Laugh Yourself to Death — 31 Horror Comedies for Halloween
Okay, lean in, I’m going to tell you a secret... Come closer... Closer... *whispers* I don’t really like horror movies all that much.
Yeah, I know, some folks might argue it’s time to hand over my Horror Fan card, but the truth is I only really like horror movies if they:
a) involve vampires, werewolves or both,
b) have a *really* clever plot,
or c) make me laugh like a drain — even if they didn’t mean to.
So for Halloween this year, since 2020 has been an absolute dumpster fire and we could all use a little more humour, I’ve put together a list of 31 of my favourite horror comedies, one for every day in October.
(These are in no particular order, but if you wanted a month-long movie marathon, this could be a good start.)
Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004) — Salesman Shaun is plunged unexpectedly into a zombie apocalypse in the middle of suburban London. Armed with a cricket bat and some aerodynamic LP’s, he and his loved ones take to their local pub in an attempt to avoid the undead hordes.
Ravenous (Antonia Bird, 1999) — Mixing cannibalism with the Wild West, Second Lieutenant John Boyd finds himself exiled with a cavalry of cowards and losers and is taken in by the sob-story of a wandering stranger who proves you really are what you eat.
What We Do in the Shadows (Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement, 2014) — A New Zealand mockumentary starring a group of house-sharing vampires in Wellington. Reunions with lost loves, dark biddings on eBay, werewolves not swear-wolves, and what happens when vamps try to eat hot chips.
Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, 2011) — Street gang leader, Moses, and his ragtag crew find themselves amid an alien invasion that threatens their South London council estate, and must band together to save the community.
Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi, 1987) — Ash takes his girlfriend on a romantic trip to a remote cabin in the woods, unleashes evil forces from the Book of the Dead, kills his lover, becomes possessed and severs his own hand with a chainsaw. Just your typical, run-of-the-mill horror vacation.
The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987) — if there’s one thing about Santa Carla Grandpa never could stomach, it’s all the damned vampires. Divorcee mother starts a new life with her two teen sons, unaware that she’s moved to the Murder Capital of the World and might just be dating the Head Vampire.
Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009) — Rule number one: cardio. To outrun a zombie you must be in good shape. So begins the many rules that keep Columbus safe. He and three other misfit, zombie apocalypse survivors band together, take a road trip and attempt to find sanctuary away from the undead threat.
Tremors (Ron Underwood, 1990) — Val and Earl, two repairmen in small-town Perfection, Nevada, have had enough of their deadbeat lives and decide to head to the big city, just as giant, worm-like, flesh-eating monsters begin making their way to town. With the help of the community and a sassy seismologist, the two men must do what they can to beat the “Graboids”.
Dead Alive (aka Braindead) (Peter Jackson, 1992) — Nebbish Lionel lives with his domineering mother in Wellington, New Zealand. During a visit to the zoo, Mummy is bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey and subsequently begins to change. After losing her ear, eating a dog, and becoming a ravenous zombie, it’s up to Lionel to cut his apron strings, despatch his maternal tormentor and find himself true love.
Bubba Ho-Tep (John Coscarelli, 2002) — Elvis impersonator (or maybe the real thing?) is living out the rest of his years in Shady Rest Retirement Home with his only friend, Jack, a Black man who insists that he is John F. Kennedy. When the home’s inhabitants are terrorised by an ancient Egyptian mummy, Elvis and Jack hatch a plan to fight back and stop the evil creature from devouring the residents’ souls.
Housebound (Gerard Johnstone, 2014) — Kiwi young delinquent Kylie is sentenced to eight months of house arrest with her quirky mother and annoying stepfather. While she is sceptical of her mother’s insistence that the house is haunted, multiple strange occurrences begin to change her mind, and her psychologist is attacked by a ghostly assailant.
Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985) — Teen Charley Brewster is convinced that his new neighbour is a vampire and responsible for a number of strange disappearances. When his mother and the police refuse to believe him, he enlists the help of former movie vampire hunter, Peter Vincent, to rid his neighbourhood from the undead menace.
Severance (Christopher Smith, 2006) — An office team-building exercise goes terribly wrong when the group encounter psychotic Russian murders waiting in the woods. Luckily, they just happen to be part of the sales division of a military arms corporation...
Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, 1985) — Medical student Herbert West invents a reagent that can bring the dead back to life. Unfortunately, the dose is somewhat unstable and the dead should stay that way. Re-animation and decapitation are the two recurring themes as numerous zombified medical professionals run amok on the campus grounds.
