There are a plethora of traditional monster, slasher, and gore films, but what about options for those less interested in traditional genre offerings?
Happy Halloween! With most of the country still predominately shut down, it’s likely that costume parties and trick-or-treating will not be available for most this year. This means that one major Halloween tradition will be more important than ever: scary movies. While there is a plethora of traditional monster, slasher, and gore films to fill out the season, what about options for those less interested in traditional genre offerings? Do you like to laugh while being scared? If so, horror-comedy is a great way to allow humor to diffuse the tension. This is a hard balance to strike, due to the polarity of laughter and fear, but when done right, films can scare and amuse in the same scene. This is especially effective when handled with a self-aware edge. Horror-comedy sounds like a bit of an oxymoron. One genre is intended to terrify, the other to make you laugh. The relative extremes of both, however, can combine beautifully to make films that are equal parts frightening and hilarious. Some of my favorite horror movies have had comedic edges while still bringing legitimate scares. It’s a tough tonal balance, but these films achieve it beautifully. It would have been so easy for “Jennifer’s Body” to be phoned in and boring, another paint-by-numbers flick about a man-eating demonic cheerleader. That’s exactly what audiences and critics viewed it as when it first came out, boasting a tragic 45 percent on rotten tomatoes. In recent years, however, it has gained cult status, and deservedly so. Diablo Cody, fresh off winning an Oscar for “Juno,” penned a script that is filled to the brim with quips and fun characters, and Megan Fox delivers the only good performance of her career thus far. While the first “Evil Dead” film has a charming, campy quality, it’s a disturbing straight horror. The closer of the trilogy, “Army of Darkness,” is more of a fantasy action-comedy. The middle entry, “Evil Dead II,” is the perfect example of how horror-comedy can excel in both genres. Bruce Campbell stars as the arrogant, selfish, charming everyman who must face the demon versions of his friends after they stumble upon an evil book in the cabin-in-the-woods they rented for spring break. Sam Raimi’s direction, Campbell’s performance, and fantastic creature design turn this film into a masterpiece of horror and humor. Sometimes, the clichés of the horror genre can get tiring. The genre is permeated with strict and obvious rules and conventions, which allows formulaic slasher films to be pumped out with dull regularity. Some, however, comment brilliantly on the formula functions in both fiction and society, while still providing earnest scares and engaging stories.
