Horror Comedies (Patreon)

Lately I've been posting bookish posts in an attempt to make your TBR insurmountable because I like to share my pain. Since it is the spooky season, I thought I'd take a moment to add to your To Watch list instead. Here is a short list of horror comedies--my favorite kind of horror movies--to watch this spooky season. (Or any season.)

Werewolves Within was obviously going to be on my list because werewolves. Also, because I love Harvey Guillén. Sam Richardson, who plays the lead, however, is an absolute delight. This movie is both funny and lighter on the horror side, if you like your horror movies mild.

What We Do in the Shadows you have two options for this one, film, which came first, and has Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement or the TV show, which has, quite frankly, an A+ cast. I recommend both! TV spin offs can often be terrible, but this one is it's own beast and very funny. While it can be a bit gore heavy at times, it's not scary.

Psycho Goreman if you ever saw and Troma films back in the day, my friend described this best as "Troma with a heart." It's low budget, super weird, and has buckets of blood. While it is quirky and gore-heavy, not actually scary.

Tucker and Dale vs Evil--this movie...I love this movie. Tyler Labine (who was also in Reaper, which had a HMCN tone to it) and Alan Tudyk are great in this reversed take on the hillbilly slasher flick. While super funny, it's also, well, a slasher flick. So if blood/gore/graphic death is not your bag, skip it.

The Final Girls--this movie is a take on the Final Girl premise, and a bit of a Ground Hog day type film. It's also a little bit about grief. Again, slasher style violence, so be prepared for that. There's also a scene in this movie that made me laugh so hard I had to pause the movie.

Ready or Not I saw this one in the theaters and loved it so much I bought it as soon as I could. Funny, well-cast, and containing a few scenes that had me grimacing in sympathy because ouch this one is well worth your time.

The Babysitter--finally a movie for those of us that thought for sure our babysitters were in some sort of cult. Goofy fun.

Happy Death Day  is another groundhog day-esque horror movie with a repeating timeline. Despite having a few potholes/logic problems, it was still fun to watch and we had a good time.

Cabin in the Woods is another one of those films that turns horror tropes around and looks at them hard. Very funny, cool creepy visuals, and a young Hemsworth. Can't really go wrong.

Shaun of the Dead isn't actually my favorite of the Cornetto trilogy (that's Hot Fuzz), but I do love it dearly. As much a fun exploration of zombie movies as it is about friendships and what it means to grow up.

Grabbers is a funny take on the alien monster invasion, Irish-style, starring Richard Coyle (he was in both Coupling and Going Postal) and one of my favorites.

Extra Ordinary is another Irish horror comedy, heavy on the comedy. Will Forte is in it, as well as people who can see ghosts, we thought it was a lot of fun.

Stan Against Evil only lasted a few seasons, but it's a fun take on the whole witch/demon haunting thing, and star John McGinley at his sarcastic best (He was on Scrubs), and Deborah Baker Jr. is a scene-stealer as his daughter. Written by Dana Gould, comedian and Simpsons writer, we were bummed when this one didn't get another season.

Los Espookys is definitely meant to be more comedy than anything and is delightfully quirky and odd. I only saw season one, though, Julio Torres's character was another household favorite.

Attack the Block--this one is more horror than comedy, and another alien invasion story. (If you have trouble with British accents, I recommend subtitles on this one.) This movie had a fairly small budget but they did an amazing job with it.

Get Duked--this one is an offering from Scotland and does have Eddie Izzard in it. It's a play on the "teens get stuck in the wilderness" trope and does involve a rave in a barn with a bunch of older folks in cozy sweaters, which apparently is my new life goal. Not spooky, but some surprise gore.

Black Sheep is a New Zealand offering and hands down one of my favorite films. This one falls into the category of, "if you like this, we'll probably be friends." It is funny, but also very gory, and the effects are by Weta and they do an AMAZING job. You can't really go wrong with killer sheep. (Obviously not the Chris Farley/David Spade one.)

Dead Alive--you need a strong stomach for dead alive. (Or outside the US, Brain Dead.) There is a scene that actually turns my stomach and I didn't know that was possible. It's an early Peter Jackson film and the reason that, when they announced the director for the Lord of the Rings, I was shocked. "They're going to give that guy a big budget?" To be fair, he did a good job with LOTR, and I do love Dead Alive, which was the bloodiest movie ever made for many years, but I will never forgive him for Meet the Feebles.

Arachnophobia--I saw this one in the theaters when I was just a wee-Lish and couldn't put my hand into my candy box the entire movie. Funny and spooky, but also okay for younger watchers.

Lost Boys--I love this movie so much. The best part now is watching it with my kids and trying to explain why everyone has 80's rocker hair.

Zombieland is another house hold favorite. Funny with a lot of zombie jokes, but also some good character development.

House is another offering from the 80's and has (I always thought) genuinely spooky moments. The main character is a writer, which is always fun to see portrayed on the screen (because seriously, we have the most boring jobs to watch). The main character is essentially in a haunted house while he deals with losing a child and Vietnam flashbacks. (There's another movie with this name, but I'm talking about the one from 1985.)

Okay, I'm 100% sure I'm going to post this and then remember several that I absolutely loved, but this list is already long. Any that you love that I didn't mention? Put them in the comments. Seen all these and want more suggestions? Let me know!

-Lish