|Horror Comedy Is Back — But Can It Survive 2026?

Hello, fiends. Welcome to the thing about films, the horror podcast, where two horror obsessed hosts dig into the movies that disturb us, surprise us, and sometimes completely mess us up. No credentials, no filter. Just a love for horror and a need to talk about every scream, every scare, and every. What was that noise in the background? So turn the lights down low, settle in, and let's step into the darkness. Your hosts, Ambrose and Jessica, are waiting.

Okay, this week we are going to do things a bit differently.

Should I be scared?

I don't know. Should you?

Oh, boy.

Anyways, I've got a question for you. Can horror comedy actually make a comeback? Or did we all get two Internet poison to laugh at a spoof movie?

Okay, that's the question right out of the gate.

What? I think it's a valid question.

So no easing into it? No. Okay, imagine this. Just boom, right to the throat.

I thought we'd do things a bit different this week and talk about horror comedy, because this is the question that's been eating at me, Jessica.

Okay, tell me why.

Okay, then. Scary Movie 6 comes out June 5th, which is about two and a half weeks.

Yeah, I've been counting down the days I need more laughter in my life.

Yeah, because you have so much dark in your life as it is.

You're an ass, you know that?

Hey. Just getting you back for last week.

Okay, what did I do to you last week?

The wisecrack about me always bringing up practical effects.

Well, you do.

No, I don't. Well, only if the movie uses it.

Yeah. Okay. Anyways, you sound kind of nervous about this movie. Do you know something we don't know?

Well, it's no big secret, but Anna Faris is back and so is Regina Hall. Oh, right.

But if you think about it, Scary Movie wouldn't be Scary Movie without them.

Exactly. And that's why I keep thinking about what a spoof movie even is in 2026.

What do you mean?

Like, you remember when Smile came out, right?

Yeah.

Remember opening weekend, there was like 8,000 TikToks already parodying it.

Yeah. So people like to make fun of horror movies.

Yeah, I know. And those TikToks were funny.

Some of them. Yeah.

So if the Internet already parodies every horror movie the weekend it drops, what's the spoof movie even for anymore?

Oh, okay, that's a real question.

Yeah, that's the question.

So that's the whole episode.

Exactly. That's what we're talking about. And we're not doing one movie tonight? No, we're going to be Talking about comedy. Horror, to be specific.

Wait, do you mean the horror genre or the comedy part of it?

Yeah, we're talking about the comedy side of horror. The original scary movie. Shaun of the Dead Tucker and Dale versus evil Megan and everything we know so far about Scary Movie six before it hits theaters.

So five movies, one episode. And just one question.

Yep. Can the horror comedy survive the Internet?

Okay, then let's do it.

Okay, so let's rewind all the way back to the summer of 2000.

Okay. Okay, we're going back to the original scary movie.

Yes, all the way back to the very first scary movie. Which only had a $19 million budget.

Yeah, to today's budgets. That's nothing.

But it made over 278 million worldwide.

What?

You heard it. 278.

Wait, you did say it cost 19 million to make, right?

I did. And that's a 14:1 return.

That's insane.

It was the highest grossing R rated horror spoof ever made. Period.

Wow. Okay.

And here's the thing people forget. Kenan Ivory Wayans didn't just write gag.

He didn't?

No. He built a real story under it, like a real teen slasher skeleton.

So it's not just sketch comedy.

Well, it is and it isn't. He wanted the parody stuff to sit on top of a movie that still actually worked as a movie.

Okay, so it's structured.

It sure was. And get this. He made the cast do two weeks

of rehearsal or Scary Movie.

Yep. And with homework assignments.

Wait, homework?

Yeah, character homework. He wanted them to know who they were before they walked on set.

Wait, that's not even close of what I expected.

Right. And then Francis Kenny shot it.

Okay, who's that?

The cinematographer. And his job was to make it look like a real teen slasher. Oh, like Scream. And I know what you did last summer with the same lighting and the same anamorphic feel.

So it's like the visuals were dead serious.

Oh, yeah. It played everything completely serious. And then the dialogue comes in and it's just pure Phil.

