10 Hilarious Horror Comedies To Watch This Halloween

On the face of it, it's peculiar that the horror comedy is such a pervading and prolific genre. You would think that the acts of being terrified and being tickled are such opposite emotions that they just don’t go together. That the scares will be neutralized by the laughs, and vice versa. Yet if you think about it, humour and horror actually appeal to a similar part of the brain as they are both quite primal reactions. And, as we've seen in many instances, they can actually complement each other very well in a movie. The jokes are stronger when put against a darker backdrop and the scares are more punctuated if they catch us while we’re laughing. Obviously, sometimes the mix miss the mark on both accounts, but other times the blend of styles produces something brilliant. From old favourites to modern classics, here are 10 hilarious horror comedies you should watch this Halloween. 10) Slither Before Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither was probably the best work in James Gunn’s filmography. Any fans of his hit sci-fi caper who haven't already done so should definitely go back and check out this gross-out masterpiece. In a splurge of B-movie excesses, monster flick gore and alien invasion intrigue, Slithers sees a race of parasitic slugs that possesses human hosts attack the people of a small southern town - led by Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks, both of whom are great value. On the slug side of things, their first victim is Banks' character's husband Grant Grant (Guardians’ Michael Rooker), which results in a repulsive yet darkly funny romance. And, well, that’s all we can really say without spoiling too much of the unpredictable narrative. On the surface, Slither is gleefully disgusting and you’ll have to watch through your fingers at points. Yet, underneath that it is a clever, subversive ode to the genre that will keep you enthralled just as much as it keeps you repulsed. 9) What We Do In The Shadows Another horror comedy director who went on to work for Marvel is Taiki Waititi, who's helming next summer’s sure-to-be blockbuster Thor: Ragnarok. Before then, though why not try his incredibly different last film – an extremely low budget vampire mockumentary, starring and co-directed by Flight of the Concords’ Jermaine Clement. What We Do In The Shadows follows four ancient and out-of-touch vampires living together in a mansion in New Zealand. Chiefly, the film derives its many laughs from blending the flat-share comedy with vampire tropes e.g. the housemates have meetings about leaving drained corpses about the place. It also gets a lot of mileage from how the gang are mostly a bit rubbish at being vampires (apart from the legitimately terrifying Nosferatu-like Petyr). The incongruity of the premise, then, is what makes What We Do In the Shadows one of the smartest and most entertaining of the glut of vampire movies in recent years. It’s good to be reminded sometimes that, though they might be undead, vampires aren't so different from us. 8) An American Werewolf in London It might now be 35 years old, but John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London still remains the most iconic werewolf film around. Partly, this is to do with the depiction of the werewolves themselves – the tremendous work from costume designer Rick Baker, first seen in that breath-taking transformation scene, remains the king of monster makeup. Yet, its longevity is also because of the film’s verbal and visual wit. American Werewolf follows David Naughton as, er, David, a young American backpacker on vacation in a spooky English village with his friend Jack. Unfortunately, and you can probably see where we’re going with this, a wolf attack leaves him suffering from a bad case of hairy back. On the back of this basic premise, the movie works so well because - rather than having a scare here and a laugh there - the horror and comedy are perfectly intertwined. For instance, the scene where the horrific, undead Jack visits David’s bedside is so tongue in cheek you’ll be caught between being grossed out and giggling. 7) The Cabin In The Woods Whether you're a diehard horror fan who has seen too many subpar slashers over the years or someone turned off by how predictable a lot of horrors can be, you need to watch The Cabin in the Woods. Like Scream before it (more on that one later), Cabin in the Woods is a subversion of those many identikit slasher movies out there. As can be gathered from the generic title, it involves a bunch of teens spending their weekend in a creepy shack in the middle of nowhere. So far, so same-y, but the twists and turns the story takes from hereon in move it far and away from the normal slasher fare. Seriously, don’t spoil it for yourself before watching. While directed by Drew Goddard, it's written and produced by Joss Whedon - and so is naturally bristling with his customary zinging dialogue and out-of-the-box ideas. Not to mention a smattering of his frequent collaborators, including Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, Amy Acker and Tom Lenk. Plus, none other than Sigourney Weaver turns up in a key role. 6) Zombieland In basic terms, Zombieland is a classic zombie movie by way of a road trip comedy – and the result is one of the standout entries in both genres. The cast is minute – there are literally only six people in the entire film – but there's not a weak link in the chain. Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and a young Abigail Breslin star as four survivors of the apocalypse travelling across country, each of them only known by their choice of destination. Famously, Bill Murray also pops up for a show-stopping cameo as himself – complete with a homage to Ghostbusters (and maybe Garfield 2). As is becoming a clear common theme of horror comedies, Zombieland derives a lot of its humour from metatextual comments about the genre, as Columbus (Eisenberg) lives by a set of rules that apparently get you through a zombie apocalypse. As well as all the laughs and gore, though, Zombieland might be the most heartfelt entry on this list, as the gang make for a very sweet ad hoc family. 5) Gremlins We almost put Ghostbusters on this list but, as funny as it is, it’s probably more supernatural-flavoured than a full-on horror. Another 80s classic is just about gleefully horrific enough to feature instead, though. Enter Gremlins. The presence of the cuddly Gizmo often fools people into thinking that Gremlins is a family film, but it is far too anarchic and rebellious to really fit that description. From the violent deaths offered out by the titular creatures to Phoebe Cates’ bleak tale of her father’s disappearance on Christmas Eve, Gremlins circumvents your expectations of the wholesome Christmas movie at every turn. The Gremlins themselves are also one of the great horror monsters. Governed by a set of oddball rules that have seeped into popular culture, these critters (no, not Critters) are full of mischief and malevolence in equal measure – they'll happily go on a murder spree and then sing along to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs afterwards. Gremlins II: The New Batch might be an underrated sequel, ramping up the cartoonish humour in place of horror, but it is the original that stands as the true classic. 4) Shaun Of The Dead The film that launched the big-screen careers of star Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright, Shaun of the Dead is a rightly beloved horror comedy that reinvigorated the genre when it first arrived back in 2004. On the one hand, Shaun is a loving homage to George Romero’s zombie movies. On the other, it totally sends up the usual tenets of those films. The hero of this tale is the slob-like Shaun, whose main goal in life is to go to pub and play video games with his best friend Ed. When the undead apocalypse happens, though, Shaun has to navigate his friends and family to safety – with less than successful results. Still the best film Pegg and Wright have done together (and probably apart as well), the strong performances of the cast – full of some of the best British comedians around – and Wright’s smart direction mean that both sides of the film come together a lot better than most horror comedies. It’s the best entry in the genre this century and, to be honest. we’re not sure when there will be another film good enough to beat it. 3) Scream There's no arguing with the fact that the late, great Wes Craven is one of the most important figures in horror history. Not only did he produce one of the flagship horrors of the 1980s in Nightmare on Elm Street, but he then rejuvenated the genre a decade later with the brilliantly meta Scream. It took someone who knew the slasher genre inside out to helm this complete deconstruction of it. A film where the masked killer asks his victims what their favourite scary movie is and the main characters try and survive by following the rules of a horror film. Interestingly, Scream also adds an element of its own – slashers aren’t usually whodunnits but this one keeps the identity of its killer a secret. Scream is more playful and subversive than overtly comic, but there are enough wry laughs and knowing smiles to be had from the film for it to count to be counted as a horror comedy. However it's classified, though, it's unarguably one of the most successful horrors over the past twenty years. 2) Evil Dead II/Army Of Darkness Though the original Evil Dead was a solid straight-up scarefest, it was in the next two movies that Sam Raimi’s horror series really made its mark on the genre – by ramping up the anarchic tone to full-on horror comedy levels. Featuring one of horror’s greatest leads in Bruce Campbell’s Ash (currently starring in TV’s Ash vs The Undead), Evil Dead II practically just reheats the plot of the first film. That really isn’t a problem, though, as this time it tells it with a feverish intensity, thanks to Campbell’s energetic performance and Raimi’s kinetic direction. The jump scares are spot-on, the laughs all find their mark and the result is a deliciously delirious experience that needs to be seen to be believed. The third movie in the franchise, Army of Darkness, also kept things fresh by trying another new approach – by dialling down the horror and cranking up the slapstick humour. While it can’t be said that it is as good as its predecessor, it is a very worthy follow-up and still remains one of the best horror comedies out there. 1) Young Frankenstein Every fan is going to have their own favourite horror comedy, but one of the unquestioned tentpoles of the genre is Young Frankenstein. The best movie from director Mel Brooks (yes, even better than Blazing Saddles), this loving spoof of the classic Universal Frankenstein movies - it's even filmed in monochrome - is practically just one long series of classic moments. The late, lamented Gene Wilder gives the funniest performance of his career as the increasingly crazed grandson of “famous cuckoo” Dr. Frankenstein (oh, and it’s pronounced “Fronkensteen”). Plus, he’s ably supported by an all-round fantastic cast including Madeline Kahn, Gene Hackman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Cloris Leachmann and Peter Boyle. If we have to pick out one, though, it would have to be Marty Feldman as the hilarious hunchbacked henchman Igor. Sure, it isn’t actually all that scary – this Frankenstein’s monster is more likely to dance to "Putting on The Ritz" than go on a rampage – but if you quantify the success of horror comedies by the latter element, then Young Frankenstein is hard to beat.