Zombie comedy

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The zombie comedy, [1] often called zom com or zomedy, [2] [3] is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror motifs with slapstick comedy as well as morbid humor.

Contents

History

The earliest roots of the genre can be found in Jean Yarbrough's King of the Zombies (1941) and Gordon Douglas's Zombies on Broadway (1945), though both of these films dealt with Haitian-style zombies. While not comedies, George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) featured several comedic scenes and satirical commentary on society. An American Werewolf in London (1981) [4] and the Return of the Living Dead series (1985) [5] (especially the first two and the last of the series) can be considered some of the earliest examples of zombie-comedy using the modern zombie. Other early examples include Mr. Vampire , CHUD II: Bud the CHUD (1989), Braindead (1992), and Bio Zombie (1998).

A popular modern zombie comedy is Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead (2004), [6] a self-dubbed romantic zombie comedy, or RomZomCom, [7] with many in-jokes and references to George A. Romero's earlier Dead films, especially Dawn of the Dead . Other popular zombie comedies include Gregg Bishop's Dance of the Dead (2008) and the 2009 film Zombieland .

Andrew Currie's Fido , [8] Matthew Leutwyler's Dead & Breakfast , and Peter Jackson's Braindead are also examples of zombie comedies. [9] Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II , although a more direct horror film, contains some lighthearted and dark comedy elements, and its sequel, Army of Darkness , is even more comedic. The Evil Dead series does not, however, feature any traditional-style zombies.

List

Films that can be considered zombie comedies include:

See also

Related Research Articles

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Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. Although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls", they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of "zombies" in popular culture.

<i>Braindead</i> (film) 1992 film by Peter Jackson

Braindead is a 1992 New Zealand zombie comedy splatter film directed by Peter Jackson, produced by Jim Booth, and written by Stephen Sinclair, Fran Walsh, and Jackson based on an original story idea by Sinclair. It stars Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody and Ian Watkin. The plot follows Lionel, a young man living in South Wellington with his strict mother Vera. After Lionel becomes romantically entangled with a girl named Paquita, Vera is bitten by a hybrid rat-monkey creature and begins to transform into a zombie, while also infecting swathes of the city's populace.

<i>Shaun of the Dead</i> 2004 film directed by Edgar Wright

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Starring Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton, the film centres on Shaun (Pegg), a downtrodden salesman who gets caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friends and loved ones in London. It is the first installment in Wright and Pegg's Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy, followed by both Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exploitation film</span> Informal film genre

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Wright</span> English filmmaker (born 1974)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese horror</span> Horror fiction with Japanese themes

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<i>The Return of the Living Dead</i> 1985 film by Dan OBannon

The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon from a story by Rudy Ricci, John Russo, and Russell Streiner, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Matthews, and Don Calfa. The film tells the story of how a warehouse owner, accompanied by his two employees, mortician friend and a group of teenage punks, deal with the accidental release of a horde of unkillable, brain-hungry zombies onto an unsuspecting town.

<i>Fido</i> (film) 2006 film by Andrew Currie

Fido is a 2006 Canadian zombie comedy film directed by Andrew Currie and written by Robert Chomiak, Currie, and Dennis Heaton from an original story by Heaton. It was produced by Blake Corbet, Mary Anne Waterhouse, Trent Carlson and Kevin Eastwood of Anagram Pictures, and released in the United States by Lions Gate Entertainment.

<i>Dead & Breakfast</i> 2004 American film

Dead & Breakfast is a 2004 musical zombie comedy film directed by Matthew Leutwyler starring Ever Carradine, Gina Philips, Erik Palladino, Bianca Lawson, Jeremy Sisto and Oz Perkins. The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival and went on to win over a dozen awards. It was also nominated for a Saturn Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comedy horror</span> Genre that combines elements of horror and comedy

Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." It often crosses over with the black comedy genre. Comedy horror can also parody or subtly spoof horror clichés as its main source of humour or use those elements to take a story in a different direction, for example in The Cabin in the Woods, Trick 'r Treat, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Shaun of the Dead, Beetlejuice, Gremlins, An American Werewolf in London and the Evil Dead franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie</span> Undead creature from Haitian folklore

A zombie is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magical practices in religions like Vodou. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods such as carriers, fungi, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, pathogens, parasites, scientific accidents, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie apocalypse</span> Subgenre of apocalyptic fiction

Zombie apocalypse is a subgenre of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack humans is unknown, in others, a parasite or infection is the cause, framing events much like a plague. Some stories have every corpse rise, regardless of the cause of death, whereas others require exposure to the infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie film</span> Subgenre of horror film featuring zombies

A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror genre, some cross over into other genres, such as action, comedy, science fiction, thriller, or romance. Distinct subgenres have evolved, such as the "zombie comedy" or the "zombie apocalypse". Zombies are distinct from ghosts, ghouls, mummies, Frankenstein's monsters or vampires, so this article does not include films devoted to these types of undead.

<i>Zombieland</i> 2009 film by Ruben Fleischer

Zombieland is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. It stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Bill Murray. In the film, Tallahassee (Harrelson), Columbus (Eisenberg), Wichita (Stone), and Little Rock (Breslin) make their way on an extended crosscountry road trip to find a sanctuary free from zombies.

<i>Three Flavours Cornetto</i> 2004–2013 films directed by Edgar Wright

The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy is an anthology series of British comedic genre films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and produced by Nira Park. The series stars Pegg, Nick Frost, and Bill Nighy, with several other actors, including Rafe Spall and Martin Freeman, also appearing in all three films. The trilogy consists of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013).

References

  1. "Night of the Living Dorks". Cinema Blend. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  2. Bemenderfer, Mark (October 12, 2004). "Zombie Comedy Succeeds In Both Genres". The Observer Online. Archived from the original on December 2, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  3. Gartside, Will (September 30, 2004). "Zombie Comedy Slays Audiences". The Badger Herald. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  4. Nelson, Resa (2004). "Science Fiction Weekly Interview". SciFi Weekly, Issue 388, paragraph 4. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  5. Dellamorte (January 22, 2003). Return of the Living Dead. Classic Horror Review. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  6. Edelstein, David (September 23, 2004). "The Importance of Being Undead: A Zombie Comedy of Manners" Archived July 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine . Slate Magazine. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  7. Smith, Kerry L. (2004-09-22). "Shaun Of The Dead: The World's First Rom-Zom-Com (Romantic Zombie Comedy)?". MTV News . Retrieved 2017-02-16.
  8. Capt. Xerox (March 16, 2007). "Critics Love the New Zombie Comedy Fido". The Website @ The End Of The Universe. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  9. Frazer, Bryant. Braindead (review). Deep Focus. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Sullivan, Kevin P. (14 June 2019). "8 Great Zombie Comedies (That Aren't The Dead Don't Die)". vulture.com . Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  11. Kenny, Glenn (19 June 2015). "Burying the Ex". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  12. Lemire, Christy (15 August 2014). "Life After Beth Movie Review & Film Summary (2014)". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved 5 September 2014.