My Top Ten Horror Comedies 

I love a good horror comedy! Horror isn’t exactly my favorite genre, especially in recent years, but horror comedy is something that I really enjoy when a film gets the balance right.

With this list, I found it even harder to define “horror comedy” than I did to define “body horror” for last week’s top ten. This time, I won’t bore you all with a rambling explanation of why I’ve excluded certain movies – I’ll just list those at the end. This time, I’ll get straight to my list.

So here are My Top Ten Horror Comedies, counting down to my favorite:

**New additions to this Top Ten as of October 2017: The Final Girls, Trick ‘r Treat, Hausu, and The Babysitter. But I don’t want to take any out, so… Sorry for all the “ties”!

10. TIE: Zombieland & Warm Bodies & The Final Girls


9. TIE: Grabbers & Tremors

8. Tucker And Dale Vs Evil

7. Night Of The Creeps

6. Fright Night

5. Shaun Of The Dead

4. Night Of The Comet

3. An American Werewolf In London

2. The Return Of The Living Dead

1. Gremlins

Honorable Mentions:
– Gremlins 2: The New Batch
– Creepshow
Dead Snow
– The Cabin In The Woods
Rubber
– Killer Klowns From Outer Space
– Black Sheep
– Teeth
– Eight Legged Freaks
Waxwork
What We Do In The Shadows
The Babysitter (2017)
House (Hausu) (1977) (probably Top Ten material but I’ve added to this list too much)
Trick ‘r Treat (2007) (this also probably actually just makes it into my Top Ten but I already have way more than ten in my Top Ten…) 😉

Ones I’ve Excluded:

Some of my top ten are iffy & I’m not sure if I’d really consider all of them horror comedies. Oh well – I didn’t want to stress about it! I worked off of this list at Wikipedia but there were some that I really didn’t agree with so these are the ones that I excluded. I love these! Just don’t consider them horror comedies…

Ghostbusters (excellent, funny movie. horror, though? no. just be happy that I included Gremlins – I think that one is very borderline on the “horror” too)
The Lost Boys (hubby & I disagreed on this one – he said it’s not horror & I said it’s not comedy. whatever it is, it’s still a favorite of mine)
The ‘Burbs (just a comedy)
Phantom Of The Paradise (no. why does Wikipedia consider this a horror comedy?)
Beetlejuice (not really a “horror”)
Slither (it’s great but I put it on last week’s list – it is a horror comedy but I still think of it more as a body horror)

My Top Ten Body Horror Movies

***WARNING: NASTY IMAGES***

This list wasn’t easy to create as it was hard deciding what movies I consider to be part of the “body horror” subgenre. While researching this to get an idea of what movies most often tend to be considered body horror, I also managed to see enough gory images to last me a lifetime. Yikes. Guess my love of the David-Cronenberg-style of body horror is pretty tame & mainstream stuff!

First of all, I’ll give you Wikipedia’s definition:

Body horror is horror fiction in which the horror is principally derived from the graphic destruction or degeneration of the body. Such works may deal with decay, disease, parasitism, mutation, or mutilation. Other types of body horror include unnatural movements, or the anatomically incorrect placement of limbs to create “monsters” from human body parts. David Cronenberg, Frank Henenlotter, Brian Yuzna, Stuart Gordon, Lloyd Kaufman, and Clive Barker are notable directors of this genre.

I totally agree with the directors listed by Wikipedia – their films are the exact ones I’ve always had in mind when I’ve heard the term “Body Horror”.

Here’s a boring, rambling bit that no one has to read: It’s become a little joke with my hubby that my top ten lists often come with rules that exclude the Alien series of films (for the record, I think the first two films are pretty much the greatest things ever created & they’d top every list if I always included them). Such as, I don’t count them as “horror” so always say they don’t count in any “horror” lists that I do. Well, I’m once again not including Alien/Aliens as, while what happens to the body falls into the “body horror” definition, the body horror aspect is not the main focus of those films. The one other questionable one is John Carpenter’s The Thing and I went back & forth on whether to include it. The body horror is focused on much more than in the Alien films but it’s once again not the main focus. Plus, it seems too good to be included with the likes of the other movies on my list. Well, I’ve included it mainly so people don’t yell at me but it means it’s my number one by far. 😉

What I’ve Not Seen:

I’ll also point out that I’ve of course only seen a handful of “Body Horror” movies so, if I’ve not seen them, they won’t be on the list. I had wanted to do a body horror week but just haven’t had the time to get anything watched for it other than Cronenberg’s Shivers & Rabid. Maybe next October – I can always update this list! Most films in this genre are really too gross for me (I like my gore old & quite fake-looking) but the two I had really hoped to see before making this list were Altered States & Tetsuo: The Iron Man. So don’t ask why they (and the Alien films) are not on the list!!!!! (Someone will as no one reads these damn intros). 😉

**Edit to say I’ve now seen Altered States as of September 2017. My review is HERE. It doesn’t quite make my top ten (it’s not actually “body horror” enough). And I’ve now seen Tetsuo: The Iron Man, which also doesn’t make this list. Review HERE.

