Zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a

film genre A film genre is a Genre, stylistic or thematic category for Film, motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative , narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film. Drawing heavily from the theories ...

that aims to blend

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

horror motifs with

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

comedy as well as morbid humor.

History

The earliest roots of the genre can be found in

Jean Yarbrough Jean Yarbrough (August 22, 1900 – August 2, 1975) was an American film director. Biography Jean Yarbrough was born in Marianna, Arkansas on August 22, 1900. He attended the Sewanee: The University of the South, University of the South in ...

'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 The Day of the Dead () is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pa ...

'' (1985) featured several comedic scenes and satirical commentary on society. ''

An American Werewolf in London ''An American Werewolf in London'' is a 1981 comedy horror film written and directed by John Landis. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, the film stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne and ...

'' (1981) and the '' Return of the Living Dead'' series (1985) (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 ''Mr. Vampire'' (Chinese: 殭屍先生) is a 1985 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. The film's box office success led to the creation of a ''Mr. Vampire'' franchise, with the release of four sequels ...

'' (1985), '' C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.'' (1989), '' Braindead'' (1992), and '' Bio Zombie'' (1998). A popular modern zombie comedy is

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

's '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004), a self-dubbed romantic zombie comedy, or RomZomCom, 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'',

Matthew Leutwyler Matthew Steven Leutwyler (born July 23, 1969), is an American screenplay writer, film director, and producer. Life and career Leutwyler studied film at The San Francisco Art Institute. His first feature film was the dark comedy/road picture ''R ...

's '' Dead & Breakfast'', and

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...

's '' Braindead'' are also examples of zombie comedies.

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...

's '' Evil Dead II'', although a more direct

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

, contains some lighthearted and dark comedy elements, and its sequel, ''

Army of Darkness ''Army of Darkness'' is a 1992 American dark fantasy comedy film directed, co-written, and co-edited by Sam Raimi. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead, ''Evil Dead'' film series and the sequel to ''Evil Dead II'' (1987). Starring ...

'', is even more comedic. The ''

Evil Dead ''Evil Dead'' is an American horror franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of five feature films and a television series. The series follows various characters as they battle demonic forces unleashed by an ancient book called the ''Necrono ...

'' franchise features evil spirits that possess dead and living bodies and even objects, however, rather than traditional-style zombies.

List

Films that can be considered zombie comedies include: * '' King of the Zombies'' (1941) * '' Zombies on Broadway'' (1945) * ''

'' (1985) * '' Re-Animator'' (1985) * ''

The Return of the Living Dead ''The Return of the Living Dead'' is a 1985 American comedy horror film written and directed by Dan O'Bannon (in his directorial debut) from a story by Rudy Ricci, John Russo, and Russell Streiner, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen, ...

'' (1985) * '' Redneck Zombies'' (1986) * '' Night of the Creeps'' (1986) * '' Return of the Living Dead Part II'' (1988) * '' Dead Heat'' (1988) * '' C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.'' (1989) * '' Bride of Re-Animator'' (1991) * ''

'' (1992) * '' Braindead'' (1992), New Zealand film released in the US as ''Dead Alive'' * '' My Boyfriend's Back'' (1993) * '' Return of the Living Dead 3'' (1993) * '' Bio Zombie'' (1998) * '' Idle Hands'' (1999), starring Devon Sawa and Seth Green * '' Stacy: Attack of the Schoolgirl Zombies'' (2001) * '' Dead & Breakfast'' (2004) * '' Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) * '' SARS Wars'' (2004) * '' Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead'' (2005) * '' Tokyo Zombie'' (2005) * '' Dead and Deader'' (2006) * '' Fido'' (2006) * '' Dance of the Dead'' (2008) * '' Zombie Strippers'' (2008) * '' Dead Snow'' (2009) * '' Zombieland'' (2009), starring

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and

Abigail Breslin Abigail Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an American actress. Following a string of film parts as a young child, she rose to prominence at age 10 after playing Olive Hoover in ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006), for which Breslin received a nomin ...

* ''Juan de los Muertos'' (2010), Spanish-Cuban film released in the UK and US as '' Juan of the Dead'' * '' Deadheads'' (2011) * '' Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings'' (2011), also known as ''Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington'' * '' Cockneys vs Zombies'' (2012) * '' Detention of the Dead'' (2012) * ''

ParaNorman ''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American animated comedy horror, comedy horror film produced by Laika, LLC, Laika. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (filmmaker), Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler, the film ...

'' (2012) * '' Buck Wild'' (2013) * '' Warm Bodies'' (2013) * '' Go Goa Gone'' (2013) * ''Zombie eXs'' (2013) * '' Ang Huling Henya'' (2013) * '' Burying the Ex'' (2014) * '' Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead'' (2014) * '' Life After Beth'' (2014) * '' Stalled'' (2014) * ''

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse ''Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse'' is a 2015 American zombie comedy film directed by Christopher Landon, and written by Landon, Carrie Evans, Emi Mochizuki and Lona Williams. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, ...

'' (2015) * '' Night of the Living Deb'' (2015) * '' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'' (2016) * ''Oh My Zombie!'' (2016) * ''

One Cut of the Dead is a 2017 Japanese Independent film, independent zombie comedy film written and directed by Shin'ichirō Ueda. It follows a team of filmmakers and actors who are tasked with making ''One Cut of the Dead'', a zombie film, zombie horror film for l ...

'' (2017), a low-budget Japanese film * '' Anna and the Apocalypse'' (2017) * '' Trip Ubusan: The Lolas vs. Zombies'' (2017) * '' The Dead Don't Die'' (2019) * '' The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale'' (2019), first South Korean zombie comedy film * '' Eat, Brains, Love'' (2019) * '' Zombieland: Double Tap'' (2019), sequel to ''Zombieland'' * '' Little Monsters'' (2019) * '' Zombie Reddy'' (2021) * '' Aquarium of the Dead'' (2021) * ''Izla'' (2021) * '' Zombivli'' (2022) * ''Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead'' (2022), live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name * '' My Zombabe'' (2024)

References

{{Film genres Film genres Comedy genres Horror genres Horror comedy

History

List

See also

References