100 Best Horror Comedy Movies of All Time - Best Funny Scary Movies
Monster Movies That Will Delightfully Terrify You in the Best Way
In many ways, comedy and horror are like two sides of the same coin: Both genres rely on building tension and release. When the two work in tandem, they can create a mix of emotions that somehow make it both funnier and scarier.
All these movies include some fantastical element, whether it be creatures, ghosts, vampires, aliens, zombies, or other extranormal monstrosities. (So, no slasher flicks.) Within those parameters, we’ve compiled a big list of monster comedy films, ranging from the classics to movies that came out more recently.
The list also includes titles for a whole range of tastes—from zombie comedies (zom-coms?) and funny vampire tales to ghost stories and monster-centric animated features for the whole family.
Which ones do you love—or hate? Shout out your own favorites in the comments below!
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01 Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Directed by Edgar Wright, 2004 horror comedy film Shaun of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Londoners caught in an apocalyptic zombie uprising who just want to take refuge in a local pub with their loved ones. Horror novelist Stephen King remarked that Shaun of the Dead is “a ‘10’ on the fun meter and destined to be a cult classic.”
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02 What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Viago, Deacon and Vladislav are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane—like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs and overcoming flatmate conflicts. This New Zealand mockumentary horror comedy film, written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, inspired the same-titled TV series that follows a different set of roommates. A second spin-off series, Wellington Paranormal, is a procedural comedy series revolving around the police officers from the film.
03 Young Frankenstein (1974)
This loving sendup of classic Frankenstein movies, co-written by star Gene Wilder and director Mel Brooks, finds Wilder portraying the grandson of the infamous scientist. When he’s invited to Transylvania, he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body. With Peter Boyle as the monster, plus Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, and Gene Hackman. Winner of numerous awards and accolades.
04 Ghostbusters (1984)
The original classic, about eccentric scientists who start a blue collar ghost-catching business in NYC, was directed and produced by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Aykroyd, and Ramis as the Ghostbusters, also with Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and William Atherton. The film launched a veritable industry with toys, games, comics, cartoon series, plus multiple films. Its latest iteration is the revival film Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
05 Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
The gold standard of monster comedies, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is, pound for pound, one of the best sequels in the entire Universal Monsters library. It’s easily the best of the crossovers—and, darn it, the plot makes a whole lot more sense than some of the previous Universal Monsters films. The monsters are treated with respect, and the film is a hoot: The United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry; Reader's Digest named it one of the top 100 funniest films of all time; and the American Film Institute listed it among "100 Funniest American Movies."
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06 Zombieland (2009)
This post-apocalyptic zombie comedy stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. Directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the film follows a geeky college kid making his way through the zombie apocalypse, meeting three strangers along the way. The four take an extended road trip across the Southwestern United States searching to find a sanctuary. The sequel Zombieland: Double Tap was released in 2019.
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07 Beetlejuice (1988)
When a recently deceased couple (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) become ghosts haunting their former home, they tangle with an unpleasant poltergeist who tries to scare away the new inhabitants (played by Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones, and Winona Ryder). This wild fantasy about the afterlife was directed by Tim Burton, and written by Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren, and Larry Wilson. Beetlejuice won multiple awards and spawned a cartoon TV series, video games, and a 2018 stage musical. In 2020, there was also a cartoon crossover with Teen Titans Go!
08 Gremlins (1984)
When a gadget salesman looking for a special gift for his son buys a “mogwai” in Chinatown, thr strange pet spawns other creatures that wreak havoc on the whole town on Christmas Eve. Directed by Joe Dante and written by Chris Columbus, the film stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main mogwai character. It was followed by a Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
09 Army of Darkness (1993)
Starring Bruce Campbell and directed, co-written, and co-edited by Sam Raimi, this third installment in the Evil Dead series takes a sharp left turn as Ash Williams (Campbell) finds himself in the Middle Ages battling the undead to return home. Army of Darkness had a comic book adaptation and several comic book follow-ups--including crossovers with Darkman, Re-Animator, Marvel Zombies, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Hack/Slash. Campbell returned to the role for the Starz network series Ash vs Evil Dead.
10 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy The Nightmare Before Christmas is a holiday mashup: Is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? The debate rages on. The film shows what happens when the King of "Halloween Town" stumbles across "Christmas Town" and becomes obsessed. Conceived and produced by Tim Burton, the film was directed by Henry Selick. The songs and score are written by Danny Elfman, who also provides the singing voice of Jack Skellington, the Halloween Town king.
11 The World’s End (2013)
12 Shrek (2001)
13 Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
14 Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
15 Evil Dead 2 (1987)
16 Monsters, Inc. (2001)
17 American Werewolf in London (1981)
18 Addams Family Values (1993)
19 The Frighteners (1996)
The 1996 horror comedy The Frighteners starred Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister, a man running a kind of “Ghostbusters” scam. Yes, he can see real ghosts, but they’re actually his accomplices: They haunt a place until someone pays Bannister to, um, “bust” them. But when the spirit of a mass murderer can attack the living and the dead, Frank and his ghost friends have to stop him.