Yeah. So basically the joke is that mismatch, right?

Yes. And that's what makes it great and smart. And the casting story is wild. Like Anna Faris was this unknown actress.

Yeah.

And she was working at this ad agency and was about to move to London for a job.

Really?

Yeah. And she was just one week from

moving, and then she gets Scary Movie.

That's the wild part, because Kenan kept passing on people and the casting director kept bringing him back to this one tape like, okay, but what about her. And then finally he was like, wait, is that Cindy?

That's a whole different timeline right there.

No, that's a whole life. And then Regina hall studied Jada Pinkett's death Scene from Scream 2.

To copy her?

No, to imitate the energy. Same with Shannon Elizabeth. She was watching Jennifer Love Hewitt tapes to learn how to move like her.

Wait, that's almost research.

Exactly.

It was research.

And that's the part that makes me crazy when people say Scary Movie was lazy.

Yeah, I know.

It was never lazy. It was just paying attention.

Okay, so the Wayans got squeezed out of it after the second one, right?

Oh, yeah. And here's the story behind that. They made the first one, they made the second one, and behind the scenes, they were having full on screaming matches with the Weinstein.

About what?

Money, schedule, creative control, you name it, the whole list.

So they leave, right?

Oh, they left. No question. And Marlon Wayans even went as far as calling Dimension films, and I'm quoting him here, a roach motel.

A roach motel.

I know, right?

That's not subtle.

No, it's not. And they're gone for 25 years, but now they're back. They're back because the Weinstein are gone. And there is a different leadership at Miramax now. And they called the Weans. And the Wayans came back.

So now there's a scary movie six.

There sure is. And it's coming June 5th.

Okay, but before we get there, I need to talk about Shaun of the Dead.

Oh, I was hoping you'd take this one.

Because Shaun is the gold standard.

No, Shawn is the bar.

It's 2004 with a $6 million budget.

Which is tiny.

Yeah, super tiny. And the whole idea basically started with this hallucination scene in Spaced.

Isn't that the Edgar Wright show?

Yeah, exactly. Sim. Peg's character plays Resident Evil for so long that he basically zones out and starts imagining a full on zombie apocalypse.

And that's the plot.

That is literally the plot. Right. And Peg looked at that scene and went, there's a movie here.

And then they made it for what, $6 million?

Yep, just $6 million. With volunteer extras.

Wait, volunteer extras?

Yeah, they put out a casting call on a Spaced fan website just like, hey, do you want to be a zombie?

Oh, that's genius.

And hundreds of people showed up for free because they loved the show.

Now that's how you populate a city on a $6 million budget.

That's exactly how. And one of the extras told Edgar Wright during shooting that the movie looked straight to video.

No.

Yeah, right to his face.

Can you imagine? Hi, I'm working for free. Your movie's gonna flop.

Pretty much.

Imagine being that guy now.

No. Imagine being that guy when Shawn goes down the greatest ZOM romcom ever made.

Oh, my God. Stop. Okay, but the casting. Tell me the casting story.

Oh, this one kills me.

Oh, this is going to be good.

Okay, so the studio. Studio Canal. Well, they were financing it, and they wanted a big name for Sean's girlfriend.

Wait, for Liz?

Yeah, Liz. And they were pushing for Kate Winslet.

What?

Oh, so hard.

Can you imagine? Kate Winslet in Shaun of the Dead?

And just to let you know how serious they were, they had tea with her. That's right. Edgar and Simon sat down with Kate Winslet for tea. Now let that sink in.

That is just wild. So if memory serves me, she didn't take the part because I don't remember her being in the movie.

And you're right, but she was nice about when she passed on it. Then she went on and did Eternal Sunshine instead.

Oh, didn't she get an Oscar nomination for that movie?

She sure did.

And I heard that Edgar Wright said later he was relieved.

Yeah, relieved is a understatement. Because if Kate Winslet's in your $6 million zombie movie, it's not your movie anymore. It's a Kate Winslet movie.

Yeah, it would warp the whole gravity of the thing.

And then Helen Mirren got offered Shawn's mom.

Hold on. Helen Mirren?