Enough blathering! Here are MY Top Ten Body Horror Movies counting down to my favorite:

10. TIE: From Beyond & Re-Animator

9. Basket Case

8. TIE: The Brood & Scanners

7. Night Of The Creeps

6. Videodrome

5. eXistenZ

4. Society

3. Slither

2. The Fly (1986)

1. The Thing (1982)

Honorable Mentions:
The Evil Dead
Shivers
Rabid
Teeth
The Toxic Avenger
Splice
Altered States
Tetsuo: The Iron Man

I’ve Not Seen:
Tusk

My Top Ten Toilet Scenes In Movies

Yep, I’m going there! Sort of. I’m not normally a fan of “toilet humor”. I find the loads of poop scenes that Hollywood squeezes out to be gross & only occasionally funny. This was originally going to be My Top Ten Poop Scenes but I didn’t know how to go about ranking that. Would I rank them by humor or by gross-out factor? I found that, in the end, there just weren’t ten poop scenes that I enjoyed enough to compile into a list. So I decided to wipe that idea & start out fresh.

As a companion piece to my most-viewed post, My Top Ten Shower & Bath Scenes In Movies, this list will contain scenes that all involve a toilet in some way. As in, that thing you sit on (or stand in front of if you’re a guy). Outhouses also count as do public toilet stalls. In some cases, poop may be involved. I guess I should move onto sinks next & then I’ll have the whole bathroom covered! 🙂 (Hmm… that came out sounding a bit like another poop joke).

Anyway! Here are My Top Ten Toilet Scenes In Movies:

Honorable Mention:

Headhunters

This deserves a mention as, although I’ve been planning this top ten list for a while, I decided it was time to finally post it after reviewing Headhunters with Laura of Filmnerdblog on Monday (our review chat is HERE). Very good Norwegian movie with an extremely disgusting outhouse scene!

10. TIE: Dead Snow & Night Of The Creeps

There are so many horror movies with bathroom scenes! I guess I prefer the ones that are more horror/comedy. These are two of the first scenes I thought of when I decided to do this list and I have to say that the Dead Snow outhouse scene was hilariously gross (mainly for the finger-sucking as he’d JUST wiped himself. NASTY!)

9. TIE: Witness & Lethal Weapon 2

These both deserve to be much higher on the list so I’ll explain why they aren’t. I immediately thought of Lethal Weapon as it’s such a famous scene. In fact, it’s the only scene I remember from any Lethal Weapon movies & I had to Google which one the scene was actually in (number 2! how appropriate). As for Witness, this is the closest I’ve come to “cheating” on one of my lists as, in doing a search for toilet scenes online, I “re-discovered” this one. I didn’t remember this scene at all from when I saw this years ago but after watching it on YouTube I couldn’t leave it off the list. The scene is intense. And, holy shit, the whole movie is based on what happens in that bathroom. Plus… Danny Glover was in the Witness scene too! What?! Okay, I seriously need to re-watch both of these movies.

8. Arachnophobia

The shower scene in this gets all the attention, of course, but I think I was more disturbed by the spider under the lid of the toilet seat while the dad was sitting on it. To this day, I sometimes check under toilet seats for spiders. Seriously. Thanks a lot, Arachnophobia!

7. Full Metal Jacket

Disturbing scene but certainly memorable. (But I still prefer Vincent D’Onofrio as Thor in Adventures In Babysitting) 😉

6. Despicable Me

I adore this movie & certain scenes still crack me up every single time. This is one of them. I love when Gru is explaining his evil plan & turns the page to find the drawing the girls did of him on the toilet. I love those girls. 🙂

5. Monsters, Inc

And… Monsters, Inc! Another movie that I adore as much as Despicable Me. It’s cute when we see them all hiding in the toilet stall as Randall kicks the door open yet doesn’t see them all hiding there.

4. Jurassic Park

Again, this scene was one of the first that I thought of. I’ve realized that most in my list don’t involve actually using the toilets for their intended purpose! They’re clearly a good place to hide. Except from dinosaurs, I guess…

3. The Goonies

I was always confused by this scene. I mean, would it actually be possible for water pressure to cause a toilet to blow up into the air like that? Plus, the guy is clearly sitting on the toilet with underwear on. How do you poop through your underwear??

2. The Godfather

When I thought of toilets in movies, I thought of their different uses. Such as… Hiding things in or behind the tank. I swear there are several scenes like this (one movie has someone hiding money in the tank – is it Pretty Woman?? Not sure). Anyway, the gun hidden behind the toilet tank in The Godfather was the best one I could think of.

1. Trainspotting

Obviously. Ewan McGregor’s toilet swim is famous. Or infamous? Well, it’s super gross but no one who has seen the scene will ever forget it.