The Frighteners was directed by Peter Jackson and co-written with Fran Walsh. The film also starred Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Dee Wallace Stone, Jeffrey Combs, R. Lee Ermey, and Jake Busey. The Frighteners was Fox’s last leading role in a live-action feature film.
20 Monster Squad (1987)
This cult classic from the 1980s is like across between a Spielbergian summer family movie and a Universal Monsters rally. A kids club obsessed with movie monsters discovers there are real monsters in town—including Count Dracula, the Frankenstein’s Monster, the mummy, the wolf man, and the gill man. One day out of every century, the forces of good and evil reach a balance, and the kids have to save the world from Dracula. What’s remarkable is that the film is funny, charming—and takes the monsters completely seriously. This is such a good movie.
21 Little Monsters (2019)
A washed-up musician teams up with a teacher and a kids show personality to protect young children from a sudden outbreak of zombies.
Is this Bergman? Fellini? George Romero? No, but it's alarmingly fun (and profane, and gory) and Ms. Nyong'o is a delight.
—John Anderson, Wall Street Journal
It stands as a film that is both wickedly crude and delightfully sweet, satisfyingly gory and surprisingly heartfelt.
22 Fright Night (1985)
23 Shrek 2 (2004)
24 Lilo & Stitch (2002)
25 Men in Black (1997)
26 Hotel Transylvania (2012)
A charming re-imagining of the Universal Monsters, Hotel Transylvania finds famed vampire Count Dracula as the owner of a monster’s-only hotel where they can take a stay clear of the humans that hate them. To celebrate the birthday of his teen daughter Mavis Dracula (who just turned 118), he invites his best monster friends over, including Frankenstein’s monster, a werewolf, a mummy, and an invisible man, among others.
When the hotel is unexpectedly visited by a lost human traveler, Dracula attempts to prevent Mavis from falling in love with him before the hotel's guests learn a human is in the hotel.
The start of a film series and spin-off TV show, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA was the directorial debut of Genndy Tartakovsky, who’d made a name for himself as creator of animated television series Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars: Clone Wars, and for his work on The Powerpuff Girls.
The voice cast includes Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, CeeLo Green, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, Jon Lovitz, and Chris Parnell.
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27 Munster, Go Home! (1966)
28 Re-Animator (1985)
29 ParaNorman (2012)
30 Goosebumps (2015)
31 Attack the Block 2011
32 Tremors (1990)
33 Night of the Creeps (1986)
34 Warm Bodies (2013)
35 Return of the Living Dead (1985)
36 Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas - forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other. (And I love the songs!)
37 Fido (2006)
When a cloud of space dust causes the dead to rise as ravenous zombies, the ZomCon Corp. emerges to conquer the creatures and domesticate them to become menial workers and pets for humans.
38 The Lost Boys (1987)
39 Extra Ordinary (2019)
40 Megamind (2010)
41 Missing Link (2019)
42 Mars Attacks (1996)
43 Dead Snow (2009)
44 Slither (2006)
45 This is the End (2013)
46 The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
47 Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
48 Colossal (2016)
49 Abominable (2019)
50 Dead Snow 2 (2014)
51 Fright Night (2011)
52 Dark Shadows (2012)
53 I Married a Witch (1942)
54 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
55 Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
56 Addams Family 1991
57 Night of the Comet (1984)
58 The Mummy (1999)
59 Zombieland Double Tap (2019)
60 Death Becomes Her (1992)
61 Shrek Forever After (2010)
62 Cooties (2014)
Elementary-school teachers come under attack from children who have been turned into vicious monsters by contaminated chicken nuggets.
63 The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001)
64 Black Sheep
65 The Revenant (I) (2009)
66 Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)
67 Once Bitten (1985)
68 Shrek the Third (2007)
69 Critters (1986)
70 Rubber (2010)
71 Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018)
72 Bell, Book, and Candle (1958)
73 Life After Beth (2014)
74 Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)
75 Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)
76 Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
77 Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
78 Paul (2011)
79 Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
80 Igor (2008)
81 Evolution (2001)
82 Casper (1995)
83 Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
84 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
85 The Ghost Breakers (1940)
86 Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
87 Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)
88 Addams Family (2019)
89 Mad Monster Party? (1967)
90 Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
91 Hocus Pocus (1993)
92 Cemetery Man (1994)
93 The Raven (1963)
94 Under Wraps (1997)
95 The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
96 Juan of the Dead (2011)
97 The Munsters’ Revenge (1981)
98 Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1992)
99 Love at First Bite (1979)
100 Innocent Blood (1992)
101 Teen Wolf (1985)
102 Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)
103 Here Come the Munsters (1995)