Comedy Horror Conventions

The most notable part of a Comedy Horror is it's over the top exaggerations of horror Clichés.

One of the main clichés used within the Comedy Horror genre are that of the Characters. They tend to exaggerations on the stereotypes of teenagers and over played to make the film funnier, this tends to mean than you can't really sympathise with those being killed or victimised.
These stereotypical teenage characters can be seen in many Slasher films including Cabin In The Woods where these character clichés are most definitely evident.



From Left To Right; Holden, Dana, Curt, Jules, Marty

The Virgin: Dana
The Athlete: Curt
The Whore: Jules
The Scholar: Holden
The Joker: Marty

Cabin In The Woods makes that these characters were made to die obvious by the final scenes when they are the surviving characters are told that they were meant to fight to survive so "The Ancient Ones" wouldn't be freed from their capture which is what happens if all put to the test die. Cabin In The Woods also creates good comedy around the horror that ensues by making the "save the world" situation into a betting game with those who control the creatures and monsters that the group must defeat to stop the "Ancient Ones".









There is usually one main convention of Comedy Horrors. This of course is the ridiculous deaths of the characters, the main death being the stereotypical and usually first death of the lovers being murdered during in intercourse. Used quite often in Slasher horrors. Comedy Horror tends to use the "death by sex" scene first always seeming the most inappropriate and unfortunate time to die. As well as this Comedy Horror is well known for it's OTT deaths, one great examples of these are The Final Destination series, although the films are meant to be genuine horror as the series grew the deaths got more and more ridiculous and series turned into more Comedy Horror than actual fear invoking Horror.
Some examples of these over the top deaths include;

The Shower Death

 

The Sunbed Death

 

 

The Nail Gun Death

The Escalator Death

 

The villains are also quite often made to be exaggerated horror cliché. With films such as Scary Movie make a mockery out of classic Horror Villains like Ghost Face from Scream, Billy the Puppet from Saw and the possessed girl from Exorcist.

 

 

Top 10 Comedy Horrors according to Mojo gives you some idea of just how Comedy Horror works and how they are continually successful and create a large following:

Black Comedy Conventions

Black Comedy usually uses controversial content and makes satire of the topic creating a more morbid form of humour. These subjects can be anything that is capable of been seen controversial including;

Death









War









Illness









Although Black Comedy does make satire of controversial subjects it does not completely make a farce of the topics with everything film that is under the genre. The jokes are dry and usually deadpan but still manage to make you laugh while have a basis of questionable subjects. Examples of these can be Four Lions that uses Black Comedy along with the subject of terrorism, American Psycho that uses an ill minded murderer and Welcome To The Dolls House with obvious teen angst and a rather questionable lesser theme of rape.

 

 
 

What Is Horror Comedy

Horror Comedy

Horror comedy is the combining of comedy and horror fiction. It crosses over to black comedy and in many ways can be seen as that. 'The legend of Sleepy Hollow' is a great example of horror comedy, and is seen as one of the first ones.

Sleepy Hollows is an American 1999 horror film, inspired by the 1820 short story 'The Legend OF Sleepy Hollow'. A police constable is sent from New York to discover the series of murders happening in the village, Sleepy Hollow. The story is a very dark tale from a man that lives in a tree which bleeds. However throughout it, it holds elements of comedy and witty comments.

 

       
  

ZombieLand is another great example of a horror comedy, it takes a story in which case most people would find terrifying, zombie apocolips and changes it into to something funny and witty. The film is about a boy in which goes through a set of rules to help you survive. Throughout his journey he meets three new people who havent being affected y the desease and throught an action pact film they try to survive doing whatever you would do in that situation. 

A horror comedy certainly has to hold some kind of wiitiness to it, and something you would'nt usually laugh at bring in elements of black comedy throughout.

Research into Horror Comedy: Real Media Products

Horror Comedy is a genre of film which combines the conventions of the horror and comedy genres. Films which are of the horror comedy genre tend to use features of horror films that would normally be seen as scary however, they tend to show this from a different perspective so that it comes across as amusing and comedic.
A short story written by a man called Washington Irving called 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' which was seen as 'the greatest comedy-horror story' as the story made you 'laugh one minute and scream the next'. Here I am going to look at real media products that follow the genre of Horror Comedy.

EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS: Feature Film

Eight Legged Freaks was a film released in 2002 which is of the horror comedy genre. It features spiders that become abnormally large and take over. Spiders are commonly associated with the horror genre as they are commonly feared. However, a comedy element is introduced to this film as the spiders are of a fantastical size and this adds to the comedy due to the unrealistic and strange spiders. This mixture of horror and comedy conventions makes the film a horror comedy. The narrative within this film follows Todorov's narrative theory as the film begins with a sense of equilibrium as everything is normal however this equilibrium is disrupted when the spiders escape and grow. This equilibrium is then restored when the mother spider is killed. This type of narrative is very common within both horror and comedy films as it is very simple and therefore film makers can focus on creating tension/comedy.

