Horror-comedy vs... well, horror?

[Dr. Briggs]

Okay, one more topic tonight just so I don't lose it to my thoughts:

There are a number of horror films I know of with a good bit of comic relief in them, but whose comic relief usually lies within a small number of characters, or a wide number of characters with just few comedic moments... would either of these types of films count towards perhaps making these films horror-comedy, or would both just be horror with comic-relief if comedy was not an intrinsic part of the plot? How far can one go with comic relief in horror before it becomes intrinsic to the plot?

[CarolinePar]

Didn't the SCREAM films kind of push those boundries?

I mean after all, Jay and Silent Bon showed up in epiosode 3!

[Dr. Briggs]

When I think of seamless mixes of horror and comedy, Scream is among the examples. It's hard to discount either genre element in the film; for those who don't think it's comedy, look at the crowd's reactions to Randy reciting the rules, for those who don't think it's horror, look at the opening stalk and kill scene!

[FreddysFingers]

This is a very interesting topic because I always find myself arguing with people that Zombieland is a comedy and not a horror, and that Slither is a horror and not a comedy. I see it this way: there are comedy themed horror movies and horror themed comedy movies. The overall intention is either to scare or to make the audience laugh. If the intention is to make the audience scared but have comedy as a coping mechanism, than it's a comedy themed horror movie and vise versa.

[CarolinePar]

hell to have comedy and horror in the same film makes it a PERFECT date movie!

am I the only one who wanted

Spoiler

the guy who creaped over the backseat

at the end of Night of a 1000 Corpses to get punched by the Cap'n and be told to
"sit the @#$% down"? exdev:

[Dr. Briggs]

hell to have comedy and horror in the same film makes it a PERFECT date movie!

am I the only one who wanted

Spoiler

the guy who creaped over the backseat

at the end of Night of a 1000 Corpses to get punched by the Cap'n and be told to
"sit the @#$% down"? exdev:

That would've been awesome XD. Spaulding does seem like one of the more sane of the Fireflies. As for comedy and horror making the perfect date film; the first movie I watched together with my girlfriend was Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, that one definitely has little horror and a wealth of black comedy though :peace:

@FreddysFingers: I agree on Zombieland being a comedy, and concur with the distinction between comedy horror and horror comedy. Still, there are some films that can be counted as horror-comedy (such as some of my first "favorite" horror films, Fright Night and House) which instead come across as just horror with a good amount of comic relief. What do you think about those?

[FreddysFingers]

I can definitely say that I am in agreement. Fright Night has some genuinely scary and almost frightening moments like when Amy turns around and she has that twisted, harlequin smile. That's frightening but the comedy is just the right amount so not to overshadow the horror. I haven't seen House in a very long time but I think House is slightly more ridiculous than Fright Night, mainly because of that scene with the Swordfish and those little kid demons. Still, it has its moments.