[Hatter313]

Hey guys,

So I've been working on an idea fora book for a while now and I wanted to get some input. I'm writing a pop culture study of horror-comedy/camp/and rock and roll, and how they all feed off each other, and i wanted to get a feel out there for what peoples fav's of the genre are.

personally, I'd have to say some of the tops are: Evil Dead II, TCM II, Re-Animator, Scream, and probably the grand daddy of them all: Bride of Frankenstein. (even if people didn't get the joke until later) They could be horror with a bit of comedy, they could be comedy that has a horror setting (young Frankenstein, army of darkness..etc.)

I'm going to make a distinction in the book between horror movies that have comedic elements and comedy's that use horror tropes for a gag, but i'd like to hear what you guys think.

Anyway, thanks in advance for the input, if i ever write the thing and get it published y'all will get a shout out at the least! ha.

[Spun out of control]

Evil Dead II would probably be tops for me too... and examples such as Peter Jackson's Braindead from 20 years ago... but more recent deliberately B-movie examples such as Slither, Black Sheep and 8 Legged Freaks were also pretty good.

There are loads of horror comedy examples when you start to think about it - intentional or otherwise. On top of that even the most horrific movies tend to off-set the gore with a little gag now and again.

[Occhionero]

Some I like:

Shaun of the Dead
Juan of the Dead
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
An american Werwolf in London
The fearless Vampire Killers
Staplerfahrer Klaus

[Whip Wilson]

Split Second and Tremors spring to mind.

[Hatter313]

oh tremors is a personal fav of mine too!

Good call on peter Jackson's early work @Spun, He probably gets his own chapter between bad taste and dead alive.

Fearless Vampire Killers is interesting 'cause i think it highlights the particular unintentional (or later intentional) camp of Hammer, which is a whole section of my outline.

And American werewolf should have been on my initial list, i always forget how perfect a blend that movie is.

Keep 'em coming guys, thanks so much. this may give me the drive to actually write the damn thing proper.

[Hatter313]

love slither!

[Spun out of control]

Ah, Peter Jackson's The Frighteners is another one... and the Christmas horror comedy Rare Exports from a couple of years ago.

Arguably Street Trash, Basket Case etc are other obvious ones - then there's a whole slew of Troma titles.

[Hatter313]

LOVE the Frighteners, its like Beetlejuice written by stephen king. it was actually supposed to be a tales form the crypt movie, but zemeckis felt the script was too good to not be a standalone.

Rare exports was very cool, i'll have to give that mention for sure. at least in terms of the "evil santa" trope. (silent night...etc)

I think Troma will have to get its own section really, and i was never a big Troma guy to begin with so i need to really dive into it to round out the book, i also think i need to bring up Return of the Living Dead, since it might be the epitome of horror and rock and roll's relationship.

[Dollarhyde]

Interesting subject. Maybe on some level horror and comedy have much in common, a sense of taboo?

What you said got me thinking of classic one liner puns. Made famous by the likes james bond or arnie. Typically just after a violent, or sexual scene in the movie.


Maybe the comedy is used to quash the darkness of the violence or horror.

[Hatter313]

@Dollarhyde

That's part of my thesis really, that the grotesque and the comedic live on such a fine line that we, as consumers of the media, choose whether to laugh or be repulsed. sometimes the clue's are there for our brains to pick up on, but just as often its our own experiences that dictate the response we have. Grace Zabriske talks about a moment when critics asked her about a scene in the Twin Peaks Pilot where she finds out about Laura. apparently some people laughed at how melodramatic it seemed and the reporter asked her if she was offended that it was taken like that, or if she was playing the scene for laughs. I think its the same for a lot of things. a zombie fighting a shark is pretty damn hysterical, but if i was there in person, i probably wouldn't be laughing. boiled down, the clown is a symbol of laughter, yet who on earth isn't afraid of them.

[Dollarhyde]

Brilliant! Would that be Laura's mother, she freaked me out big time when I was young when it first aired, maybe 13?
Would love to read the finished work, good luck with your thesis.

A zombie fighting a shark is also damm awesome.

Not horror but Pink flamingoes is certainly bad taste, disgusting and hilarious

[Hatter313]

Thanks man!

[Whip Wilson]

Rare Exports is a good call, Spun, as is early Jackson.

[EvanCampbell]

Brain Damage
Bad Taste
April Fool's Day

[deafmetal]

Don't forget the more mainstream 80's cheese:

The 'Burbs
Nothing But Trouble

[antimax]

My favorite sub-genre! I'd have to say, although he's strayed from his roots, Sam Raimi is the king of horror-comedy for me. DRAG ME TO HELL was still awesome.

For this sub-genre, I feel that the movie has to not only be funny, but also actually sort of scary, or at least gross/disturbing. There's PLENTY of funny movies set in the "horror world", but many of them don't have any scary or disturbing aspects.

Peter Jackson, as others have mentioned as well; a master of this stuff. Honestly I have great disappointment that someone with as much awesome original creative vision as him has now submitted most of his life over to someone else's vision with LOTR and that Hobbit stuff. It's a damn shame….

[antimax]

A couple fun ones to throw in to the mix:

Shock em' Dead
Slumber Party Massacre 2
Hack O Lantern
Fright Night

[EvanCampbell]

leprechaun or wishmaster films...probably not scary or funny

[Whip Wilson]

Fright Night is a great choice, antimax, and I couldn't agree more with your points on Jackson's modern cannon. Not the most popular opinion, I've found, so I generally keep it to myself.

[deafmetal]

Peter Jackson used to talk about making Meet The Feebles 2.

[Whip Wilson]

Dare to dream...

[Purplemule74]

I'll put a vote in for the Fearless Vampire Killers. There is something about how that film is pieced together that appeals to me, although I can't exactly point to a single elemental point.

[DISCOSUCKS...]

Monster Squad!

Vamp!

Gremlins!

Return of the Living Dead!

Creepshow!

House!

Night of the Creeps!

Bubba Ho-Tep!

Severance!

Accion Mutante!

The Lair of the White Worm!

Society!

...and screw The Cabin in the Woods!

[EvanCampbell]

Society...good one there was talk for ages about a sequel.

[DISCOSUCKS...]

!!! :O