ROOMMATES: Short Film

'Roommates' is a short film by an amateur film maker named Trevor Walls. In this film, someone named Daniel moves into a house with two other boys. The idea of a house being where all the action revolves around is commonly used within horror films (e.g. The Woman in Black) However, as well as this use of horror iconography, slapstick comedy is intertwined with the horror elements. This slapstick comedy includes ridiculous food combinations and comedic misunderstandings. In the film, Daniel is suspicious about one of the other roommates and talks to the other roommate about it. However, it turns out that both of them are planning to kill him and steal his organs. This twist is very effective as it shocks the audience and this is a convention of the horror genre. Also, the narrative of the film is rather unique as it follows a circular narrative. This is because at the beginning of the film, Daniel moves in to the house which ultimately leads to death. Then at the very end of the film, an unseen character does exactly the same as what Daniel does at the beginning, creating a narrative that loops. This is very common within horror as it makes the audience assume that it is going to happen again. This combination of slapstick comedy and horror conventions makes this short horror comedy film a very effective film.

Comedy Horror

Horror comedy is a literary and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. The genre almost inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it. Horror Comedy will often use satire on horror clichés as its main source of humour or take a story in a different perspective, like The Cabin in the Woods and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. The short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving is cited as "the first great comedy-horror story". The story made readers "laugh one moment and scream the next", and its premise was based on mischief typically found during the holiday Halloween.

Cabin In The Woods

Five teenagers head off for a weekend at a secluded cabin in the woods. They arrive to find they are quite isolated with no means of communicating with the outside world. When the cellar door flings itself open, they of course go down to investigate. They find an odd assortment of relics and curios, but when one of the women, Dana, reads from a diary written in Latin, she awakens a family of deadly zombie killers. However, there's far more going on than meets the eye.

Dracula Dead And Loving It

Dapper Count Dracula relocates from his Transylvanian castle to Victorian London with his slavish assistant, Renfield, in search of new blood. He finds it in a pair of beautiful young women, Mina and her best friend, Lucy. When Mina's straitlaced fiancé, Jonathan, notices his future bride's odd behaviour, he calls in his mentor, vampire hunter Van Helsing, to save the day.

Black Sheep

Sheep-fearing Henry returns to his brother's New Zealand farm, hoping his sibling will buy out his share of the property. However, what he finds are genetically altered sheep that prey on humans and turn their victims into undead, woolly killers. Shear madness ensues as Henry, an animal-rights activist and a farmhand set out to stop the rampaging animals.

Comedy

Comedy 

Comedy is professional entertainment consisting of jokes and satirical sketches, intended to make an audience laugh. Comedy is not science its art, and you can create a piece of comedy from any subject possible. The diverse reaction that you can get from comedy, for example what one person may find funny another person will cringe. There is no simple explanation to why something is funny. Something is funny because it can capture a moment, it can contain an element of simple truth.

Comedy can be a tricky thing to do, as not everyone will find the same thing funny. You need to test and try see what works and see what doesn't.

Some Like It Hot
A classic comedy In which two men dress up like women and join a ladies musician band however it not al smooth sailing. The film is a classic and has stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.                         

 

Clueless
A typical American style comedy in were a rich high school girl reckons to boost a girls popularity, but love of affairs get in the way.

 

 

 



 



School of rock
School of rock is another American comedy where a man gets fired from his own band and takes the role of his room mate and becomes a teacher, but the story changes when he creates a new band with the students in order to win the battle of the bands.



Gallows Humour

As mentioned in my previous post about Black Comedy, Gallows Humour can be seen throughout such films. Gallows humour is humour about very unpleasant, serious, or painful circumstances. Any humour that treats serious matters, such as death, war, disease, and crime, in a light, silly or satirical fashion is considered gallows humour. Gallows humour has been described as a witticism in response to a hopeless situation. It arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations, often in circumstances such that death is perceived as impending and unavoidable.



 
Examples of this can been seen in films such as Monty Python's The Life Of Brian when criminals being crucified sing Always Look On The Brightside Of Life as the hang from crosses.