Yep, Helen Mirren. They sent her the role of Barbara.

And she said no, right?

Yeah, she said no. But she said, I'll do it if I can play Ed.

What?

Yeah, she wanted to play Ed.

The Nick Frost part.

You guessed it. The vulgar, farting, slacker best friend.

Wait, you're telling me that Helen Mirren wanted to be the farting best friend?

That was her counteroffer.

Okay, that's the greatest counteroffer in film history.

It really is.

So we don't get Helen Mirren as Ed?

Nope, we don't.

What a world we're missing out on.

I know, and I think about it sometimes. Anyway, Simon has said the script came from his actual life.

Really?

He said his mom remarried, and that's the Philip plot.

Oh, the stepdad thing.

The whole stepdad thing. And he had a breakup that became Shawn and Liz.

So this fluffy zombie comedy is actually a breakup movie.

It's a real breakup movie just wearing zombie clothes. Exactly.

And that's why it works.

Yes, indeed.

Okay, can we talk about the Winchester scene?

Oh, please.

Don't Stop Me now by Queen.

Greatest needle drop in horror comedy history.

And here's the part I love. The Foley artist and the editor sync every punch, every zombie groan, every pool cue hit to the song.

No.

Oh, yeah. On the beat.

So the choreography matches the song.

And there's an old animation term for this. Mickey Mousing.

Wait, Mickey Mousing?

Yeah, because in the old Mickey Mouse cartoons, every movement matched a musical beat.

Oh, that's a great little fact.

And they brought that into a zombie

fight, so it's basically a dance number.

It's a horror dance number.

And the music itself, you know the rest of the score? Well, that's the other thing nobody talks about.

Okay, what about it?

Well, Daniel Mudford and Pete Woodhead wrote the score as a love letter to 70s and 80s horror synths.

That's one thing I didn't know.

And that whole Italian zombie sound, well, they went and put real Romero style cues in a movie that's also poking fun at Romero.

So it's affectionate satire.

That's the key. And it loves the thing it's making fun of.

And I think that's the difference right there. That's why Sean laughed. Yeah, because if you only hate the genre, your spoof is going to be cynical and rotten.

But if you love it, you can

poke at it forever and people will keep coming back.

Okay, that's actually a thesis. I have my moment sometimes.

Okay, we have to talk about Tucker and Dale.

Oh, I love this one.

So I have to tell you the production story first, because it's painful.

Oh, boy. How painful?

Well, it premiered at Sundance in 2010.

Okay, I already knew that.

But did you also know it sat in distribution limbo for 18 months?

What?

Yeah, 18 months. Nobody knew what to do with it.

Why?

Because buyers couldn't figure out if it was too commercial for a small platform release or too indie or a wide release.

So nobody bought it?

Nope.

It just sat there in someone's warehouse?

Yep. And then a work print leaked.

Really?

Oh, yes. A rough, unfinished cut of the movie hit the Internet before the real release.

Okay, how rough?

I'm talking rough. There was no color grading. The digital blood wasn't even added yet. ADR placeholders with a dialogue didn't match the lips.

So what you're saying is people were watching a broken version?

That's exactly what I'm saying. And they were going, this is bad.

That's a nightmare for a movie that depends on tone.

It definitely is. Because if you're watching Tucker and Dale and all the Blood is missing, then. Yeah, it just feels off.

Yeah, the gore is the punchline.

That's because the gore is half the comedy. And then it finally got a real release. And here's the kicker. It only made five and a half million worldwide.

Wow, that sucks. So what was the budget?

About 5 million.

So it barely made its money back.

Yeah, it barely scraped its money back. $223,000 domestically.

Wait, 200,000?

Yep. Just 223,000 total in the U.S. that's like.

That's a Tuesday matinee.

Yeah, and that's just in three cities. And that's all it did.

And now it's a cult classic.

And it's one of those movies people always bring up when they talk about horror comedy that actually flip the usual tropes on their head.

So streaming saved it.

And word of mouth saved it, too.

Okay, so let me get into the actual movie, because the casting story is also crazy.

Okay, then.

So Tyler Laine was attached early on. You know, he played Dale.

