Halloween is almost here, and everyone is making spooky plans. Maybe you have this year’s hottest Halloween costumes, like Squid Game Contestant, Squid Game Guard, and That Woman Who Caused The Tour De France crash. Yeah, that was this year. What a lot of you might be planning however is a movie marathon, and if you’re planning on using Netflix, you should know that by far, the best horror movies on Netflix are comedies.
Horror comedy is a strange genre. On the face of it, they don’t go together - horror movies scare you and comedies make you laugh, so they’re at opposite ends of the spectrum. Sometimes though, even a straight horror movie can make you laugh - that’s because both genres plumb the well of ridiculousness in service of their goal. Ma, for example, is a horror movie played straight, but isn’t it just a little bit funny when she uses dog blood to kill someone? Or when a loose roof tile causes a street sign to swing down and decapitate someone in The Omen.
Of course, they’re always funnier when they’re trying to make you laugh, and Netflix has a boatload of movies like this. Since we have readers from all over the world - and I would never dream of telling you what movies are online in another country so you can use your VPN - I’ve split my spooky recommendations up into three categories; UK, USA, and Canada, plus a fourth cateogory on Netflix Originals, which are typically available everywhere.
Netflix Original Horror Comedies
Starting with a bunch of Netflix Originals, which tend to be available in most territories. Netflix has invested heavily in horror comedies over the past few years, probably because they work best with cheaper, B-movie production values and can still draw in big crowds.
The best of this bunch is The Babysitter, and to a slightly lesser degree its sequel, The Babysitter: Killer Queen. Jennifer’s Body is my favourite horror film of all time, and The Babysitter is the closest any film has come to capturing the weird, sexual, dorky, over the top humour of Diablo Coady’s iconic high school murder romp.
The Babysitter tells the story of a teenage boy whose parents still hire a babysitter for him, but he doesn’t mind because she’s sweet and kind and funny and hot. Oh, also she’s a demon worshipper who secretly drains his virgin blood for her cult, until one night he finds out and the ritual goes wrong. Bella Thorne and Robbie Amell, playing parodies of the Slutty First Girl and the Shirtless Himbo, steal the show here.
Other Netflix Originals worth watching include: Little Evil, a comedic riff on The Omen; The Final Girls, where a teenager ends up starring in a real life version of a horror flick her mother made decades ago; Vampires Vs. The Bronx, a criminally underrated Boyz In The Hood meets vampire hunting in an American riff on Attack The Block; and Girls With Balls, which sounds vaguely transphobic but is more like a French version of Bring It On, if you swap cheerleading for volleyball and friendly rivalry with Deliverance-style hunting.
Best Horror Comedies On Netflix UK
As well as all the films above, there are a few interesting horror comedies on Netflix in jolly old Blighty. For my money, none are as good as The Babysitter, but here are a few recommendations anyway.
- Zombieland and Zombieland: Double Tap - A rarity here, since Zombieland is actually a good movie and not just a a collection of stupid, violent things that pass for entertainment. The sequel is a more typical horror comedy, and as a result I prefer it, but your mileage may vary.
- Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, and Scary Movie 3 - They get worse as they go on, they're so referential and edgy that they don't exactly hold up, and you need to love horror movies to understand them, but they're not the worst thing in the world, right?
- The Dead Don't Die - Imagine if The Walking Dead was funny and starred Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, and Selena Gomez. Oh, and Tom Waits is there too. No excuse not to watch this one.
- Bride of Chucky - Seed of Chucky is also on Netflix, but I maintain that Seed is trying to be a proper horror film, while Bride understands what Chucky is and as a result is a much more enjoyable experience.
- Cockneys Vs Zombies - Exactly what it says. It's basically trying to be Shaun of the Dead.
- Shaun of the Dead - Just in case you fancy watching the real thing instead.
Best Horror Comedies On Netflix USA
As well as all the Originals (and Zombieland and The Dead Don't Die), there are a few specific Netflix USA horror comedies to indulge in this spooky season.
- Deadset - Deadset is a weird recommendation for Netflix USA, since it's actually a British TV miniseries. The premise is 'what if zombies happened during Big Brother', with the contestants sealed off from the outside world and blissfully unaware. It was written by Charlie Brooker, who went on to write Black Mirror, if that helps.
- Deep Blue Sea - Is this a horror horror film? Not really, but it's one of the best 'so bad it's good' movies and easily the best shark movie not to be called 'Jaws'.
- Scary Movie 4 - If you're really desperate to watch the fourth one...
Best Horror Comedies On Netflix Canada
Again, all the usual Netflix Originals should be there - so just watch The Babysitter - but Netflix Canada has some titles of its own too.
- Beetlejuice - Say his name three times and a pretty decent horror comedy appears.
- Willy's Wonderland - More of an action horror with some laughs in it, Willy's Wonderland is basically an unofficial Five Nights at Freddy's movie, which is helpful since production on the official one has continued to stall. Probably doesn't help that FNAF's creator Scott Cawthon is an outspoken Republican who donated large sums to Trump and has given the former President his support even post-insurrection. Anyway, Nic Cage is in this. It's pretty good.
- Happy Death Day 2U - The first one isn't on here, unfortunately. But if you like The Babysitter, you'll like this.
- Dark Shadows - Personally, I don't find Dark Shadows very funny or very scary, but it is technically a horror comedy, I suppose, so on the list it goes.