Tag: Comedy
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Faith in its characters and directorial vision, rather than gore and gimmicks, elevate this picture into a fable about morality.
The Coffee Table
The simplicity of its narrative arc is its biggest strength, allowing the script’s jet-black humour to work its absurd wizardry.
Bitch Ass
Some memorable performances, but ultimately fails to make us squeal or laugh. Go in with low expectations to enjoy the ride.
Hounded
Throwing subtlety aside, Hounded is a straight-up lampoon of the kind of snooty toffs that believe the world is their birthright.
Friend of the World
Packed with big ideas that outshine its minimal budget, this Troma is daring, interesting and resolutely not for everyone.
The Sacred Spirit
Interesting and intense directorial choices find the sweet spot where absurdity, anxiety and satisfaction coexist in harmony.
Agnes
Peppered with deadpan comedy, Agnes is a film of two halves that examines faith, loss, and what it truly means to be possessed.
Kissing the Lizard
Justin David tells a touchingly twisted tale, a story with a spinning compass that won’t let you figure out where home is.
The Beta Test
A cautionary tale for the post-Weinstein generation that lampoons the futility of Hollywood’s facile approach to money-grubbing in all of its glory.
I Blame Society
This at times excruciating feminist satire is propelled forward by Gillian Wallace Horvat’s delightfully deadpan delivery.
Willy’s Wonderland
An unapologetically ridiculous, trippy ride that will satisfy ardent fans of carefree horrors and, of course, Nicolas Cage himself.
Why Don’t You Just Die!
Peppered with moments of pastiche, Kirill Sokolov's debut has a zany, kinetic energy that will appeal to admirers of off-kilter, graphic and darkly comic cult cinema.
Shed of the Dead
While this feature has a couple of notably gory moments, it seems to ignore the crucial cues that define and distinguish the genre.
Videoman
Brilliantly tragic and darkly comical performances successfully communicate the nihilistic sentiments at Videoman's core.
Demon
Darkly absurd humour, with a deeply unsettling score and cinematography that bolster the portentous atmosphere of dread.
Zombiology
Endlessly packed with memorable quirks and some exquisite anime sequences, this eccentric effort is essential viewing.
Kuso
With the potential to become an instant cult classic, Kuso is a 90-minute assault on the senses which begs repeated viewing.
Santa Clarita Diet
Drew Barrymore shines in a stylised affair that revels in a refreshing juxtaposition of viscera with middle-class suburbia.
Lucifer (TV Series)
Featuring the Devil in his most vanilla of forms, horror fans will be left wanting; Lucifer is disappointingly sparse on strong imagery.
Holidays
As is generally the case for an anthology, Holidays is a mixed bag, touching all bases between effectively chillsome and irritating.
Bachelor Games
Ultimately, Bachelor Games falls flat due to lacking commitment to its ideas, but the comedy stitches it together, albeit loosely.
Night of the Living Deb
A comic, upbeat tone throughout that features more one-liners than you can shake a severed arm at.
Housebound
A well-written, well-paced screenplay gradually builds tension and intrigue, ensuring the viewer is riveted throughout.
100 Bloody Acres
100 Bloody Acres is an excellent example of comedy-horror that gets the balance just right, delivering a thoughtfully layered story.
Burying the Ex
Populated by stock types, the story is backed by little in the way of characterisation, and missing a necessary campiness.
What We Do in the Shadows
Charming and oddly heart-warming, it’s testament to all involved that the film feels so fresh, energetic and cuspid-sharp.
Dead Funny
Dead Funny as a collective emphasises the quality, depth and audacity of British comedy, with an enormous amount of surprises.
Bad Milo!
While the central concept obviously lends itself to crass humour, the film actually unfolds as a delightfully quirky comedy.
Shrew’s Nest
Begins as a fairly run-of-the-mill supernatural story but unpredictably gives way to a wickedly funny and bloody romp.
The ‘Burbs
For a film not well received at the time, The 'Burbs has dated very well. There is nothing a hard-core fan could want for in this package.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
An absurd, one-gag pony, but these alien clowns look incredible even now.
FrightFest: All Cheerleaders Die
Not a bad parody of 90s high-school horror, but its deliberate clichés fall short.
FrightFest: Housebound
It is not just in its writing and direction that Housebound excels; the production design is a feast for the eyes.
FrightFest: Wolfcop
With its icky transformation scenes, lashings of blood and gore, and bizarre sense of humour, this has cult stamped all over it.
Hatchet 3
The body count is huge, the dialogue abysmal, the story perfunctory at best, yet the enthusiasm ensures it's never tiresome.
The People Under the Stairs
While it is often overlooked, it is an effective horror flick with a dark sense of unease that is still incredibly palpable.
FrightFest: 100 Bloody Acres
The upbeat tone is maintained so thoroughly that, even when the blood rises in gouts, it doesn't dampen the lightheartedness.
FrightFest: Hansel and Gretel – The 420 Witch
Incredibly fun with some fantastic gore, but falls just short of its own expectations.
Evil Dead 2
The extras on offer here earn this release its entitlement to the term 'special edition', where so many others fail.
I Didn’t Come Here to Die
Thoroughly unlikeable characters played by terrible actors spout unnecessary predictive dialogue in lieu of characterisation.
Piranha
Schlocky good fun, but Piranha straddles the line between dull and entertaining, twiddling its thumbs between fish attacks.
Some Guy Who Kills People
Wants to be a comedic horror film with hidden depths, but the horror is scarce and the humour largely average.
Stitches
Lacklustre, featuring little by way of horror or indeed comedy, relying on thinly spread visual gags over real thought.
Basket Case Trilogy
This limited edition steelbook is a sight for sore eyes; teeming with extras, no B-movie aficionado should be without it.
Frankenweenie
The puppetry is simply superb as is texture; it's excellent attention to detail from puppet-makers Mackinnon and Saunders.
ParaNorman 3D
The puppetry is impressive — the ghosts and zombies are a feast for the eyes — and the stop-motion is fluid.
[REC] Genesis
A bizarrely playful addition to the [REC] series that opts for comedy over horror, despite plenty of blood on offer.
Supernatural Activity
The humour wears thin due to puerility and the editor needed reining in, but some of the comedy is surprisingly well timed.
Zombie 108
A reasonably good start rapidly falls victim to a lack of direction, resulting in an incoherence that does not entertain.