Yeah, I know. The sweet one.

Yeah, the sweet one. And then they were trying to figure out who Tucker is.

Okay.

And the list they were running through includes. I am not making this up. Johnny Knoxville.

Wait, what?

Yeah, Johnny Knoxville and Dane Cook.

Can you just imagine that? Johnny Knoxville and Dane Cook in a horror movie.

Yeah, but Dane Cook was on the short list.

Wait, to play Tucker?

Yep.

You know, I can't see him playing Tucker. That would be a totally different movie.

Yeah, that's a horrifying alternate universe.

No, that's a movie I don't want to live in.

And then they got Alan Tudyk.

Thank you, God.

It was, like, literally days before they started shooting.

Wait, days?

Yep, days. He signed on and drove out and had to figure out the character on the fly.

Now, that's what I call a skill right there, because it works, and it was perfect.

And lavine has this great quote where he says he was worried that the romance with Katrina Bowden's character was going to make Dale look creepy because she's,

like, 21 and he's a grown man.

Exactly. And he was really worried about it. Which tells you Dale isn't a caricature to Tyler lebene. He's a real person.

So he's protecting the character.

He was protecting the character from being a joke.

And that's another reason why this movie works.

And they played it sincere.

Okay, I want to also mention the director, Eli Craig, because I read this, and I had to read it twice.

Okay.

The Wood Chipper Kill.

Oh, yes.

Where the college kid jumps face first into the wood chipper trying to attack Tucker.

Now that was one great kill.

So you've got Eli sitting there like, like, okay, how are we actually gonna pull this off? Are we doing green screen? Are we using some kind of beanbag setup? Do we need cgi? Like, they had to sit down and figure out how this thing was gonna work.

Yeah, that sounds expensive.

And then the stunt guy, Jody Stechic, basically goes, you know what? I'll do it.

Okay. Do what?

He volunteered to dive headfirst into a padded wood chipper.

Wait, what?

Yeah, he basically said, sure, I'll dive face first into a fake wood chipper packed with padding and blood cannons.

So they just rigged up a fake wood chipper.

And don't forget the pads were loaded with blood. And the best part is he dove in for real.

That's an insane stunt right there.

And that's probably why it looks so real, because honestly, it kind of was.

God, I love that. That's old school.

Again, practical effects. And on top of all that, bee sting.

Wait, bee stings?

Yeah. Tucker gets stung by bees in the movie, right?

Oh, yeah.

And it took five different makeup stages throughout the shoot because his face had to slowly get more and more swollen as the movie went on.

And they had to keep track of which makeup stage he was in on each shooting day.

It was a continued nightmare. They had five different swollen face design.

So someone on that set was just managing a face spreadsheet.

Pretty much.

Okay. And the other thing about that movie, it's not really a horror parody.

No, it's not.

It's a class parody.

Yes, but dressed up as a horror parody.

And the actual joke is that the college kids are killing themselves because they assume the hillbillies are evil.

And the best part is that the hillbillies are the nicest guys in the movie.

And all they are doing is trying to fix up their vacation cabin.

Yep. And these kids just keep dying around them by complete accident.

So who's really the villain?

Prejudice. The villain is Prejudiced.

That's a sharp movie.

And it took streaming and word of mouth for anyone to notice.

I knew there was a reason I loved that movie. Anyways, moving on. Megan.

Ah, yes, Megan.

And this is where it gets fun.

It sure does. It just had a 12 million dollar budget.

Okay, hit me with the numbers on this one.

So it made 181.8 million worldwide.

So 15 to 1.

Yeah. And here's the thing nobody saw coming.

And what was that?

It was originally written and Shot as a hard R. Wait, what? Oh, yeah. Aayla Cooper wrote it bloody. And Gerard Johnstone shot it bloody.

So what changed?

Well, the trailer dropped.

Yeah.

Okay. You know that hallway dance scene?

Yeah.

It went viral on Tik Tok.

Oh, right. I remember that dance.

And every 12 year old on the planet was suddenly obsessed.

And the studio looked at that and said, wait a minute.