Black Comedy

A black comedy is a comic work that uses farce and morbid humour which, in its simplist form is humour that makies light of subject matter usually considered taboo. Black humour corresponds to the earlier gallows humour. Black comedy is often controversial due to its subject matters e.g. Death, Terrorism, Illness. Examples of such films include;

Four Lines

A group of young Muslim men living in Sheffield decide to wage jihad, and they hatch an inept plan to become suicide bombers. Omar and Waj have a brief, disastrous run at a Pakistan training camp, while Faisal  works on an unlikely scheme to train birds to carry bombs. Their ill-conceived plan culminates at the London Marathon with their bumbling attempts to disrupt the event while dressed in outlandish costumes.

Death Becomes Her

When a novelist loses her man to a movie star and former friend, she winds up in a psychiatric hospital. Years later, she returns home to confront the now-married couple, looking radiant. Her ex-husband's new wife wants to know her secret, and discovers that she has been taking a mysterious drug which grants eternal life to the person who drinks it. The actress follows suit, but discovers that immortality has a price.

Jennifer's Body

When a demon takes possession of her, high-school hottie Jennifer turns a hungry eye on guys who never stood a chance with her before. While evil Jennifer satisfies her appetite for human flesh with the school's male population, her nerdy friend, Needy, learns what's happening and vows to put an end to the carnage.

Teeth

Dawn is an active member of her high-school chastity club but, when she meets Tobey, nature takes its course, and the pair answer the call. They suddenly learn she is a living example of the vagina dentata myth, when the encounter takes a grisly turn.

Research into Black Comedy: Real Media Products

Black Comedy is a sub-genre of comedy that is often very controversial as they often make light of subject matters that are commonly very dark and serious. Common themes that run through black comedy films include murder, rape, cannibalism, illness and terrorism. Despite this sub-genre being very controversial, it is also a very popular form of comedy and there are many black comedy films that have been released that were very popular with audiences. Here, I am going to research existing films that revolve around the genre of  black comedy.

FOUR LIONS - Feature Film

'Four Lions' is a film by Chris Morris which explored the theme of terrorism. However, they looked at terrorism in a very unconventional way as they decided to base the film on four "terrorists" who aren't very good at creating terror and devastation. Terrorism is usually a very serious subject matter within films but Chris Morris approached this theme using slapstick comedy. This film was very successful within the UK, however it wasn't very successful in the USA as terrorism is a very serious subject matter in the USA due to the devastating Al Quaeda terrorist attacks that occurred on 9th September 2001 in which many people were killed. This is what makes the film a black comedy film as it makes light of terrorism which, in reality, is a very serious and potentially upsetting subject matter.

DISSOLVE - Short Film

'Dissolve' is a short film which was written and directed by a film maker known as Justin Leyba. This film is of the black comedy genre as the main under-laying themes include depression, sadness and suicide (however the theme of suicide is implied). It also has a light comedy element to the film as the two supporting actors act in a very exaggerated way when they express upset or sadness. This shows them making comedy out of sadness and gloom which is a convention of the black comedy genre. The theme of suicide is also a dominating theme within this film as the main character puts a pill into a glass of water and also is holding a piece of paper. Along with the nature of the film, it is implied that the main character is about to commit suicide, hence the pill, and the piece of paper is his suicide note. This gives the film a sense of darkness and as this is combined with the actors' over-the-top acting it creates a film of the black comedy genre.    

Black Comedy

Dark Humour

A form of comedy in which serious issues such as cannibalism, rape, genocide, terminal illnesses, etc. are treated humorously. It is humour that makes light of subject matter usually considered taboo. Black comedy is often controversial due to its subject matter. Some dark comedies set out to shock their audiences with their unexpectedly humorous take on a serious subject.

Heathers is a film where the genre is black comedy. The film portrays four teenage girls three of whom are named Heather in a clique at a fictional Ohio high school. It follows a series of events and focuses on murder and suicide. It talks about two young teens who are in a messed up relationship that go around and kill people and play them off as a suicide. It also skims over the issue of terrorism as they try to bomb up the school. However in the end the boy ends up blowing up himself for his cause.
This film links into our in many ways it starts of as something set and typical teen movie then takes a dark turn and passes through subject matters you wouldn’t usually mention and turn it into comedy.

 

Serial Mom is another exapmle of black humour. Focusing on murder, again a film which takes a dark turn when at first you believe it will be something completely different. 

The film is set in a stereotypical American family lifestyle,it shows a loving, dramatic, over the top family, as though its slightly dramatised and adding the comedic value through the over the top acting. It stes out to show a mum which goes out to kill people who hurt there family. Very ridiculous storyline and reasons for her to do it, and in the end she becomes a sort of celebrity. The film is based off of a real life mum in texas, who killed people as her daughter didnt make it on the cheerleading team. So the film take a real life story but uses Black comedy and turns it into something to laugh about when you usually would'nt.