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Top 10 Funniest Horror Films

By Blake Kuehn · October 21, 2013

My wife doesn’t like horror movies the way I like horror movies. I love horror movies. Don’t get me wrong; we revel together in a glorious, weekly shame spiral of all things Bravo TV that is horrifying in and of itself. But it’s not like watching Friday the 13th for the umpteenth time – again – is high on her list of viewing priorities.

She’s a casual fan at best. But every now and then she throws me a curve ball. I inform her that my horror movie-watching compadres and I will be seeing a movie I assume she has zero interest in seeing – for example, You’re Next – and she responds with an enthusiastic, “I’m in!”

Ask for her thoughts about You’re Next and she responds with wild, gesticulating hands, “ohmigoditwassof’inghilarious!”

Huh?

Based on the successful, cringe-worthy marketing and advertising campaign for You’re Next, “hilarious” would not be the first word to come to most people’s minds.

But it was. It was laugh-out-loud funny!

Let’s establish two ground rules:

1)  You and I will differ as to what we find funny, but it’s quite possible we will find some semblance of common ground. Congratulations! We just avoided a site-wide shutdown. Everyone wins a trophy.

2)  This list is based on opinion and conjecture, nothing more, nothing less. If you have already declared this list a despicable travesty that’s D.O.A. since it doesn’t include gems like Gremlins, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Ghostbusters, I get it. Let’s hug it out and let the healing begin.

10. THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987)

A group of pre-teen horror movie fanatics have to find a female virgin who speaks fluent German in order to stop the forces of darkness – led by Count Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, and The Gill Man – from enslaving all of mankind.

Amazing.

Co-written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) and Director Fred Dekker, The Monster Squad is a horror-flavored action adventure flick that’s funny without being a comedy in the traditional sense.

Thanks to Black’s unique style and voice, The Monster Squad has thrilling action sequences punctuated with humorous dialogue – much like The Goonies, which was, released two years prior – that still stands up today.

Memorable Quote:

Fat Kid: Wolf Man’s got nards!

9. SATURDAY THE 14TH (1981)

A family inherits an old house and finds a book that – when opened – unleashes monsters unto the world.

Classic.

Many are quick to dismiss Saturday the 14th as “so bad, it’s good” but I argue that such feelings – although understandable – are misguided if you look at it purely from a screenplay, production, budget, and direction point-of-view.

Produced by Julie Corman and starring the real-life husband/wife duo of Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss – as well as comedic treasure Jeffrey Tambor – Saturday the 14th makes the list because when I first saw it – it scared me, it made me laugh, and I had a Super Hugs & Kisses Tiger Beat crush on Kari Michaelsen – who played the hot, older sister on Gimme A Break.

Today’s 8-year-old wouldn’t be able to make it past the opening title sequence. Probably because today’s 8-year-old could do something a thousand times more professional on an iPad in ten minutes. But the 8-year-old me in 1981 was hooked from the beginning. Monsters, vampires and an evil book – it could happen.

Memorable Quote:

Yolanda: Oh, look. Isn’t that that Bavarian boy from Budapest?
Waldemar: No, that’s a fruit bat from the Philippines.

8. PANDEMONIUM (1982)

A serial killer stalks the campers of a summer cheerleading camp that has re-opened years after a bunch of cheerleaders were brutally murdered and the killer never caught.

Friday the 13th meets Cheerleader Camp.

Bold.

Pandemonium features an amazing cast: Tom Smothers, Paul Reuben, Carol Kane, Judge Reinhold, Phil Hartman, David Lander, Eileen Brennan, Edie McClurg, and a host of other blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos. Go back through it and be surprised by the movies they reference, like Carrie, for instance.

Released during the time when intentionally funny, unintentionally genius comedies like Airplane! And Caddyshack were setting a new bar for comedy (1980-85), Pandemonium married horror with the same types of comedic timing and devices that offered veiled social commentary amidst the skewering, slashing, and my personal favorite – the toothpaste drill of death.

Memorable Quote:
Cheerleader Candy: “I’m gonna be like everybody else! I’m gonna make friends! I’m gonna have fun! I’m gonna wear make-up! I’m gonna go out with boys! I’m gonna sleep with truck drivers and get crabs and I’m gonna finally get to use my diaphragm!”

7. TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL (2010)

While on a weekend fishing trip, two hillbillies are attacked by preppies that assume they are chain-wielding murderers since they look like, well, inbred chain-wielding murderers. Bloody hilarity ensues.

Genius.

This truly is one of 2010’s genre standouts that, unfortunately, went largely unnoticed despite the favorable press it received.

Directed by Eli Craig (son of Oscar Winner Sally Field) and starring Tyler Labine (Reaper), Tucker and Dale vs Evil is as funny as it is disgusting – referencing classics like Deliverance, Evil Dead 2, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and even Fargo ala a glorious wood chipper scene.

Craig did an outstanding job of being referential, even reverential, without succumbing to clichés. If he did, I didn’t notice. I was too busy trying not to throw up and laugh at the same time.

Memorable Quote:
Dale: You thought I looked like some kind of freak?
Allison: We misjudged you, Dale. I’m… I’m really sorry.
Dale: Don’t be sorry, it’s my fault. I should have known if a guy like me talked to a girl like you, somebody would end up dead.

6. NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CLASS REUNION (1982)

A deranged lunatic – subjected to a terrible prank his senior year of high school – returns to exact his revenge upon the Lizzie Borden High’s Class of 1972.

Trenchant.

John Hughes. I could pretty much stop there. His first feature screenplay – admittedly not one of his favorites – Class Reunion pretty much tops the list of early ‘80s slasher spoofs.

The second film to be released under the “National Lampoon” banner – technically the third to be made (see NL’s Movie Madness) – Class Reunion embodies everything that was great about Hughes’ writing and early ‘80s horror flicks: unrequited love, sexual sinfulness, the bullies who never grew up, Animal House alumni and the lunch lady – played by Anne Ramsey (The Goonies).

Memorable Quote:
Hubert Downs: Let me handle this. Hey, Walter, listen, you’re making a big deal out of nothing. You’re not unique, you know. Everyone in class had sex with your sister.

5. BUD ABBOTT & LOU COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948)

Two hapless freight handlers stumble head first into the middle of a nefarious plot involving Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.), and Frankenstein’s Monster (some guy) and The Invisible Man (Vincent Price – uncredited).

Respect.

The only thing missing from this gem is Boris Karloff, who declined to appear because he thought the movie would be too demeaning to the horror genre. Despite his feelings, he would go on to help promote the movie and eventually appeared a few years later in Bud Abbot & Lou Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

World War II had just concluded a few years prior. The Armies of Good defeated the Armies of Darkness and the world needed a laugh from all that was truly horrific – with a subtle reminder that there is always something lurking in the shadows of mankind’s collective consciousness.

The top comedy duo of the day faces off with Universal’s classic monsters. Like any movie that involves Aliens, Predators, and/or Aliens versus Predators, I will always watch this movie no matter how many times it’s rerun and it always makes me laugh.

Memorable Quote:
Chick Young: You’re making enough noise to wake up the dead.
Wilbur Grey: I don’t have to wake him up. He’s up.

4. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985)

A pair of bumbling medical supply warehouse employees accidentally release a toxic gas into the air that reanimates the dead and gives them a hunger for brains.

Visionary.

The ‘80s was about being afraid of everything: Russians, nuclear war, AIDS, and my favorite, acid rain. No one was safe. Ever.

No matter the decade, zombies always seem to be the harbingers of society’s sins and ROTLD has it all. Blood. Nakedness. Preppies. Punk Rockers.

Written and directed by the man who gave us Alien and the haiku-style of screenwriting, Dan O’Bannon, ROTLD also features well-known character actors Clu Gulager, James Karen and Scream Queen, Linnea Quigley – not to mention the world’s only zombie anthem “Partytime” by seminal L.A. punk band 45 Grave.

Memorable Quote:
Burt Wilson: I thought you said if we destroyed the brain, it’d die!
Frank: It worked in the movie!
Burt Wilson: Well, it ain’t working now, Frank!
Freddy: You mean the movie lied?

3. YOU’RE NEXT (2011)

After attacking a wedding anniversary/family reunion, a trio of animal-masked attackers discovers one of the victims has a talent for surviving and fighting back.

Gripping.

You’re Next is my standout favorite horror flick for 2013. Loved The Conjuring, but there was something spectacular and magical about this solid effort from writer Simon Barrett (A Horrible Way to Die, V/H/S) and Adam Wingard.

It would be tough to make a straight call as to which film owns the Home Invasion subgenre of the last five years. It’s a toss-up between You’re Next and The Strangers. But, I’m inclined to give it to You’re Next solely on the grounds that there is some amazing humor and laugh-out-loud comedy woven into the thrilling fabric of creative, yet disgusting, violent deaths. Plus, it has Barbara Crampton. Barbara Crampton trumps Liv Tyler. If you disagree with me, I counter whatever argument you may make with: Re-Animator.

Memorable Quote:
[after Erin Beats up the Cat-Masked Man] Erin: Thanks for your help by the way.
Felix: You seem to have a handle on it.

2. ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992)

A man is transported back to Medieval times where he must battle the army of the undead in order to retrieve the Book of the Dead – the only thing that can send him home.

Quotable.

This unofficial third installment in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series is arguably the Caddyshack of the Horror genre. No one quotes Friday the 13th. Everyone quotes Army of Darkness. Want to know how I know? Everyone told me.

Chock full of Raimi’s signature dizzying, split second quick cuts, gallons of spewing blood, and Bruce Campbell’s bravado, I’m not sure if Army of Darkness could get made today…

… unless Bruce Campbell announced today (Oct 20, 2013) that there will be a follow-up to Army of Darkness. Deadites rejoice!

Memorable Quote:
Duke Henry: I am Henry the Red. Duke of Shale, Lord of the Northlands and leader of its peoples.
Ash: Well hello Mister Fancypants. Well, I’ve got news for you pal, you ain’t leadin’ but two things, right now: Jack and shit… and Jack left town.

1. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)

After years of running from his family’s infamous legacy, a young scientist inherits the family castle and resumes his grandfather’s nefarious experiments.

Timeless.

Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein is a veritable who’s who of comedic genius: Brooks, Gene Wilder, Madeleine Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Terri Garr, Peter Boyle and a host of others.

Ground Zero for all future horror spoof movies or any horror movie, for that matter, with a shred of comedy. Comedic, yet serious. A funny classic horror movie that can easily stand beside Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein and all the others.

Memorable Quote:
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius.

That’s how you do it.