And that's when they reshot and recut the movie down to a PG13.

So the Internet literally changed the movie?

Well, they restructured the movie in post.

And if I'm remembering right, didn't they release the unrated version on streaming later?

Yep. Peacock. The original, bloodier cut.

So what's different?

Okay, so the kid, Brandon, well, he gets his ear pulled off in the woods.

Oh, right. Because in the PG13, they cut away.

Yep. But in the unrated, the silicone of the ear stretches and tears off.

Yikes.

And Celia, you know, the neighbor, well, she gets killed with a power washer.

Oh, I remember that.

But in the PG13, they imply it

and they don't in the unrated?

No, because in the unrated version, the spray straight up peels her skin off.

Why did I ask?

You should have known by now I was going to tell you.

I know.

So you remember that elevator climax scene?

Yeah.

Well, the boss, David, gets impaled with a paper cutter.

And let me guess. In the PG13 version, they cut away.

They do. But in the unrated, the blade goes all the way through his chest and sprays the assistant.

So basically, the unrated version is just a different movie.

It is. And here's the part I keep thinking about. There's a whole cutscene that even the unrated version didn't put back in. Yeah, well, an earlier climax where Megan decapitates Bruce the robot.

Oh, the big robot.

Yeah, the big robot. And then she uses his severed head to advance on Gemma and Cady.

Now that's a horror movie.

It is. And they shot it, reshot it, cut it, and now it's gone.

So what's this movie's deal then? Like, what's going on with all the puppetry?

Oh, okay, this is where it gets technical. And I love it. Okay, so Gerard Johnstone set up front, practical first and CGI only when we have to.

Of course. You love that idea.

Hey, watch it.

Sorry.

So Adrian Moreau and Kathy say build like six or seven animatronic Megan heads.

Wait, six or seven?

Yeah, different ones for different uses. And some of them have to be lubricated with fake tears.

Why?

Because the eyelids had to look wet. You know, like how a real person blinks. Otherwise you'd be able to tell it was rubber. Oh, and each animatronic head took 50 hours to 3D print. Just one.

That's insane.

I know, right?

So how does a movie even afford that?

Well, that's because the rest of the movie is already cheap. It was shot in New Zealand and the cast were all no names, except for Allison Williams.

Oh, right.

And then the body of Megan is Amy Donald.

Oh, that 12 year old?

Yeah, and she was the national dance champion with a karate brown belt.

So she's already physically scary.

Well, I wouldn't mess with her. And get this, she choreographed that hallway dance.

She did?

Yeah, with her dance instructor. The same dance that almost broke the Internet.

So the dance that turned the movie into a PG13 cash machine was choreographed

by the 12 year old who was in it.

Now that's cool.

And the voice is Jenna Davis.

Right, the influencer.

Right, the influencer. Well, Johnstone wanted Megan to sound like, and I'm quoting, a cool big sister.

And not robotic.

No, not robotic. It's more like she's almost too friendly. And that's what makes her creepy.

Yeah, you don't trust friendly.

Yeah, who wants to trust friendly? And the sound designer, PK Hooker, went to John Carpenter's Halloween for the audio template.

Okay, why Halloween?

Because Michael Myers has almost no sound. He's just silent.

So he stripped down Megan's sound.

Yeah, and underneath all of it, her talking, her walking, everything, he adds these

tiny little servo clicks, the little mechanical clicks.

Constant, subtle, always there. So even when she's being sweet, your ear is hearing that something is mechanically wrong.

And that's the whole movie. That's the trick, right?

That's the whole trick.

Okay, so we've now done 2000, 2004, 2010 and 2022, and now 2026. Oh, right. The horror spoof of them all. The all New Scary Movie 6.

The movie that pretty much nailed the horror spoof.

What do we actually know?

Okay, this is where I got to be careful because the movie isn't out yet.

Right. No early reviews.

No early reviews, no box office, no actual finished thing for anyone to react to.

So we're working off pre release.

Okay, so pre releases, trailers, the trades, what they've said in interviews.

Okay.

The biggest change is that it's directed by Michael Tidd.

Oh, so not Keenan.

