Tag Archives: Dark Comedy

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

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The first time I ever saw “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was back in 1993 when the FOX Network in New York decided to air it one Halloween. My brother and I sat down to watch it thinking we were in for a horror movie. And we tuned in to watch the cult musical with the audience following along with every single moment on-screen. Twenty minutes in it was the first time I literally asked “What the fuck is this?” Then I turned the channel and never looked back. Many years later, while I’m not rabid for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” I do tend to appreciate it for being so entertaining and daring.

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The Lost Boys (1987)

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It’s pretty rare for a horror comedy to be so very funny while also serving up a genuine sense of terror with every laugh. Though the comedy does intend to spark raucous chuckles, most of it is based around the uneasiness of the situations present. The final showdown in the finale is hilarious, but only because our characters are in such severe danger and are at risk of being torn apart if they don’t step lively. “The Lost Boys” is a flawless vampire film that is so steeped in the eighties, and still manages to retain the timelessness just the same. It’s about two brothers being pulled in opposite sides of the war against good and evil, and their accidental introduction to a city that’s the stomping ground for a clan of century old vampires.

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Gremlins (1984)

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gremlins-quadIt’s interesting that Joe Dante’s “Gremlins” is the inadvertent start of a sub-genre that would copy “Gremlins” in every aspect, except for its appealing story and characters. There’s never been a more interesting film creature than the Mogwai simply because it’s so enigmatic. Surely, Gizmo is an adorable creature in our reality, but I’ve always wondered what he’s thought of in his own time. Is Gizmo an adorable but menacing beast that’s hunted by local villagers? Or is he cherished beast that needs to be respected lest he breed his own evil spawn? Is there a caretaker for the Mogwai assigned through time? And does Gizmo (played memorably by Howie Mandell) ever breed any good copies of himself?

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Leprechaun 2 (1994)

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So apparently, not only does the leprechaun value his gold beyond all else, but he also requires a bride, too. His convoluted rules are that if the bride sneezes three times and no one but the leprechaun blesses her, he can marry her and she’s eternally bound to the knee high monster. The sequel to “Leprechaun” opens in ancient Ireland, where the leprechaun agrees to free his man servant, once he chooses his bride. Unaware the bride is the servant’s gorgeous daughter the servant outwits the leprechaun, causing him to look elsewhere for his bride. Which takes a thousand years on St. Patrick’s Day, for some reason.

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Leprechaun (1993)

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I remember the first time my brother and I asked my parents if we could rent “Leprechaun” from the video store. My dad responded with “No way! You guys won’t be able to look at a box of Lucky Charms for a month!” Suffice it to say he did rent it after we begged, and not only did the movie not scare us, but it bored us to tears. You can just sense that writers behind the concept were running low on mythical monsters to turn in to horror villains. Trolls were taken, as were elves, so the leprechaun seems like a logical but failed next step.

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My Boyfriend’s Back (1993)

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my-boyfriends-backIt’s unusual how a film made in 1993 actually feels like it was made in 1983. And that’s likely because of producer Sean Cunningham and composer Harry Manfredini, both of whom inject an eighties atmosphere that makes Bob Balaban’s “My Boyfriend’s Back” a surreal but entertaining zombie romance comedy with a very funny script by Dean Lorey. It even has something of a Tim Burton aesthetic where the small town the story is set feels perpetually stuck in the fifties despite being the nineties.

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Life After Beth (2014)

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Director Jeff Baena’s zombie romance comedy is one part “Death Dream,” one part “Zombie Honeymoon,” and two part indie romance. It’s an eerie and gross allegory about breaking up, and being able to let go, no matter how horrifying it is. Though “Life After Beth” is grating at times with a self awareness that can be on the nose sometimes, Baen definitely captures the spirit of a tragic romance, and a brutal zombie film in a disgusting hybrid. Dane DeHaan plays Zach, a lovelorn young man whose girlfriend Beth dies after being bitten by a snake while taking a hike. After mourning, and displaying an unusual bond with Beth’s parents, Zach discovers by accident that Beth is actually alive.

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