I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (And Laugh)
Words by Seán O Boyle
It’s that time of year again, “Spooky Season” as true people of class call it. The time of year where we want to tantalize our greatest fears by turning off all the lights and watching some good old fashioned, playing-it-straight horror. It’s good to feel scared right? However, I would be remiss this festive season if I didn’t make the case for my favourite sub-genre in cinema: horror-comedy. Why? Because they are so much damn fun and are on equal footing with horror itself.
Horror can be one of the most captivating, engrossing and satisfying cinematic experiences. It’s also inherently one of the most absurd. Every single horror film is absurd. Take Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece The Shining (1980) for example. It creates such a feeling of dread and isolation that few other horror films have been successful in capturing. It is the hallmark of a perfect horror experience and yet it is completely absurd. From Jack Torrance’s dead eyed stare into the camera to Wendy’s shrillness, to little Danny’s “Tony” voice. It’s all ridiculous but it’s played totally straight. So, what happens when it’s not? Well, that’s where the horror-comedy comes into play.
The birth of the subgenre can be traced back to 1948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein where Hollywood took an established comedy duo and an established horror icon and said, “Now kiss.” It was the very literal definition of horror-comedy, but it was commercially successful enough to solidify the genre in the eyes of producers as one that audiences were interested in. And it’s true. Since then, the genre has taken off and is more often than not a juggernaut in the box office. Why is this though?
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), one of the earliest horror-comedies.
Well simply put, the genre recognises the inherent absurdity of horror and plays with it to the point that the audience are very much in on the joke. It’s a refreshing and fun take on a genre that many people are typically averse to. For me, horror-comedies were my gateway into being a full-fledged horror fan.
I used to be quite the chicken when it came to consuming any sort of horror media. Who would want to sit down and be tormented for ninety minutes when you could watch something that just makes you laugh? However, that all changed when I watched the modern classic Shaun of the Dead (2004). I could write a whole article on why I love this film, but I’ll give you a quick analysis of why it is the picture-perfect horror-comedy. Not only does it playfully jibe on the established tropes and cliches of the zombie-horror flick, but it also tells a compelling story and is genuinely good horror.
See that’s the key to good comedy-horror, there has to be a balance. One can’t be favoured over the other. You can’t just have the laughs, you have to have your thrills, gore, and even genuine scary moments for it all to work. But also, you mustn’t be snobby when it comes to the genre. One film I always categorised as just a screwball comedy was Ghostbusters (1984) until a recent rewatch. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a screwball comedy but one with real moments of horror that could be ripped straight from any contemporary 80s horror flick. The initial confrontation with the demonic antagonist Zuul is one full of terror and dread. Then it’s subsequently complimented with the arrival of a giant marshmallow man stomping down New York City in all it’s terrifying and hilarious glory.
Sometimes horror-comedies can improve upon horror as a genre itself. One of the most infamous examples of this is Evil Dead 2 (1987). The first Evil Dead (1981) was a straight up horror film with all kinds of ghastly demonic possessions in a forested cabin setting. Most of the performances weren’t great, the effects were very low budget, and it garnered much ire over one questionable scene involving a woman and a tree. For its sequel, director Sam Raimi was given a bigger budget and decided he would create a comedy remake of the original. Evil Dead 2 effectively retcons the first film and brings the focus from five characters to basically just one; the hero of the first, Ash Williams played by the legendary Bruce Campbell.
It plays out fairly similarly to the first film but with a goofball twist while maintaining the grithouse gore and horror that made its predecessor a cult hit. The film's most iconic scene follows after a series of horrific events wherein Ash sits on a broken chair, falls over and causes the entire cabin’s appliances, fixtures and even a mounted deer head to laugh hysterically at him. Eventually Ash joins with the possessed cabin, acknowledging the absurdity of the situation. However, his laughs soon become agonizing cries of distress, reinforcing the feeling of horror. It is one of the most entertaining scenes in horror, period. Through the genre of horror-comedy, Raimi improved upon his original vision and solidified Evil Dead as one of the perennial horror franchises.
