January 22nd, 2006 By Chris Hartley, head writer of The Video Graveyard. As a horror fan you have to admit that you occasionally enjoy a "laugh" with your "splat". I know I certainly do. And while most movies made in the last decade or so seem to be trying a bit too hard to combine comedy and horror, there are some gems out there. The first two on this list are pretty common, while the third marks a surprising return by a "Godfather of Gore" who shows all those cribbing on his style just how it's done...
Combs plays Dr. Herbert West in this adaptation of a H.P. Lovecraft story and he's created a glowing green liquid (dubbed "Reagent") that can bring the dead back to life - and you know he's going to put his creation to the test. And with the "Millennium Edition" on DVD from Elite Entertainment, you have no excuse not to own a movie where the appealing naked Barbara Crampton is tied down to a table while a living dismembered head does something it shouldn't...
It's mayhem, comedy, and gore galore as Ash (Campbell) and a group of friends head-out to a cabin in the woods for the weekend and are systematically possessed by a whole slew of demons when a passage from the "Necronomicon" (the "Book of the Dead" by any other name) is played from a tape recorder. Campbell established his great gift for comedic timing in this one while Raimi has fun making him do such things as smash plates repeatedly over his head, get covered head-to-toe in a flood of fake blood, and fall down on numerous occasions. Never has a lead actor taken such abuse to entertain us!
Seems Faud Ramses grandson has decided to reopen the old catering shop seen in the 1963 original which just means a whole bunch of people will meet grisly ends and be served as part of a "meal". Not at all serious, filled with cameos by recognizable faces (cult director John Waters even plays a child molesting priest), and filled with decent gore effects by Joe Castro - this one exceeded my expectations and was funny to boot. |
Re-Animator [1985] is possibly the best movie to come from Charles Band and his 80's B-movie unit, Empire Pictures. It introduced horror fans to Jeffrey Combs (who is still a beloved face in our favourite genre to this day), piled on tons of extremely outrageous gore that you couldn't see in many other places at the time, and even had a morbid sense of humour that would continue peeking its head out in the sequels Bride Of Re-Animator and Beyond Re-Animator.
Evil Dead II [1987] was Sam Raimi and company's attempt at a virtual remake of their 1982 cult hit. They brought back Bruce Campbell to star and they stuck with the same basic story as the original, the only difference though was Raimi let his love of The Three Stooges and slapstick comedy take the forefront while piling on oodles of the red stuff to keep fans happy.
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat [2002] was a shining return to the screen by H.G. Lewis after a thirty-year absence. While I can't admit to being a fan of his past gore epics, I will admit I enjoyed them for just how poorly done and silly they usually were. So you can only imagine my surprise when Lewis' Blood Feast sequel is not only played for laughs, but it manages to be pretty damn funny while throwing all sorts of body parts at the screen.