“The Greatest Horror Comedy” is the subject of Day 23 of the 30-Day Horror Challenge.
A combination of horror and comedy seems like an unlikely pairing in a movie, but it absolutely works. Maybe because the comedy part adds levity to what would otherwise be a dismal downer, but I think it has more to do with both concepts working really well in the context of something completely absurd. Aliens or robots or zombies are taking over the world… completely over the top and ridiculous, perfectly addressed in horror, but also, in comedy.
As for “The Greatest” it’s either going to be “Tucker and Dale vs Evil,” “Zombieland” or “What We Do in the Shadows.” If you’ve not seen all three of these I really recommend. I think I’m going to make the difficult choice of “Tucker and Dale vs Evil.”
This one came out a good 15 years ago, but I hadn’t heard of it until just four or five years ago when my kid and I remote-screened it together during the pandemic. It surpassed my expectations. I was thinking “this will be good for a chuckle or two” but in reality it was so hilarious and so charming, and most definitely, completely absurd! As these victims throw themselves headlong into one horrible accidental death after another while the incorrectly-assumed evil redneck psycho killers cover their eyes and ask “Why do they keep doing this!?!?!?” I actually didn’t want this movie to end. It didn’t stop being funny. A lot of these movies are good for a little bit, but then “Okay, that’s enough of this” but not the case with Tucker and Dale.
Comedy is subjective, so you may or may not agree with me, but I’ve seen an awful lot of horror movies and an awful lot of horror comedies, these past few decades, so I feel I’m not out of line declaring myself a minor authority in the matter.