Jack Frost, not to be confused with the Michael Keaton film of the same name, was an amusing horror comedy about a killer mutant snowman. This is a sequel that takes Jack to a beach resort in Hawaii
Jack Brooks, Monster Slayer (2007)
Horror Comedy
This leads to you expect a horror comedy but spends half its running time in build-up with no comedy or monster slaying, although does deliver on this with an entertaining effects-heavy climax
Night of the Creeps (1986)
Alien Slugs/Resurrection of the Dead/Genre Homage
Alien body snatchers comedy that feels less like a film than an extended fanboy in-joke
The Night Watchmen (2017)
Security Guards vs Vampires Comedy
Horror comedy set in an office building as a group of inept security guards fight off a vampire outbreak among the staff. Very similar to the earlier Bloodsucking Bastards, this balances comedy and horror but director Mitchell Altieri demonstrates comedy is not his strong point
Ibiza Undead (2016)
Lads vs Zombies Comedy
British lad culture take on the zombie film. Think a version of Shaun of the Dead inhabited by guys around the age of 20 whose only real concerns is getting laid and wasted. The constant vulgarity becomes tiresome
Bad Milo! (2013)
Demon Inhabits a Man's Ass Comedy
A comedy about a demon that appears out of a man’s ass!!! This has the dementia to be a potential midnight cult hit but misses the mark by a wide mile and stumbles around obvious targets in predictable ways
Attack of the Killer Donuts (2016)
Gonzo Monster Movie
There is a certain genus of films based around coming up with deliberately ridiculous titles. The filmmakers sell you instantly on the film from the title alone but have lavished little care or budget on the actual film
Brain Dead (2007)
Alien Zombie Splatter
Not to be confused with the Peter Jackson Braindead, although the similarity of titles only emphasizes how weak and unfunny this 1980s splatter homage comedy is in comparison
Beverly Hills Body$natchers (1989)
Mortuary and Zombies Comedy
Unfunny comedy set around a morgue where a mad doctor has found a process to resurrect the dead. Sort of like Night Shift crossbred with a PG-rated version of Re-Animator
Pandemonium (1982)
Slasher/Horror Parody
The slasher film only really came into existence in 1980 but was so prolifically milked that by even two years later it had spawned its own sub-cycle of parodies. This hits in with a wacky anything goes absurdity but, aside from an amusing Carrie spoof, little of it is funny
The Vampire Happening (1971)
Vampire Comedy
Freddie Francis was one of the finest stylists of the Anglo-horror cycle. Here he makes a comedy spoofing the vampire film that comes out feeling like Benny Hill routines running around a big castle
Another WolfCop (2017)
Werewolf Cop/Horror Comedy
WolfCop found an appeal with its amusing title premise. Here the principal talents involved have reunited for a sequel, although the feeling is more that they have done so solely because the first film was a success
2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams (2010)
Splatter/Southern Town of Maniacs
Sequel to the outrageously gory 2001 Maniacs, although here the horror comedy balance spills over into absurd farce and cheap gore effects. Crucially, the film seems cheaper and less polished, more messy and random in terms of its arrangements
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
Two Idiots Meet the Mummy
Abbott and Costello’s fourth and final meeting with the Famous Monsters. However, this is a desultory outing where nobody seems to be making much of an effort
2 Lava 2 Lantula (2016)
Giant Fire-Breathing Spiders
Lavalantula with Steve Guttenberg facing giant fire-breathing spiders was a modestly enjoyable creature feature. This sequel feels like a Sharknado wannabe with shittier effects and an unfunny sense of humour
I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1990)
Vampire Motorcycle/Splatter Comedy
A British venture into the gonzo splatter film about a motorcycle that develops vampiric tendencies after blood is spilled in its tank in a Satanist ceremony. Beyond an amusing title, this is crude and heavy-handed
The Old Dark House (1963)
Old Dark House Comedy
The oddest collaborations of its era – between Hammer Films and William Castle renowned for his sensationalist gimmicks, who conduct a remake of James Whale’s droll horror comedy. Alas, Castle only turns out a broad farce
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017)
Storms of Sharks/Deliberately Bad Film
By this point, the Sharknado series has gone from an amusingly tongue-in-cheek original to a series that is widely signalling that it is not taking anything that happens remotely seriously
Chop (2011)
Sadism and Torture Comedy
A man is abducted by a stranger who proceeds to remove his limbs in an effort to make him remember the terrible crime he committed. This suggests an incredibly grim film. Surprisingly enough, it is a comedy
House IV (1992)
Haunted House/Horror Comedy