Cockneys vs Zombies (Matthias Horne, 2012) — A group of feckless, Cockney bank robbers attempt to rescue their grandfather and his friends from a zombie-infested retirement home in East London.
Tucker & Dale vs Evil (Eli Craig, 2010) — Mistaken by a group of rich teenagers as a serial killer duo, Tucker and Dale are well-meaning hillbillies who have just bought their dream vacation home — a cabin in the woods. Thanks to a number of farcical events and miscommunications, death and chaos ensue, with Tucker and Dale forced to fight for their lives and expose the real killer.
Doghouse (Jake West, 2009) — Six men go off to a remote village on a “boys’ weekend” where the women outnumber the men 4 to 1, only to find that every single woman is a crazed man-eater — literally.
Deadheads (Brett Pierce, 2011) — Sentient zombie duo Mike and Brent, and their feral zombie adoptee “Cheese,” take off on a road trip to find Mike’s girlfriend as his memories slowly return. Unknown to them, they are being pursued by a vicious zombie hunter hired by an evil corporation.
Tusk (Kevin Smith, 2014) — Snide podcaster Wallace interviews retired seaman and walrus-obsessed Harold, only to end up a crucial part of his body-horror obsession to recreate his late ocean-dwelling friend “Mr Tusk”.
The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012) — A group of teens camping out in a remote cabin in the woods unwittingly unleash a family of murderous, backwoods zombies, while evil technicians in a secret underground facility monitor and manipulate their encounter.
Critters (Stephen Herek, 1986) — Psychopathic, carnivorous, fuzzy aliens known as Krites are due to be transported to an asteroid prison. They escape and hijack a space ship, with two intergalactic shape-shifting bounty hunters hot on their trail. When the aliens land in a small countryside town on Earth, the bounty hunters must do all they can to stop the Krites feasting on its inhabitants.
Zombeavers (Jordan Rubin, 2014) — A group of college teens on vacation are attacked by rabid zombie beavers, apparently given a lust for human flesh by toxic chemicals that have washed into their dam. Buck-toothed horror hilarity ensues and no one is going home unscathed.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (John de Bello, 1978) — This B movie parody tells of evil, sentient tomatoes banding together and revolting against humanity. Ridiculous, preposterous and so bad it’s hilarious.
Chopping Mall (Jim Wynorski, 1986) — Beware the shopping mall security robots, for when they go bad, they go murderous. Three high-tech robots, equipped with tasers and tranquilliser guns, go haywire and start killing the mall employees when they hold an X-rated party in the building after hours.
Bad Taste (Peter Jackson, 1987) — Aliens invade a fictional New Zealand village to harvest their organs for an extra-terrestrial fast-food chain and are (mostly) thwarted by a paramilitary foursome. Worth watching for the absurd and gory special effects.
Eight Legged Freaks (Ellory Elkayem, 2002) — A colony of spiders are exposed to toxic waste, mutate into giant, man-eating monsters and attack an American mining town.
Slither (James Gunn, 2006) — A malevolent alien parasite invades a town in South Carolina and turn the inhabitants into either gross, tentacled monstrosities or part of the hive mind controlled by the alien.
An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 1981) — David and Jack, two young Americans, go on a walking holiday in England and are attacked by a vicious creature on the Yorkshire moors. David becomes a werewolf, Jack, a slowly decomposing zombie. While Jack tries his best to convince David to commit suicide before he can hurt anyone else, David is somewhat distracted by his beautiful nurse.
Idle Hands (Rodman Flender, 1999) — As the saying goes, “the Devil makes work for idle hands,” and stoner teen Anton is definitely idle. When his parents are killed on Halloween, and his best friends are murdered too, Anton realises his possessed right hand is the culprit, and he has no choice but to cut it loose.
Dog Soldiers (Neil Marshall, 2002) — A team of soldiers from Northern England are sent on a training mission to the Highlands of Scotland where they discover werewolves are real. When the full moon rises and the pack closes in, the troop must depend on their skills and each other in order to survive.
Black Sheep (Jonathan King, 2006) — Henry, the son of a New Zealand sheep farmer, with a crippling phobia of sheep, finds out his family friend has been conducting genetic experiments on the herd and turning them into bloodthirsty monsters. It’s up to Henry to overcome his ovine fears and get rid of the terrifying Were-Sheep.
By Tabatha Wood
