8 Campy Horror Movies for an Awesome Halloween
It’s Halloween week, and you’re in the mood for a good movie, you say? You’re sick of the revolving door of horror standards that cable television is regurgitating? You also like a good macabre chuckle? Not to fret, my dearies, I’ve got you covered. What you need is some, shall we say, new blood. In that vein, I’ve gathered a quick list of some of my favorite campy horror flicks just for you, sure to scratch that itch… right to the bone. **ridiculous, creepy, mad scientist laugh**
(subjectively chosen and in no particular order)
1. Evil Dead 2
You knew this would be here, so we’ll just get it right out of the way. Evil Dead 2 continues the story of a man trapped in a cabin full of evil. Though the original was meant to be straight horror, this greatest-of-all-sequels completely owns it’s ridiculousness. If you are not familiar with Bruce Campbell’s fight with his own hand, or the image of the cackling evil deer head, your life is deficient.
RELATED: Teri’s ProFan Review: Evil Dead
2. The Cabin In The Woods
A group of college kids head off for a nice weekend in the woods. Think you know this story? Notoriously written in 3 days by director Drew Goddard and the unavoidable Joss Whedon, if you haven’t had this flick spoiled for you yet, you are a lucky bastard in for a gory, hilarious ride. Watch it now!
3. Black Sheep
Genetically mutated sheep terrorize a New Zealand farm in this brilliant indie horror. David Spade only wishes his Black Sheep was this funny. I mean, there are were-sheep!
4. Lake Placid
In the annals of dark, dry humor, Lake Placid is an underrated gem. With one of the best B movie casts ever assembled (Bill Pullman, Oliver Platt, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, and Betty White), it tells the story of a giant crocodile loose in a New England lake. This is the level of quality that every Syfy monster movie should aspire to.
5. Bubba Ho-Tep
An aging, forgotten Elvis Presley and a body-swapped JFK, played by Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis respectively, attempt to save their retirement home from a mummy who is devouring the residents’ souls through their assholes. If I need to say more, you’re reading the wrong list.
6. Shaun of the Dead
Though it deserves to win something based solely on introducing the world to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Shaun of the Dead is on this list for being flat out the funniest zombie movie to have ever been made. Proving that Monty Python is no longer the be-all-end-all of British humor, the Cornetto gang send up all your favorite zombie tropes in loving fashion.
7. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Two unwitting rednecks encounter a group of kids on a camping trip, and inspire the kids to kill them out of irrational fear. However, the kids prove themselves to be more inept than our titular duo, and manage only to consistently do themselves in. A riot from beginning to end, Tucker and Dale proves that there is still life in the campy horror genre, and does so with gusto.
RELATED: Moonshine and a Movie: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
8. Dead Alive
Long before The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a twinkle in his eye, Peter Jackson directed the brilliant Dead Alive (originally released as Braindead), widely considered the goriest horror movie ever to be made. A disease infected monkey bites a zoo worker, turning her into a zombie. She, in turn, infects others, and so on and so forth. The zoo worker’s son is left to save the day, doing battle with zombie babies and virus-animated intestines and memorably chopping folks up with a lawnmower.
