Horror Comedies – Laughing in the Face of Terror
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Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Directors: Frank Capra
Writers: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein
Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey
Story: A drama critic learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs, and that insanity runs in his family.
Other Films In Series: None.
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Directors: Mel Brooks
Writers: Gene Wilder, Mel Brooks
Stars: Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman
Story: An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
Other Films In Series: None.
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Directors: Jim Sharman
Writers: Richard O'Brien, Jim Sharman
Stars: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick
Story: A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
Other Films In Series: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2016)
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High Anxiety (1977)
Directors: Mel Brooks
Writers: Mel Brooks, Ron Clark
Stars: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman
Story: Mel Brooks' parody of Alfred Hitchcock films.
Other Films In Series: None.
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The Toxic Avenger (1984)
Directors: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman
Writers: Lloyd Kaufman (story), Joe Ritter (screenplay)
Stars: Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Jennifer Babtist
Story: Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.
Other Films In Series: The Toxic Avenger Part II (1989), The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989), Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000), The Toxic Avenger: The Musical (2018), The Toxic Avenger (2023)
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Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
Directors: Rudy De Luca
Writers: Rudy De Luca
Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Joseph Bologna, Ed Begley Jr.
Story: Tabloid reporters Jack Harrison and Gil Turner are sent to Transylvania with two choices: find the Frankenstein monster or find new jobs. But before the jumpy journalists can dig up their big story, they must first face the horrors of an extremely clumsy butler, a nymphomaniac vampiress and a semi-mad doctor, as well as assorted mummies, werewolves and more Transylvanian oddballs.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Once Bitten (1985)
Directors: Howard Storm
Writers: Dimitri Villard, David Hines
Stars: Lauren Hutton, Jim Carrey, Karen Kopins
Story: A vampire Countess needs to drink the blood of a virgin in order to keep her eternal beauty. It seems that all is hopeless, until she bumps into Mark Kendall.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Directors: Frank Oz
Writers: Howard Ashman (screenplay), Howard Ashman (based on the musical play "Little Shop of Horrors")
Stars: Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia
Story: A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
Other Films In Series: The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
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Beetlejuice (1988)
Directors: Tim Burton
Writers: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson
Stars: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton
Story: A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a "bio-exorcist" in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house.
Other Films In Series: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
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The Burbs (1989)
Directors: Joe Dante
Writers: Dana Olsen
Stars: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher
Story: An overstressed suburbanite and his fellow neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block are part of a murderous Satanic cult.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
Directors: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Writers: Joss Whedon
Stars: Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry
Story: A flighty teenage girl learns that she is her generation's destined battler of vampires.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Death Becomes Her (1992)
Directors: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Martin Donovan, David Koepp
Stars: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn
Story: When a woman learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Mars Attacks! (1996)
Directors: Tim Burton
Writers: Len Brown, Wally Wood, Woody Gelman & Bob Powell (trading card series), Jonathan Gems (screenplay)
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker
Story: Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Scary Movie (2000)
Directors: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writers: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans
Stars: Anna Faris, Jon Abrahams, Marlon Wayans
Story: A year after disposing of the body of a man they accidentally killed, a group of dumb teenagers are stalked by a bumbling serial killer.
Other Films In Series: Scary Movie 2 (2001), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Scary Movie 5 (2013)
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Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
Directors: Don Coscarelli
Writers: Joe R. Lansdale (short story), Don Coscarelli (screenplay)
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce
Story: Elvis and JFK, both alive and in nursing homes, fight for the souls of their fellow residents as they battle an ancient Egyptian Mummy.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Directors: Edgar Wright
Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Story: A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Fido (2006)
Directors: Andrew Currie
Writers: Robert Chomiak, Andrew Currie
Stars: Kesun Loder, Billy Connolly, Carrie-Anne Moss
Story: Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Directors: Scott Glosserman
Writers: Scott Glosserman, David J. Stieve
Stars: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Zelda Rubinstein, Robert Englund
Story: The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo.
Other Films In Series: None.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Directors: Karyn Kusama
Writers: Diablo Cody
Stars: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody
Story: A newly possessed high school cheerleader turns into a succubus who specializes in killing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror?
Other Films In Series: None.
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Zombieland (2009)
Directors: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson
Story: A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the last Twinkie, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.
Other Films In Series: Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
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Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
Directors: Eli Craig
Writers: Eli Craig, Morgan Jurgenson
Stars: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden
Story: Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Paul (2011)
Directors: Greg Mottola
Writers: Adam Simon, Tim Metcalfe
Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen
Story: Two English comic book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.
Other Films In Series: None.
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John Dies at the End (2012)
Directors: Don Coscarelli
Writers: Don Coscarelli (written for the screen by), David Wong (based on the story by)
Stars: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti
Story: A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?
Other Films In Series: None.
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Warm Bodies (2013)
Directors: Jonathan Levine
Writers: Isaac Marion (novel), Jonathan Levine (screenplay)
Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
Story: After a highly unusual zombie saves a still-living girl from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion events that might transform the entire lifeless world.
Other Films In Series: None.
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The World's End (2013)
Directors: Edgar Wright
Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman
Story: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.
Other Films In Series: None.
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All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
Directors: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson
Writers: Lucky McKee, Chris Sivertson
Stars: Sidney Allison, Charon R. Arnold, Shay Astar
Story: A rebel girl signs up a group of cheerleaders to help her take down the captain of their high school football team, but a supernatural turn of events thrusts the girls into a different battle.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Cooties (2014)
Directors: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion
Writers: Leigh Whannell, Ian Brennan
Stars: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill
Story: A mysterious virus hits an isolated elementary school, transforming the kids into a feral swarm of mass savages. An unlikely hero must lead a motley band of teachers in the fight of their lives.
Other Films In Series: None,
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Housebound (2014)
Directors: Gerard Johnstone
Writers: Gerard Johnstone
Stars: Morgana O'Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru
Story: A young woman is forced to return to her childhood home after being placed under house arrest, where she suspects that something evil may be lurking.
Other Films In Series: None.
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Wolfcop (2014)
Directors: Lowell Dean
Writers: Lowell Dean
Stars: Leo Fafard, Amy Matysio, Sarah Lind
Story: As a series of strange and violent events begin to occur, an alcoholic policeman realizes that he has been turned into a werewolf as part of a larger plan.
Other Films In Series: Another WolfCop (2017)
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What We Do In The Shadows (2015)
Directors: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Writers: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Stars: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer
Story: A documentary team films the lives of a group of vampires for a few months. The vampires share a house in Wellington, New Zealand. Turns out vampires have their own domestic problems too.
Other Films In Series: None.
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The Babysitter (2017)
Directors: McG
Writers: Brian Duffield
Stars: Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell
Story: The events of one evening take an unexpected turn for the worst for a young boy trying to spy on his babysitter.
Other Films In Series: The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020
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