Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Just saw this and it was a lot of fun. While Cabin in the Woods sends up the tropes of horror films in a straight up horror way, TaD spins a trope a new way and does it in a much lighthearted way.

Premise is, and it's really no secret if you see the trailer, two hillbillies are mistakenly thought of as psychotic killer hillbillies because of misperceptions by the college kids who run into them.

Got me thinking about other horror films that are lighthearted - as opposed to comedies with a horror theme (like Young Frankenstein or Abbott and Costello meet any Universal Monster). It's hard to do it right. A film that I think does it right is Idle Hands. Return of the Living Dead does it as well.

I'm not talking straight up satires like Scary Movie, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, etc.

Any other lighthearted horrors you can think of? I know there are more out there. Monster Squad might fit the bill ("Werewolf got nards!"). Tokyo Zombie (I think that is the title - I mentioned it once on this site a long time ago. Some really funny things in that one). Frighteners.

Let me know what you remember - I'd love to see them if I haven't already.

Lighthearted horror is almost my favorite genre with Return of the Living Dead and Frighteners near the top of the list.

I'd say Tremors is the main film not previously mentioned.

Others off the top of my head:
American Werewolf in London
Slither
Gremlins (and Critters)
Night of the Demons 2
Creepshow

Regarding TaDvE, I thought the joke got old, but not a total waste of time.

Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009) is a fucking blast. Anyone from UK will 'get it' straight away.

A bit like Shaun of the Dead but funnier.

Uh....Army of Darkness anyone?

Army of Darkness and Eveil Dead 2 - yep they should go on the list. I didn't forget about them I wanted to leave room for answers from you guys I think Army is one of the most quotable movies out there.

Shaun of the Dead. Absolutely.
Tremors. Yes.

Slither. Yeah, I think that fits. I've seen that flick 3 times

Jeff: the others on your list are good.

I've seen every one mentioned except for Lesbian Vampire Killers. Will have to look that up.

Jeff White wrote:
Regarding TaDvE, I thought the joke got old, but not a total waste of time.

I thought it would get old but the pacing was good and they switch things around quite a bit so it certainly did not get stale.

Evil Dead II for sure, but I find it a bit of a stretch to call Army of Darkness anything close to horror. I guess it can be included due to association.

A few others I thought of this morning:
Arachnophobia
Eight Legged Freaks
Killer Clowns from Outer Space
ZombieLand

Jeff White wrote: Evil Dead II for sure, but I find it a bit of a stretch to call Army of Darkness anything close to horror. I guess it can be included due to association.

A few others I thought of this morning:
Arachnophobia
Eight Legged Freaks
Killer Clowns from Outer Space
ZombieLand

I say yeah! to Zombieland. Great, fun flick. Even go so far as to call it a modern classic in the genre.

I don't think Arachnophobia was lighthearted, not in the way like Zombieland, and such. But I can see it on the list. But Killer Klowns? Aside from the freaky premise I believe they took it seriously (despite the "funny" armaments used against the humans).

Oh yeah, Eight Legged Freaks. I saw that a few years ago - that was not bad actually.

Cabin Fever and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowlarama spring to mind.

Lighthearted horror is a favorite subgenre of mine as well. There are a ton of them that are good, and that's without drifting into the Hong Kong side of the house:

The Raven (This is one of my favorite movies, period. More of a comedy than a horror movie, however.)
House on Haunted Hill
Fearless Vampire Killers (Roman Polanski)
Dolls (Stuart Gordon directed. And the best killer doll movie ever.)
Reanimator
Society (Brian Yuzna directed)
Cemetery Man (a brilliant horror movie)
Dead Alive (essential viewing)
Undead (A movie I love for being completely gonzo)
Dead Snow (has a nice take on zombies as well)

I'll stop now, but I could go on and on.

"Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstien" is the one that also has Dracula and the Wolf Man in it. It is one of the funniest movies ever made.

engineer Al wrote: "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstien" is the one that also has Dracula and the Wolf Man in it. It is one of the funniest movies ever made.

And the Invisible Man.

But that was not horror at all despite all the monsters in it. No doubt it is funny. Just saw it again a few weeks ago on TCM. Or was it AMC?

Frank:

The Raven (This is one of my favorite movies, period. More of a comedy than a horror movie, however.)

****Vincent rpcie in this one?


House on Haunted Hill

****I'm sure I saw it but don't remember it being lighthearted.

Fearless Vampire Killers (Roman Polanski)

*****Saw this and again don't remember it being very lighthearted.

Dolls (Stuart Gordon directed. And the best killer doll movie ever.)

****Did not see this.

Reanimator

*****Saw it. Was crazy, but not comedic if I recall, except for Combs acting

Society (Brian Yuzna directed)

***Don't recall this one.

Cemetery Man (a brilliant horror movie)

***Nor this.

Dead Alive (essential viewing)

****I agree. Another Peter Jackson classic.

Undead (A movie I love for being completely gonzo)

***Is this the New Zealand picture with the bad sheep? OR certianly there was that fisherman guy who was awesome. And a large wall that had to be climbed?

Dead Snow (has a nice take on zombies as well)
***Been meaning to see this one. Norwegian film about nazi zombies right?

When pulled off right this genre has some great moments and is very quotable.

Can't believe I forgot Brain Damage and Basket Case. Pretty much anything by Henenlotter. Bad Taste is pretty great too.

Cemetery Man is one of my absolute faves. I've even got a Dellamorte Dellamore T-shirt

ZMan wrote: And the Invisible Man.

Right, I forgot that he shows up at the very end. He also appears (and disappears) in "Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man" which is not as good a movie.