Over the course of the 2010s, we’ve seen the genre go through a renaissance where the lines between horror and comedy have become somewhat blurred. Jordan Peele’s modern classic Get Out (2017) is indicative of this. The film starts out as pure comedy with a young black man meeting his girlfriend’s white-bread family with awkward interactions and cultural clashes aplenty. As the film goes on the elements of horror begin to reveal themselves but even then, they aren’t as clear cut as you’d imagine. On my first watch, I genuinely didn’t know whether to be humoured or horrified by certain scenes and I was left with the impression that I was supposed to feel both. The same can be said with the work of Ari Aster, namely 2019’s Midsommar. For those of you who have seen it, I’m sure the scene where one-character bakes a certain pie for another, elicits feelings of both disgust and hilarity. This maturity of the genre creates engaging cinema as it makes these films both unpredictable and unforgettable.
As much as I enjoy the popularity of horror-comedy these days, I think it’s important that horror and horror-comedy still remain separate. In a world where most big blockbusters tend to undercut every moment of tension with a quippy joke, so the audience doesn't get too bummed out, pure horror has found itself suffering. One of the most egregious examples of this was It: Chapter Two (2019) which took an almost horror-comedy approach to what was always one of the most important horror novels of the twentieth century. I know this may seem to contradict my earlier point about Evil Dead but the difference here is that It was the work of another; Stephen King. King established a feeling of dread and horror that has stuck with generations of readers so there is an expectation that an adaptation would follow suit. It: Chapter Two was a very disjointed experience, where wonderfully executed horror sequences were undercut by an oddly placed musical cue or generic quip. That same year, Mike Flanagan made a stellar adaptation of another King novel Doctor Sleep which stuck close to the horror roots and was a more consistent product. However, It ended up earning a hundred times more at the box office than Doctor Sleep, so obviously the lighter approach was more digestible for audiences. My concern here is that when every horror film takes a humorous approach, does that mean horror-comedy will become virtually unrecognizable from what it once was?
So yes, I am very passionate about horror-comedies. Perhaps to a fault. To me, they are wonderful experiences that celebrate horror as much as they caricature them. So, this Halloween season why not indulge yourself in one or two or ten as a palette cleanser from the usual horror affair you may be planning to watch.
In fact, here are some of my suggestions for some horror-comedies for you to watch this Halloween season (not including the ones I’ve mentioned above, also watch those).
Happy Halloween!
Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (2011)
Starring Alan Tudyk, this film plays with a common horror trope of where our titular characters, two well meaning hillbillies, get mistaken for slashers by some camping teens following a few unfortunate accidents. Hilarious and grisly right to the end.
Extra Ordinary (2020)
This home grown Irish horror-comedy follows a driving instructor in a small town in Ireland (Maeve Higgins) who has the ability to sense and talk to ghosts. She ends up on a mission to stop a demonic ritual being carried out by an aloof musician played by the very funny Will Forte. Essentially an Irish Ghostbusters with some very impressive effects!
What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
Certainly more comedy than horror, this mockumentary follows three vampires living in a flat share in Wellington, New Zealand. With its unique brand of quirky Kiwi humour, this was the first film to push Taika Waititi into the public sphere. It has since sparked an equally amazing TV series starring Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak and Natasia Demetriou.
Black Sheep (2006)
Another Kiwi horror-comedy, this follows a farm in rural New Zealand ravaged by a plague turning the docile herds of sheep into man-eating monsters. With plenty of gore and B-movie schlock, it’s certainly one of my guilty pleasures. It does have some impressive effects made by the geniuses of Weta Workshop!
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Starring Rick Moranis, this musical remake of the 1960 classic follows a young florist who unwittingly becomes the owner of a man-eating plant. The amazing effects and iconic soundtrack make it an absolute must watch!
Seán O'Boyle is a writer, hailing from Mayo but currently based in London. He found his passion for writing when he dabbled in stand-up comedy in his college days. Now he hones the skills he picked up into making deranged tweets . He's also an avid consumer of any and all media, the more mindless, the better. You can find Seán on Twitter.
