Watch these 5 great horror-comedies before Zombeavers eats your brain

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Zombeavers
I do have to hand it to them for that tagline. Solid work, everyone. Photo: Armory Films

I don’t know if you’ve heard of Zombeavers, but it’s out now. And, true to its name, it is about beavers who are also zombies, and they lay siege to a cabin full of hapless, idiot teens on a weekend trip to the woods.

Watch the Zombeavers trailer if you don’t believe me, but this is a thing that is happening to all of us. And I can’t actually speak to its quality without having seen it, but it absolutely looks like something I would watch on Netflix at 2 in the morning. But only then.

What I’m saying is that you can probably wait to see Zombeavers, which will screen in select theaters starting today and is also available to stream on demand. And while you’re doing that, you should check out these other films that blend horror and comedy into something special (and don’t forget to share all the ones I missed in the comments).

American Psycho (2000)

When a man wearing a raincoat indoors says he wants to talk to you about Huey Lewis, just run. Photo: Lionsgate Films
When a man wearing a raincoat indoors says he wants to talk to you about Huey Lewis, just run. Photo: Lionsgate Films

The first time I saw American Psycho, my friend and I were the only ones in the theater who were laughing. And maybe that means we’re warped, but director Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel about a serial killer was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen.

It’s about ’80s yuppie Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale), who spends his days comparing business cards and talking on his enormous cellphone, and his nights stabbing and mutilating people.

No, it’s really quite funny. Bale plays Bateman with equal parts mania and steely coldness, and you can’t help but kind of like him as he struggles to manage his social obligations, his obsession with status, and his horrendous bloodlust.

The movie delivers a few twists along the way that make everything confusing, but it’s a morbidly entertaining and fascinating character study that will shock you while also teaching you more than you ever wanted to know about Huey Lewis and the News.

Availability: Netflix (disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Xfinity

Gremlins (1984)

A man is killed with a syringe in this movie. Just reminding you. Photo: Amblin Entertainment
A man gets killed with a syringe in Gremlins. Just reminding you. Photo: Amblin Entertainment

Director Joe Dante (The Howling) brings you this cautionary tale about pet ownership. Or consumerism. Or something.

Gremlins is a classic, but if you haven’t seen it, it’s about adorable little animals who multiply when wet, hate bright lights, and will turn into reptilian murder-beasts if they eat anything after midnight. A lot of people remember the cute Mogwai and the silly lizard things who love Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But they forget that when those monsters aren’t marveling at Disney’s wonder of animation, they’re sabotaging an old woman’s chairlift so that it launches her out the window like a slingshot or leaping out of Christmas trees like drop bears.

Murder happens in this movie, is my point. It’s creepy as hell.

Availability: Netflix (disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube

ParaNorman (2012)

All of the characters are kind of odd-looking, so imagine how messed-up the zombies are. Photo: Focus Features
All the characters in ParaNorman are kind of odd-looking, so imagine how messed-up the zombies are. Photo: Focus Features

Here’s a quirky, stop-motion film from the makers of Corpse Bride and Coraline that tells the story of a young boy with the ability to see and speak to ghosts. And then a curse happens, and zombies show up, and it’s just a mess.

ParaNorman throws in a few clever variations on elements found in more straight-laced horror films like John Carpenter’s The Fog and just about every zombie movie you’ve ever seen. It’s just straight-up charming.

Availability: Netflix (disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube

The Frighteners (1996)

Really be conscious of what you're wearing because you could die in it. Photo: Universal Pictures
Really be conscious of what you’re wearing because you could die in it. Photo: Universal Pictures

Director Peter Jackson’s supernatural buddy-mystery features Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister, a man who uses his ghost friends to stage hauntings and then “clear” them. He’s basically a sham Ghostbuster. But he gets caught up in a real murder spree with some ghostly connotations and must finally use his gift for good.

Highlights of The Frighteners include Jeffrey Combs’ insane turn as an X-Files-esque FBI agent sent to investigate the crimes, as well as one of the most uncomfortable and borderline-inappropriate sex scenes in film history.

Availability: Netflix (disc), Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Sony Entertainment Network

Cemetery Man (1994)

"Man, that is one solid grave. Nothing's coming out of there." Photo: October Films
“Man, that is one solid grave. Nothing’s coming out of there.” Photo: October Films

This incredibly weird film is kinda-sorta based on the same comic book that gave us the wretched Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. It’s about Francesco Dellamorte, a cemetery caretaker who only wants two things: true love and for the dead to stay in their graves.

Spoiler alert: One is easier to get than the other.

Cemetery Man is a very strange, bleak and occasionally surreal film that almost dares you to find it funny, but that’s all part of its charm. If you can find it anywhere, it’s definitely worth a watch.

Availability: Unknown

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