Horror comedies have been beloved for decades for their smart mixture of creepy moments, dark comedy, silly spoofs, and frightening moments. Typically, horror comedies will take on and make fun of horror clichés that are common and recognizable in regular horror movies. Some familiar examples of horror comedies are Shaun of the Dead and The Cabin in the Woods.
The genre has been popular for a long time, with Bruce G. Hallenbeck’s story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow being labeled as the first great horror comedy. In film, Abbott and Costello made horror comedies for perhaps the first time with their crossovers with famous Universal monsters beginning in the 1940s. There is something unnerving and satisfying about laughing one moment and peeking through your fingers the next, with humor and horror often working in tandem. Scary comedies, although they employ clichés, have a way of being unpredictable.
The filmmakers who worked on Shaun of the Dead and The Cabin in the Woods both describe their projects as “love letters” to the horror genre. According to Screen Rant, Simon Pegg says that Shaun of the Dead was made “with complete devotion to George Romero, and to zombies.” Director of The Cabin in the Woods, Drew Goddard, tells CBS news something similar, saying that one of their goals with the film was to “celebrate horror movies.” The horror comedies of the 1990s are similar in their celebration of the genre but include their own gritty but humorous style. Here are the best horror comedies of the 1990s, ranked.
10 Arachnophobia
The 1990 horror comedy Arachnophobia is about an infestation of killer spiders and is a film you shouldn't miss. The movie stars beloved and hilarious actors Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. Located in a small California town, a doctor, played by Daniels, and an exterminator, played by Goodman, team up to eliminate an aggressive spider infestation that is picking off many people in the town. While it's not really scary (unless you literally have arachnophobia), its use of the creepy crawly creatures is extremely entertaining, and the performances are comically delightful.
9 The People Under the Stairs
Director Wes Craven, responsible for creating the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, released The People Under the Stairs in 1991. The film tells the story of two robbers and a boy who attempt to steal a couple’s valuable coin collection but end up being trapped within the house instead. Quickly, the group realizes that the couple is strange and that they are hiding some pretty disturbing things.
The film portrays gentrification, class warfare, and capitalism in a satirical way. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has been called a “Gonzo black comedy” while critic S.C. Dacy of Empire calls it a “disturbing ride and a hard-hitting political statement.”
8 Ravenous
This 1999 film, a horror comedy western starring Guy Pearce and Robert Carlyle, is sure to leave you laughing and shaking. While the film suffered during its production, losing its first director and operating on a limited budget, the movie has since become a cult film. Critic Brian Eggert says the film “fascinatingly occupies various genres throughout and yet never gives into any one of them” and concludes that the project is “a ride.”
Although the film was not popular upon release, it maintains the unique and unpredictable structure of many horror comedies. The film follows a rural military outpost in the 19th century when Captain Boyd and his regiment must go on a rescue mission. During the rescue, they are stalked by a clever cannibal and end up fighting for their lives.
7 The Frighteners
Well-known director Peter Jackson released The Frighteners back in 1996 and received positive reviews upon its debut. The movie stars Michael J. Fox, star of Back to the Future, as an architect named Frank Bannister who dabbles in necromancy after the death of his wife.
Frank uses his abilities to befriend ghosts and send them to haunt potential clients, who he then charges for performing exorcisms. Soon after, Frank discovers that a ghost of a mass murderer, who is able to target the living and dead, is on the loose. Frank must use his skills to stop it.
6 Tremors
In the classic, funny monster movie Tremors, two handymen named Val McKee, played by Kevin Bacon, and Earl Bassett, played by Fred Ward, notice odd activity in their rural community of Perfection, Nevada. A rash of mysterious deaths breaks out, prompting Val and Earl to investigate along with seismologist Rhonda, portrayed by Finn Carter.
Shortly, it becomes clear that the town is being attacked by prehistoric, wormlike creatures who emerge from underground. Tremors received positive reviews and have been named a “goofy delight” on Rotten Tomatoes.
5 Cemetery Man
Cemetery Man is a freakish 1994 film directed by Italian filmmaker Michele Soavi and stars British actor Ruppert Everett. The movie follows the quirky life of the caretaker of an Italian cemetery who is in search of romance. During his quest for love, he is tasked with battling dead people who have come back to life.
Cemetery Man is a co-production between three countries, those being Italy, France, and Germany. Some critics have labeled the story as messy, but it’s guaranteed to deliver the goofiness and trademark unpredictable behavior of horror comedies.
4 Scream
Another well-known Wes Craven film, Scream is about a high school student, Sidney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, and her friends in the community of Woodsboro who become the prey of a masked killer in a Halloween costume. What is unique about this Craven film is that its characters openly discuss horror clichés as they occur, making fun of movies like Halloween and Friday the 13th.
In his review, Roger Ebert appreciates the “in-jokes and self-aware characters” but was critical of the excessive gore; however, true horror fans couldn't get enough and the film did very well, sparking a long-running franchise. Many believe that Scream changed the horror genre for good, injecting irony and postmodernism into the mainstream, and they're not wrong.
3 Dead Alive (Braindead)
Peter Jackson, director of The Frighteners, made multiple cult classic horror comedies, but Dead Alive may be the best. This 1992 New Zealand film is a zombie comedy and follows a man, Lionel, and his controlling mother, Vera. Conveniently, when Lionel sparks up a romance with a woman named Paquita, Vera is bitten by a terrible monkey creature. Vera quickly turns into a zombie and begins to spread the virus throughout the city of Wellington.
Dead Alive, referred to as Braindead outside of North America, was a box-office failure but gained a cult following later on. Aside from being a goofy zombie classic, Dead Alive has been named one of the goriest movies of all time by Dark Universe.
2 Army of Darkness
Sam Raimi, the filmmaker and actor responsible for the Evil Dead franchise and the Spider-Man trilogy, came out with Army of Darkness in 1992. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead franchise and tells the story of Ash Williams, portrayed by Bruce Campbell when he gets trapped in the Middle Ages and must defeat an army of undead to return to the present.
Although many felt that it did not match up to the first two films, the movie later gained a generous cult following and praise for its bizarre aesthetic, combining goofy slapstick and over-the-top horror and medeival imagery to great effect.
1 From Dusk Till Dawn
A horror classic starring George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino (who also wrote the film), Salma Hayek, and Harvey Keitel, From Dusk till Dawn is a 1996 horror comedy directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. The film tells the story of two brothers, played by Clooney and Keitel, who kidnap a family as hostages as a tactic for crossing the Mexico border. Unfortunately, the brothers’ plan goes awry when they get trapped in a saloon full of vampires. Like other films on this list, this Tarantino film became a cult classic.
Be sure to check out these horror comedies for a laugh and a scare before October 31st!