The fourth and last in the series of 1980s horror comedies that began with House produced by Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham. This brings the first film’s William Katt back to round the series out
Doghouse (2009)
Lads vs Zombie Women
A film about a bunch of boorish lads gleefully eliminating zombie women. A comedy this may well be but doesn’t disguise the fact the film’s sympathies are clearly with the guys making crude innuendos and feeling downtrodden by women
Strippers vs. Werewolves (2012)
British Werewolf Comedy
Probably the next logical move after Zombie Strippers! Alas, where we should have had a fast, funny and sarcastic genre entry, the humour in this British entry becomes painfully belaboured in its constant unfunny efforts to get laughs
Idle Hands (1999)
Possessed/Disembodied Hand
Surely the first slacker horror film in which teenager Devon Sawa’s hand becomes possessed. A comedy that feels as though it should have been a lot funnier than it ends up being on screen
The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)
Hammer Frankenstein/Comedy
The fifth and worst of Hammer’s Frankenstein films. In a play for younger audiences, Peter Cushing was dumped in favour of Ralph Bates in a retelling of the original and an unfunny comedic approach
Renfield (2023)
Dracula’s Manservant
Twilight fairly much killed the vampire film. This is the first of two big-budget offerings of 2023 that aims to turn that around
Carry On Screaming (1966)
Spoof of Hammer Horror
Twelfth of the popular British comedy series, here the Carry On team conduct a bawdy farce on the Hammer horror film that was all the in-thing at the time
Nudist Colony of the Dead (1991)
Gonzo Zombie Musical
This holds the distinction of being the world’s first gonzo zombie film – oh and the first zombie musical too. Not many zombies (or nude bodies), the song lyrics are occasionally amusing but the film’s humour is schoolboyish, and the effort amateurish on the whole
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016)
Storm of Sharks/Deliberately Bad Film
The bad movie hit of Sharknado was a surprise to everyone and spawned sequels. By this point, creativity appears to have dried up – essentially, the Sharknado series has jumped the shark
Rockula (1990)
Vampire Rock Star Comedy
Painfully unfunny vampire comedy from Cannon Films about a vampire teenager who becomes a rock star. This has one of the least credible premises I’ve ever seen in a film. Mostly it seems to have been conceived around placing various musicians of the day in acting roles with bizarre results
Night of the Demons 2 (1994)
Campy Supernatural Retribution
Sequel to a film that few people remember, this is all campy one-liners and gory set-pieces conducted with a silliness that boggles the mind
Outback Vampires (1987)
Vampires in the Australian Outback Comedy
One of the most head-scratchingly bizarre efforts among the great Ozploitation fad – a comedy about vampires in an Australian Outback town
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Cheerleader Vampire Hunter
An unfunny comedy about a cheerleader vampire slayer. This should have been quickly forgotten but instead it surprisingly became the basis for a much superior hit tv series several years later
Hans Crippleton: Talk to the Hans (2014)
Deformed Hillbilly Monster Hunter Comedy
A painfully unfunny endurance test created by star Kevon Ward centred around the deformed, imbecilic hillbilly he played at Halloween shows. The film is little more than people playing morons in silly voices
Fat Ass Zombies (2020)
Gonzo Zombie Comedy
Another zombie film that comes with a deliberately ridiculous title, even if the title ends up being a misnomer. This site’s choice for the worst film of 2020
Redneck Zombies (1989)
Zombie Comedy
Classic title from Troma Films, quite possibly the first ever gonzo zombie film, this also counts as one of the worst zombie films ever made
Range 15 (2016)
Zombie Comedy
This is a crowdourced film made by military veterans who set out with the idea of creating better military characterisations in films. Bizarrely enough, they turn to the zombie comedy to do so and the result is the crassest, most willfully offensive zombie film ever made
Transylmania (2009)
Frat Rat Horror Comedy
A excruciatingly unfunny film that feels like one of Abbott and Costello’s monster bashes played as a crass frat comedy
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
Famous Monster Bash/Comedy
Painfully unfunny comedy from Mel Brooks writer Rudy De Luca with journalists Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley Jr encountering monsters while on assignment in Transylvania
Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988)
Zombie Comedy
Dan O’Bannon’s Return of the Living Dead came with a cheerfully black cynicism that was a wonderfully fresh alternative to George Romero amid the 1980s zombie fad – this sequel has a painfully unfunny lameness that could not sit at more removed extreme to that