It's time for a new Halloween list in honor of my favorite holiday. This year I am taking a look at the best horror/comedies. Now, just to be clear, I id not consider any spoofs for this list, so even though I love Mel Brooks' 1974 masterpiece, Young Frankenstein, but it's not really an original horror flick but actually a spoof of the original 1931 Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff. There are also no scary movies that are unintentionally funny on this list. To be considered the movie had to be produced with the intention of being both funny and frightening. For example, the original Evil Dead was never supposed to be comical in any way, but gained a cult following from viewers who latched onto its campiness. Not gonna be on this list.
Here we go:
The Cabin in the Woods
Directed by Drew Goddard
Starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz and Jesse Williams
"Yes, you had "Zombies", But this is "Zombie Redneck Torture Family". Entirely separate thing. It's like the difference between an elephant and an elephant seal."
Working from an original script he co-wrote with Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods takes everything that is archetypal about the classic haunted-house-in-the-woods flick and plays with it to absurd lengths. Without spoiling too much, everything about this film seems unoriginal and formulaic until its revealed that things may not be what they seem. The final third of the movie is so awesome as our two remaining heroes uncover a secret about their predicament that makes this movie really special. It's a super clever send-up of all the clichés of the tried-and-true horror flick that manages to both surprise and make you laugh.
Gremlins
Directed by Joe Dante
Starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Corey Feldman
"You got-you gotta watch out for them foreigners cuz they plant gremlins in their machinery."
Ok, maybe this one is a stretch because many do not consider Gremlins to be a horror film, per se. But, when I saw this one for the first time as a kid there were certainly moments that qualify as frightening. What everyone should agree on, though, is that Joe Dante's quirky and eccentric take on the invading monster movie is both fun and clever. It also serves a metaphor for a common 80's paranoia for foreign domination of our economy. The mogwai and the gremlins themselves serve as representations of a reincarnated fear of eastern influence, primarily Japanese. Besides all of that, though, Gremlins is a smashing good time. It also has Phoebe Cates in it, which can never be a bad thing (see Fast Times at Ridgemont High if you don't believe me). Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: A New Batch is a very underrated piece of crazy, anarchic fun.
An American Werewolf in London
Directed by John Landis
Starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter
"I will not be threatened by a walking meat loaf!"
You can't ignore John Landis's classic werewolf tale when making a list like this. It just melds the elements of horror, comedy and tragedy so effortlessly. When two friends are attacked by a werewolf when backpacking through the moors at night, one of them is killed and the other (David Naughton) is infected with a werewolf curse. This was a dream project for Landis who, it is said, wrote the story when he was 19. Naughton is so good in this and the creature effects by Rick Baker are legendary in the annals of the medium.
Army of Darkness
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert and Ian Abercrombie
"Good? Bad? I'm the guy with the gun."
Sam Raimi is so good at this that he appears on this list twice, but more on that later. Of all the films I have chosen, Army of Darkness is the most quotable. It seriously has so many unforgettably great one-liners, all uttered by Bruce Campbell in his career-defining role of Ash Williams, that it was difficult to just pick one to head this blurb about the movie. "Hey, She-Bitch . . . . . let's go." "This is my boomstick!" "Give me some sugar, baby" "That's just what we call pillow-talk, baby". "First you wanna kill me, then you wanna kiss me . . . . blow." I couldn't resist. It's a masterclass in buffoonery, put on by one of the greatest cult actors of our time. The plot is vanilla, picking up right where Evil Dead 2 left off, with Ash finding himself marooned in medieval times, trying to find the Necronomicon that can return him to his own time. In order to get the book he will have to take on a literal army of Deadites to hilarious effect.
Dead Alive (Braindead)
Directed by Peter Jackson
Starring Timothy Balme, Diana Penalver, Elizabeth Moody and Ian Watkin
"I kick ass for the Lord!!!"
This may be the goriest movie of all time. There are times it is so gross that you think it couldn't possibly go further than it has and in the next scene it surpasses itself. When his mother (Elizabeth Moody) is infected by a strange virus that is passed on by a Sumatran monkey, young Lionel (Timothy Balme) does everything he can to hide her hideous transformation from everyone. But it isn't long before she is a zombie and turning others as well. His solution? Hide them all in his basement. It isn't the best plan, and soon he has a zombie baby on his hands. If all of this sounds ridiculous, it is. But under the expert direction of a then unknown, Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Dead Alive is horror taken to the height of absurdity and then beyond. Any film that has a kung-fu master Catholic priest who takes on a horde of the undead with his fists is gonna get my attention.
They Live
Directed by John Carpenter
Starring Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster and Peter Jason
"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum."
More of a satire then broad comedy, what I consider John Carpenter's last great film also finds time for camp. The late Roddy Piper is actually pretty good in a role that was written for longtime Carpenter collaborator, Kurt Russell. Piper is a drifter who happens upon an underground movement that has developed sunglasses that allow the wearer to see that a vast percentage of the human populace are actually aliens who have subliminally subjugated us through mass consumerism. At first one might easily write They Live off as B-movie fare, but this is easily one of Carpenter's most overtly social conscious pictures. Its also a lot of fun, especially the epic slugfest between Piper and Keith David as the former desperately tries to get the latter to try on the sunglasses and see the truth that he has seen.
Shaun of the Dead
Directed by Edgar Wright
Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis and Dylan Moran
"Look, I don't care what the telly says, all right? We HAVE to get out of here. If we don't they'll tear us to pieces, and that is really going to exacerbate things for all of us."
Edgar Wright burst onto the scene with this British cult classic that happened to, along with a few other films like Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, jumpstart the zombie movie genre. Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a lovable loafer who has no ambition in life, other to hang out with his best friend, Ed (Nick Frost) and go to the local pub. That may be why his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), decides to dump him. And to make matters worse, a zombie apocalypse breaks out. The only thing Shaun can do is prove his worth to Liz by racing to rescue her and her friends from certain death. Shaun of the Dead is non-stop entertainment from beginning to end, but its also got a warm heart. It takes the cliché rom-com trope of the placing the guy who can't get it together and makes him the hero he always dreamed of being. Brilliant movie!
Evil Dead 2
Starring Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry and Dan Hicks
"Gimme back my hand... GIMME BACK MY HAND!!!!!"
This is it. The pinnacle of this niche genre and the perfect melding of horror, gore, camp, and comedy. In 1987 Sam Raimi released the sequel to his surprisingly successful first Evil Dead and people were surprised when they were given not a sequel at all, but essentially a remake. But, not just any remake, Raimi would decide to create a balls-to-the-wall send-up of the previous Evil Dead with star, Bruce Campbell creating a character that would endure for decades. Ash Williams is a truly iconic character that Campbell plays to hilarious perfection. Alone for the first half of the movie, Ash is attacked by an invading spirit looking to possess his soul. When it eventually infects his hand we are given one the single greatest moments of physical comedy ever on film as our hero literally battles his own hand.
It's clear that Raimi was having a blast making this movie. The inventiveness of the camera movements, insane zooms and tracking shots are now legendary among those who find such stuff impressive. The movie mixed practical effects with stop motion effortlessly and while many may call its look dated, for me, watching it again tonight for the first time in years I was reminded how ingenious it was. Evil Dead 2 will make you laugh out loud one moment and then grow squeamish the next. It's outrageous fun if you don't mind the violence, and it lets Bruce Campbell create a fantastically ridiculous character. Look for him and Raimi to return to the series that made their careers in Starz's new series, Ash vs. Evil Dead, which premiers tonight.
Happy Halloween!!
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