Fear and funny should go together like kibbles and bits, but the reality is the mix often has disastrous results. Even though both of them have the same general pacing (tension and release) it’s rare that a filmmaker manages to give us a mildly successful merger, never mind a legitimately good movie.
Ah but when it does work it can create true awesomeness. Hell, putting this list together is making me smile, and quite frankly the last couple of weeks have been kicking my ass.
So save yourself the pain of bad horror comedies and jump straight into the best of the best. If your favorite is missing, spit bullets and let your fellow arrow heads in on the fun, too!
WARNING – GORY AND FUNNY AHEAD!
10. Dead Alive
Marketed as the goriest film ever made, Dead Alive was originally titled Brain Dead, and no matter what you call it, you’re in for one bloody good time. The pure sadistic joy that young Peter Jackson brings to this sucker soaks every damn scene. He also turns in a much more assured production than either Bad Taste or Meet The Feebles with this outstanding effort.
9. Gremlins II: The New Batch
It takes me less than one hand to count the sequels that have lived up to, or exceeded their predecessors. G2 is a very different movie, but equally good as the original. Eschewing the claustrophobic horror feel of the first, this sucker goes full on with giant set pieces, awesome new Gremlins, and sharp as nails satire that brings great laughs while also eviscerating it’s myriad targets.
8. Army of Darkness
Easily the funniest and most quotable of the Evil Dead movies, AOD also manages to be the most satisfying of the trilogy. From Ash announcing himself with authority, “This is my boomstick!”, to letting his lady down as only he can, “Sister, you got ugly,” there’s almost nothing about this flick that isn’t a ton of deadite ass-kicking fun.
7. The Toxic Avenger
Troma is many things, but subtle isn’t one of them. Taking the geek revenge story to the goriest, nudiest, sickest possible extremes, somehow this tale of a nerd transformed by nuclear waste also manages to hit more laughs than it misses while also puking a shiteload of charm into our face.
6. Slither
When I finally got a chance to check out Slither my immediate reaction was that it was the grossest, funniest, out and out awesomest horror flick that I’d seen in some time. The cast is probably the best ever assembled for a pic like this, headed by stalwarts Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks. My favorite line? “Much f*cking worse!”
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!