Like the 1980s, the 2000s was a particularly strong decade for horror comedies. It may have been even better for horror comedies than it was for straightforward horror movies. It was so strong, in fact, that we’re about to go through the top 10 examples of the decade’s genre-blenders and a litany of films, ranging from enjoyable to very good, did not make the cut. For instance, Bubba Ho-Tep, Eight Legged Freaks, House of 1,000 Corpses, Club Dread, Dead & Breakfast, The Gingerdead Man (if you watch it with a, well, certain mindset), Snakes on a Plane, Fido, Scream 3, Teeth, and the two Scooby-Doo films.
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But the following examples? They made the cut because they brought a sense of humor (oftentimes quite a warped one) to the world of comedy. And it worked.
10) The Devil’s Rejects
The Devil’s Rejects, which is easily the best of Rob Zombie’s movies, is not for everyone. Like every other Zombie movie it has an expletive-laden, violence-dipped trailer park vibe that puts one off from square one.
But that’s the point, that’s his style, and in The Devil’s Rejects it works. House of 1,000 Corpses didn’t make the cut here because it’s too out there and the pacing is all over the place. With Rejects you essentially get a really warped version of Bonnie and Clyde, and while you don’t like the characters, you do find them compelling (mostly because, unlike in its predecessor, Rejects at least tries to have the audience get to know them).
Stream The Devil’s Rejects on HBO Max.
9) Grindhouse
Technically, only half of Grindhouse is a horror comedy, and it just so happens to be the better of the two installments: Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. In spite of Kurt Russell’s phenomenal and truly frightening performance, Death Proof is more just overly drawn-out with copious shots of feet.
But Planet Terror…what a wild ride. Of all the unpredictable theater experiences in the aughts it’s hard to imagine one that was more consistently shocking than this one. It’s gross, but the cheeky retro tone never makes its gruesome imagery overwhelming the way a serious movie would have.
8) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
By the aughts, the slasher subgenre had once more begun its descent into a low point. It had a been a few years since Scream, and slashers were basically at the place they were in at the end of the ’80s, when people had lost interest in even the titans like Jason and Freddy.
Enter Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon which, like Scream, threw an interesting wrench in the slasher machinery. We get a low-budget documentary look at one someone who wants to be an icon of the subgenre, then we switch to a traditional movie experience that shows him carry that out. We’re planted in the “real” world that is, nonetheless and thankfully, still quite fictional.
Stream Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon on AMC+.
7) Cabin Fever
Eli Roth’s filmography has been very much hit or miss. He’s usually at his lowest when helming something that doesn’t feel entirely his (Borderlands and Death Wish) and at the peak of his aughts horror auteur status when playing around with his favored genre’s conventions, e.g. in Hostel and his directorial debut, Cabin Fever.
Truthfully, Cabin Fever, his directorial debut, is still arguably his best work. The stars were all perfectly assembled, the practical effects are stomach churning, and its simple tale about contaminated water feels very true to life. Granted, its sense of humor is bizarre and not to everyone’s liking, but the horror half of this horror-comedy helps elevate it as high as it is on our list.
Stream Cabin Fever on Starz.
6) Zombieland
Zombieland leans more into comedy than horror, but it’s not as if it turns its back on the latter genre. In fact, it even educates the audience on how to survive a “real world” zombie apocalypse.
And, in the process, it delivered the best undead movie the subgenre had seen in years. Smart, quickly paced, and featuring an ensemble with a ton of chemistry, Zombieland is one of the most rewatchable movies of 2009.
Stream Zombieland on Netflix.
5) Trick ‘r Treat
One of the definitive cult movies, it’s astonishing Trick ‘r Treat didn’t get a first run in theaters (or start a franchise), because it was certainly deserving of that. Were its October 2009 DVD release instead on the big screen it would have faced stiff competition from Paranormal Activity and Zombieland, but it was still certainly a theater-quality movie.
An anthology film with a biting sense of humor and a thirst for making the innocent and guilty alike go through a hellish evening, there’s really no weak element of Trick ‘r Treat. Not all of its stories are entirely equal, but there’s also not a dud in the bunch, and the way they all connect is some really impressive spider web stuff.
Stream Trick ‘r Treat for free on Kanopy.
4) Slither
Before his days with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DCU, James Gunn helmed a pair of smaller movies (and wrote the two Scooby-Doo movies). Of those two, Slither and Super, Slither was the superior one, and it’s still a ton of sick fun today.
Slither coasts on its organic small-town vibe. We don’t feel like we’re one hundred percent Small Town USA, because it’s a film with a heightened reality, but if you were ever looking for an episode of The Andy Griffith Show where alien slugs turned Barney Fife into a hostile, oozing zombie, this is the movie for you.
3) Scary Movie (& Scary Movie 3)
Now that the Scary Movie legacy sequel is nearly here, people are going back an either rewatching the first few or discovering them for the first time. And, these days, their go-for-broke comedy is actually rather refreshing.
Well, that’s mostly true of the first film (and kind of the vastly inferior second one). But, while not as doggedly offensive, Scary Movie 3 is a very solid sequel. It also has the best joke of the entire franchise, when Charlie Sheen’s Tom Logan, a stand-in for Mel Gibson’s character in Signs, walks past the man who bisected his wife with his car. The man (a stand-in for M. Night Shyamalan’s character) blurts out, “Tom, I’ll need a ride home.” Good stuff.
Stream Scary Movie on Paramount+.
2) American Psycho
When it comes to satirizing affluent jerks in the 1980s, it basically comes down to Wall Street and American Psycho. Two different movies with two different tones (for the most part, anyway) but one message, which boils down to yuppies couldn’t care less about you.
American Psycho works because of Christian Bale’s gutsy, risky, star-making performance and the ambiguous form the narrative takes. It never quite becomes a full-on slasher movie, instead serving more as a fever dream in the mind of a rich, unstable man who looks at business cards as if they’re souls.
Stream American Psycho on Prime Video.
1) Shaun of the Dead
The beginning of Edgar Wright’s fantastic Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Shaun of the Dead did not take long to become a major fan favorite. It’s so good it was almost instantly considered both one of the best comedy films in years and one of the best horror films in years. And, even with the comedy elements considered, it has most certainly been embraced as a required piece of Halloween time viewing. Just look at the fact it was included in Scream 4.
Like Zombieland, this is a movie that has a ball toying with the zombie subgenre’s tropes. But it beats Zombieland in terms of depth of character (not that the Woody Harrelson movie was a slouch in that department). Every character here feels like a true human being. We fall in love with them (well, maybe not David) and believe their arcs, e.g. Shaun’s embracing his stepfather right at the end. You carry Shaun of the Dead with you, and it’s amazing that one of the best films of 2004 was a comedy-horror film, because it’s a balance that is mighty hard to get right.
Stream Shaun of the Dead for free with ads on YouTube Free.
Did we include your favorite 2000s horror comedy? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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