List

Laugh Until You Die

By Skokie Staff Advisory Services

Horror and comedy mix well in these cheeky horror films. You'll be laughing one minute and scared the next.

  • Evil Dead II

    1998

    While the first Evil Dead was a straight up horror film, this sequel/remake/reboot is equal parts campy, scary and just so darn quotable. Have yourself a groovy binge and check out Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness at the same time (boomsticks not included in library checkouts).

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  • The Cabin in the Woods

    2012

    Full confession time: I saw Cabin in the Woods before I saw Evil Dead. So it wasn't until I saw Evil Dead that I fully realized the genius of Cabin in Woods. Watch for the homages to all the great horror films of the past or for the way this movie is frightening all on its own. Just watch out for the merman.

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  • Deathgasm

    2015

    Evil Dead showed that reading an ancient text out loud can unleash great horrors. In Deathgasm, wannabe heavy metal rockers play an evil song and unleash demons (from now on teenagers should only read or play music recommended by librarians). The fun of the movie, besides the New Zealand accents and setting, is to see if the death metalist avoid death and the end of the world.

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  • Shaun of the Dead

    2004

    Zombies are inherently funny. They want to eat your brains but can't be bothered to run when they chase you. Zombies slackers are even funnier. Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost, in the first of Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, have a ball in this rom-zom-com (zom-rom-com? com-rom-zom?).

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  • Dead Alive

    2001

    Before he was Peter Jackson, award-winning director of overly long fantasy epics, he was Peter Jackson, director of low budget, gruesome, horror comedy movies. I've not personally seen this one, but any film described as "bloody, gory, witty, and charming" that features rat monkeys is going to the top of my must-watch list.

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  • Tremors

    2005

    A movie so awesome it spawned four sequels, Tremors is the ultimate horror-comedy-action-creature movie. As a fan of Reba McEntire and her music, I was delighted to see her as a gung-ho survivalists in her first acting role. As we all know, (Kevin) Bacon makes everything better and he is a hoot as a small town handyman battling the creatures.

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  • Zombieland

    2010

    Funny zombies again. Emma Stone, in her breakout role, stars as zombie-killer, sister-protecting hero. She convinces Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg to journey with her and her sister to an amusement park zombie-free oasis. Jessie Eisenberg is not as annoying as he usually is (he's still a little bit annoying) and Bill Murray has a legendary cameo as (spoiler).

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  • Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

    2011

    Based on a book from Cracked.com writer/editor David Wong, this movie is a mashup of Deliverance and Texas Chainsaw Massacre with a dash of Evil Dead 2 thrown in for good measure. Alan "I'm a leaf on the wind" Tudyk and Tyler (the slacker dude you see in every movie that isn't T.J. Miller) Labine lead a funny cast of character actors in this hilarious send up of horror movies and stereotypes.

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  • Tusk

    2014

    Kevin Smith as a director hasn't had too many hits after his breakthrough with Clerks. He aims once again for a cult classic with this movie about a man slowly being turned into a walrus. This movie manages to be bizarre and weird (as any movie about a man-walrus would be) as well as thought provoking. At the heart of the story are big thoughts about what it means to be human. While not entirely successful at times with the meshing of existential angst and man-walrus horror, it is still a goofy movie with a charm of its own.

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  • Knights of Badassdom

    2014

    Once again, reading out loud from a book summons unspeakable evil—perhaps we should rethink what books we have in storytime! This time a group of medieval LARPers (Live Action Role Players) accidentally call forth a demon. They must band together to defend the demon and save the world. Full confession, I haven't seen this one but it has Peter Dinklage in it. He is always worth watching even when he stars in movies that might not be worthy of his great voice and skills.

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