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Early examples of horror/comedy

post #1 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
My knowledge of the early days of horror is limited, the earliest I can think about is the tongue-in-cheek camp of Bride of Frankenstein. Can anyone think of any earlier (I'm thinking silent) examples of comedy/horror? All the silent horror films I know are dark and moody German Expressionist films, and if there's any humor in The Cabinent of Dr. Caligari or Nosferatu, I missed it.
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post #2 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:14pm
The earliest horror/comedy I can think of that I've seen would be "The Fearless Vampire Killers".

Other's previous to that may be unintentional.
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post #3 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove
The earliest horror/comedy I can think of that I've seen would be "The Fearless Vampire Killers".

Other's previous to that may be unintentional.
Even if you don't count Whale's stuff, Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein predates Vampire Killers by 20 years.
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post #4 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:17pm
There's the "Abbot and Costello Meet ___________" films, but that's probably later than you're looking for.
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post #5 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:17pm
Previous, as in films "I've" seen.
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post #6 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:24pm
Not as old as the ones mentioned (certainly not silent era, sorry), but Mad Monster Party (69) and the Munsters and Addams Family shows (both from '64) are around 4 decades old.

EDIT: So yeah, I got nothing.
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post #7 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:25pm
Googling I found this:

The Old Dark House (1932)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Dark_House
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post #8 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
I'm just trying to figure out where it originates and if comedy and horror have always been linked, or if that's a more modern (read: post-WW2) development.
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post #9 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:29pm
Found this list on Wikipedia, which has some stuff from the 20s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_horror_films
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post #10 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:31pm
Well, in Dracula (yeah, I know I've been on a Drac kick lately), Stoker describes the Count as parading around the streets of London wearing a straw "Boater" hat. If that's not hilarity, I don't know what is.


And, yes, I realize that you were looking for films here.
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post #11 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
No, I think literature (and theatre) are important as well, since my question is more about the relationship between horror and comedy in general. I was just inquiring about films because, well, that's what I know more about and better understand.
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post #12 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
I'm just trying to figure out where it originates and if comedy and horror have always been linked, or if that's a more modern (read: post-WW2) development.
I think it's an ingrained part of human nature. But you may be onto something, there may have been a greater number of horror/comedy projects started during times of War.
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post #13 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:38pm
Matt M's list seems to be the info you seek.
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove
I think it's an ingrained part of human nature. But you may be onto something, there may have been a greater number of horror/comedy projects started during times of War.
Before Casper in the early 40's, Mickey Donald and Goofy were bustin' spooks in Lonesome Ghosts ('37):




Bob Hope's The Ghost Breakers ('40) is pre-A&C.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick R
No, I think literature (and theatre) are important as well, since my question is more about the relationship between horror and comedy in general. I was just inquiring about films because, well, that's what I know more about and better understand.
What better way to relieve a good scare, than with a good laugh? Or what better way to throw someone off guard for a good scare, than by misdirecting with a good laugh? I think these 2 roller-coaster emotions go hand in hand in classic storytelling.
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post #14 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
No, I think literature (and theatre) are important as well, since my question is more about the relationship between horror and comedy in general. I was just inquiring about films because, well, that's what I know more about and better understand.
Well, then, I'd have to say (a la Billylove) that it's human nature. What better way to dispel fear than by learning to laugh at it? Hell, Young Frankenstein was born out of Brooks' terror of the Frankenstein monster.

ETA: Oh, Darkmite, Lonesome Ghosts? I'd so rep you if I didn't have to spread some around first. You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
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post #15 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
No, I think literature (and theatre) are important as well, since my question is more about the relationship between horror and comedy in general. I was just inquiring about films because, well, that's what I know more about and better understand.
You might want to look into the history of Grand Guignol theater, which often featured a very morbid sense of humor.
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post #16 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:40pm
Does Arsenic and Old Lace count? It's not horror per se, but with two teams of multiple murderers it plays in the general territory.
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post #17 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:43pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove
I think it's an ingrained part of human nature. But you may be onto something, there may have been a greater number of horror/comedy projects started during times of War.
I think, and this is more of a hypothesis than a researched theory, that horror actually is less comedic during times of war, but it's never across the board. But I think the kind of nihilism of films like Last House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre were a product of Vietnam, like the utterly bleak and humorless Saw franchise is a product of today's political climate. Humor in horror films nowadays is rare, and it's usually a specific homage to the films of 80's (like Slither).

Again, these aren't as researched enough to be real theories, just ideas I'm throwing out there.
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post #18 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:44pm
Aha! I knew I'd read a book on this topic in college, and managed to find it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Laughing-Screa.../dp/0231084641

The first chapter is all about the historical link between comedy and horror.
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post #19 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:47pm


Laughing at death, disease, violence and gore goes way back to the days of travelling troups and probably campfire stories even.
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post #20 of 25
11/6/07 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt M
Aha! I knew I'd read a book on this topic in college, and managed to find it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Laughing-Screa.../dp/0231084641

The first chapter is all about the historical link between comedy and horror.
My library has it! Awesome. Thanks, Matt.
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post #21 of 25
11/6/07 at 8:03pm
Thread Starter 
Also interesting is the way humor is integrated. I was thinking about this as I watched Severance last night (which I wasn't a fan of). It had humor, and it had horror, but very rarely were both ever utilized in the same scene. The horror aspect was very gritty and called The Hills Have Eyes and Wolf Creek to mind more than The Evil Dead or Friday the 13th. Then you look at a horror comedy like Slither, where the humor aspect was so overpowering that the only reason you'd still call it a horror film is because of how gross it is. Hostel Part 2 (a film that is growing on me since I first saw it) is the only recent movie I can remember where both horror and humor were utilized together, in the kind of way you'd see in the 80's.

I read an essay once (can't remember the title or author off the top of my head) that brought up the interesting idea that, whether uncontrollable laughter or uncontrollable screaming, the desired end result of horror and comedy is the same: hysteria.
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post #22 of 25
11/6/07 at 9:25pm
Bob Hope's "The Cat and the Canary" (1939) was a comedic remake of an 1927 slient horror murder mystery and predates both "Arsenic and Old Lace" and the Abott and Costello spoofs. People tend to associate only the classic monster films of the previous era as the only horror films, but a few early murder mysteries were targeted more as horror than film noir.

Buster Keaton also had a short called "The Haunted House" way back in 1921, but as the haunted house part doesn't start until the last 5 mintues, it's tough to call it a horror-comedy instead of a comedy with a haunted house scene.
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post #23 of 25
11/6/07 at 10:09pm
For what it's worth, one of the films off Matt's Wikipedia list, Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pride (1925, Stan Laurel) is available for viewing at the Internet Archive. (So's The Gorilla, and maybe more.)
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post #24 of 25
11/6/07 at 10:11pm
Mark of the Vampire, Tod Browning's remake of his own film, London After Midnight.
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post #25 of 25
11/6/07 at 11:00pm
I'd rep Ripoli for doing my "start an interesting discussion on Creature-Corner" Schtick so well, but I gotta spread some more. I may have to check out that book Matt M. pointed out. Good show all around, people.

Edited because I'm a retard and Called Matt M Mattioli. My sincere apologies.
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