"Can comedies be horror movies? Or vice versa?" Topic

A comedy should have funny moments.
A horror movie should have horrifying moments.
Can a movie be both?

I offer for your consideration:
An American Werewolf in London. Very funny with some decent horror bits.

Gremlins. (Which can also qualify as a Christmas movie!) quite a few laughs.

Ghostbusters has few horror bits, but I'm leaving it up for discussion. I'm ambivalent. Although the bureaucrat who shuts down the containment is truly horrifying.

"Dr Strangelove" and "Brazil" both spring to mind.

I thought that's what Dark Comedy is

I'm going to come down firmly on the side of "not sure" for now. No question the same basic plot can be developed into a number of genres. Some plots can be--I think often have been--used for both romantic suspense and straight adventure, or detective and romantic suspense. And I've seen "The Seven Samurai" done as Western, Sword and Sandals, SF and fantasy RPG.

But my inclination is to think that it's precisely the plot development--what's sketched in, what's detailed, what emotions the creator is trying to evoke, and where the whole thing is headed--which define a genre. And if that's true, then no. Real horror is not headed for a happy place. Comic moments are false hope. And comedies have to end happily for the people the audience cares about. Scary moments are there to evoke comic reactions. But of our various and inconsistent genres, horror and psychological suspense are probably the two I've read and seen least of, and am least sure I have a good grip on.

Let me add to the list "Arachnophobia" and "Bats." I'd rate Arachnophobia as comedy and Bats as adventure, but if you said movies could be both, they'd both qualify. Perhaps also Rutger Hauer's "Split Second?"

There have been several Zombie comedies, and one was a musical.

Sean of the Dead, Zombieland…

Young Frankenstein?

The Fearless Vampire Killers (aka Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck and Dance of the Vampires). Admittedly the horror scenes really aren't particularly horrifying, nor is the comedy all that funny. But it has Sharon Tate in a bath.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton. The film features Count Dracula, who has partnered with Dr. Sandra Mornay in order to find a brain to reactivate Frankenstein's monster, and they find Wilbur Grey, the ideal candidate…

Wikipedia: link

Yes, but ones that are actual horror scary in the combo are rare. Shaun of the Dead is sterling example.

Most are just comedy in a horror framework. Abbot Costello Meet the Mummy is just brilliant comedy riffing on the Universal Mummy tropes. The Ghost and Mister Chicken, also great comedy, not so much actual horror content.

The 80s and 90s were kind of a wasteland with Hollywood pumping out horror-comedies to capture the teen girls and date-night market, and actual horror films ran scarce.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Hilarious, with some true moments of horror. Or visa versa. It's also a great satire. And a parody. Plus, it's a pretty original concept.

Well, there are certainly a lot of comedies that are really horrible

"Motel Hell"

Lon Chaney Jr. said that he "used to enjoy horror films when there was thought and sympathy involved. Then they became comedies. Abbott and Costello ruined the horror films: they made buffoons out of the monsters…"

Army of Darkness… I fell out of my chair laughing hysterically, for most of it, but there were a few moments that shocked and startled me. The other movies in that series have some startling moments along with their hilarious moments. They are superb, IMO. Cheers!

"Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things", and "The Baby".

Yes.

Bad Taste. Peter Jacksons first movie.

Yes, when I scan Tubi, Sling or other services, many pop up

Rocky Horror Picture Show
Little shop of Horrors (both the original and the musical)

It's a very well established combo genre, but really frightening to see how much it has overshadowed actual horror movies from the 1980s onward. Much more frightening when you consider how many fewer films of all types have been getting made with each passing decade.
link

Shadow of the Vampire. Who's the bigger bloodsucker, Herr Direktor Murnau or Count Orlok?
Spoiler alert: Funny in many places but the ending is rather disturbing.

Dog Soldiers.

"It's okay, I just didn't make it out this time, it goes with the job. When I signed my away on that dotted line, I ----ing meant it. I am a professional soldier."

Dog Soldiers.

"It's okay, I just didn't make it out this time, it goes with the job. When I signed my away on that dotted line, I ----ing meant it. I am a professional soldier."

Followed just five minutes later by "There is no Spoon."

Surely it should be "signed my LIFE away?" Ought to be a noun in there, anyway.

My ultimate authority is the American Film Institute.

link

For example here is the listing for "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

link

They do a data mach to determine the genre. Dr. Strangeland falls within the "Black Comedy" genre.

n.b. the recent Most Watched Horror Film poll showed that TMPers on the whole are not horror film watchers and will stretch most anything to count as a 'horror film' rather than voting 'Not my genre' or 'None of the above'.

So this likewise, any philosophical discussion on the topic is going to skew off-beat with entries like Dr. Strangelove and Brazil. Dystopian ain't nice, but it ain't horror.

Once again I see the "need" to shove something into one pigeonhole and only one. Ever hear of a Venn diagram? Google it.

I never let anyone make my decisions on what something is. I am in no way obliged to accept the judgement of the American Film Institute. That's not scientific. I also do not accept some film flam committee downgrading Pluto! Take that, Neil!
Harrumph!

If, IN MY OPINION, I wish to classify a movie in two categories, that is my absolute right.
Can a Western be a Comedy? If you wish to shove Blazing Saddles into one and only category, that is your right. But I don't have to accept your opinion.

"An American Werewolf in London" is a fine horror film. It is also a great comedy.

As the mob chants in "Monty Python's Life of Brian", "We must all think for ourselves!"

Things can certainly be in multiple categories. But taking a sharpie to the Venn diagram is somewhat of a specialty around these parts.

Rare Exports (2010), is a superb example of Christmas-Horror-[deadpan]Comedy!

I don't let AFI make my decisions either but almost every time I pick a films genre I then go there and we agree. Sometimes they will put films into more than one genre and they do use AI to help categorize them. That's a good thing in this case. AFI is a great tool although some folks think they know better than those highfalutin experts. Well excuse me.

Can a Country song be Rock?
Can a Rock song be Country? 🤔🎼🎶
Is Southern Rock Country?

I enjoy the black and white of 30's and 40' scomedy/horror movies.

Muppet Christmas Carol.

Gremlins