Some That Didn’t Make The List (but I did think of them):

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (since it’s already on my list of My Top Five Movie Scenes Of Self-Pleasure, of course)
The Big Lebowski
Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Slumdog Millionaire
Scream 2
Pulp Fiction
Saw

Now let’s end this with some scenes actually involving poop that I did find amusing:

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (“You sank my battleshit!” I love the Harold & Kumar movies)
Bad Grandpa (sorry, but the shart up the wall was pretty damn funny)
American Pie (not the best poop scene EVER but a pretty funny movie overall so I’ll give it some credit)
The Help (there’s a lot involving actual toilets in this movie but I saved it for the “poop list” as the actual “shit” scene is awesome – loved it!)
Caddyshack (okay, it’s not actually poop plus I already included it in My Top Ten Swimming Pool Scenes In Movies)

By the way, I don’t believe I ever actually saw all of Ghoulies

Night Of The Creeps (1986) Review

20140511-050744 pm.jpg

Night Of The Creeps (1986)

Directed by Fred Dekker

Starring:
Jason Lively
Steve Marshall
Jill Whitlow
Tom Atkins
Allan Kayser
Wally Taylor
Dick Miller
Suzanne Snyder

Running time: 88 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDB)
Alien brain parasites, entering humans through the mouth, turn their host into a killing zombie. Some teenagers start to fight against them.

20140511-051138 pm.jpg

My Opinion:

I was convinced to watch this by Eric of The IPC (his review is HERE). Okay – he recommends movies to me a lot but I never know what to think as we have pretty different tastes. 😉 However, Night Of The Creeps definitely appealed to me as it looked very much like my type of thing plus it was made in my precious 1980s! (I’m not sure why I missed out on it at the time?). Also, the last time I listened to Eric was when I watched The Warriors and it turned out that it was FANTASTIC! (You can read my Warriors review HERE). AND… Brian at Hard Ticket To Home Video seems pretty obsessed with this movie as well. So I figured “what the hell” and watched it.

20140511-051557 pm.jpg

I liked it. Yeah. I didn’t LOVE it like I did The Warriors. I don’t think it has aged as well as The Warriors has, thanks to the underlying theme in The Warriors being quite timeless despite its very late 70’s/early 80’s look. I adore all the movies I grew up with from the 70s & 80s, even the ones I know are rubbish. No, I’m not saying Night Of The Creeps is rubbish. Not at all. I’m just saying that it’s one I missed out on at the time & didn’t grow up loving. If I HAD seen it at the time, I’d probably like it almost as much as Eric & Brian do and can totally see why it’s achieved a bit of a cult status & why those two like it so much. But it’s one that really does lose something if you didn’t grow up with it & I can’t see the “younger generation” going for this one unless they happen to love this sort of genre. I can at least appreciate it in all its 80’s glory but most people under 30 would probably hate me if I recommended it to them (except maybe you movie blogger types. We’re a different breed of person). 😉

20140511-051711 pm.jpg

I’m not sure where to go with this review. I’m so far behind on my reviews & struggling to write them lately so, for once, I’ll keep it short & wrap this up now…

20140511-051752 pm.jpg

Summary:

I enjoyed Night Of The Creeps just fine. I have to admit that I love the movie Slither and can now see that it was not only inspired by Society (another cult classic & one I’m quite fond of) but also by Night Of The Creeps. There’s also a bit of From Beyond going on here (one seriously fucked-up 80’s movie that I reviewed HERE). Then of course there’s some 50’s B movie alien invasion stuff going on, which is another bonus. And zombies! Another one of my favorite genres! (I reviewed 2004’s Dawn Of The Dead recently HERE for Mike at Screenkicker). Honestly, this has so many elements that are totally my type of thing. I think that’s why, perhaps, I was a little disappointed overall. But my only disappointment was in not LOVING it, when I was expecting to possibly feel that way. But don’t get me wrong – it’s a fun movie and I did enjoy it. I’d probably watch it again in a few years and I can see it growing on me if I do. Not too bad, Eric & Brian. I still may listen to you. Sometimes. 🙂

My Rating: 7.5/10

20140511-052023 pm.jpg

***This movie tied for second place when I asked all of you which film I should review next in this poll HERE. Thanks for all the replies & I’ll try to do these in order (with reviews of current films I see in the cinema in between). However, I do have to wait on reviewing the winner (winning by a landslide!) for two reasons. 1) I was honestly paying no attention when I saw it so will have to watch it again and 2) I think some Googlers under 13 descended on my blog & voted it into 1st place – no way have my regulars voted for it! Lol! So I’ll do my best to do these somewhat in this order but be patient as I’m very slow lately (you can still vote in the poll if you want any moved up – I do still check it but it’s usually only Moshi Monsters getting more votes). 🙂

1. Moshi Monsters: The Movie
2. TIE: Night Of The Creeps & Muppets Most Wanted
3. Non-Stop
4. Bernie
5. TIE: Yellow Submarine, Exam, an IMDB Top 250 film (which will probably be Full Metal Jacket, FYI, if that makes anyone more interested)
6. TIE: Rio 2, ATM, Primer, a CPD Classic

(I’ve also seen 21 Jump Street, Attack The Block & Magic Mike since I made that poll. I’m in no hurry on Magic Mike. Pile o’ Shit!)