Nope. And Tids has worked with Marlon Wayans before, just to name a few. A haunted house. A haunted house. 250 Shades of Black so he's already

in the Wayans family.

You can say that. So the rhythm is going to be familiar to anyone who's seen those.

Oh, okay.

And Marlon, Sean and Keenan are all producing.

So even though Kenan's not directing, he's still behind it.

Yes. And Anna Faris and Regina hall both come back.

Oh, to make it feel familiar, then.

Yes. Plus you got Lachlan Monroe, John Abrahams, Dave Sheridan, Sherry o' Terry and Chris Elliot.

So basically the original ensemble.

Yes, Plus Damon Wayans Jr. Kim Wayans and Heidi Gardner.

So more Wayans and a couple of new comedy ringers.

Yes.

And Regina hall has said something about the set, right?

Yeah, she said the way in set gives you, quote, so much freedom and so much improv.

So basically they're letting people do their thing.

Yes. Which is how the first one worked also.

Yeah, the first one was constantly rewritten on set.

It was, which is one of the reasons it doesn't feel like a template.

So what are the parody targets?

Okay, this is where it gets interesting. So based on the trailer and the trades, confirmed targets include Get Out. Nope. Long Legs, Heretic. I know what you did last summer. The Scream franchise and Sinner.

So a mixture of old and new.

Yeah, they're going after current horror, but also the late 90s material that started the whole franchise.

So they're not pretending the last 25 years didn't happen.

No, but they're also not pretending they're a different movie.

And they're shooting in Atlanta, right?

Yes, at Tyler Perry Studios. And it wrapped late 2025, and it's coming out on June 5th.

So two and a half weeks from us recording this.

Yes.

Okay, so here's where I'm at, though.

Okay.

When you said at the top, can the spoof movie even exist in 2026? Yeah, I think that's the real question.

No, that's the question.

Okay, whatever. So look at the four movies we just talked about.

Okay.

Scary Movie 1 works because it's affectionate. It loves slashers.

Right.

Shaun of the Dead works because it loves Romero.

Yeah.

Tucker and Dale works because it loves the people, the genre us demonizes.

Yes.

And Megan works because it loves the doll horror tradition. And it has something to say about phones.

Right.

So every one of these movies is for something, not just against something.

Oh, okay.

So my question is, does scary movie 6 know what it's for?

Now, that's actually a great question.

Because if it's just, hey, remember the movie Get Out?

Okay, that's not a joke.

No, it's not. That's just naming a movie.

So it's a TikTok stitch.

Yeah. But with a budget.

Oof.

Okay, so that's my whole nervousness about it.

Yeah, me too.

But. And I want to be fair.

Okay.

If the Wayans are back and if they're really vibing the way Regina hall says they're vibing on set.

Right.

Then maybe what we get is closer to the first one, not the third one, not the fourth one.

Okay, so where you're not just naming movies.

No. You're building gags about the experience of

those movies and about us, the audience,

and about us watching them.

Okay, so let's get into what these movies are actually about under the surface.

Yeah, let's do that.

Because all four of the older ones and there's a real reason they last.

Yeah.

Make Shaun of the Dead. What's it actually about?

Growing up. Right. Sean's 30 something, working a job he hates living with his best friend. His girlfriend's about to leave him, so he's coasting. Yes. He's already kind of a zombie before the zombies show up.

And the whole opening of the movie shows that.

All the office workers shuffling onto the bus, the people staring at their phones, the grocery store clerks, he literally walks

past zombies and doesn't notice because that's what his commute already looks like.

Right.

The movie saying we are already living in a kind of low grade apocalypse, and the apocalypse just makes it visible.

And that's the trick.

And then we have Tucker and Dale.

That's even sharper.

What's the real subject of Tucker and Dale?

Class. Class and class assumption.

Yeah.

Two working class guys with a fishing cabin, a bunch of rich kids on a camping trip. And the rich kids assume the working class guys are killers because of every movie they've ever seen.

That's because every horror movie has trained them.

Yes. From Texas Chainsaw to Deliverance. Rural equals dangerous.

And they're so sure about.

They're so sure they kill themselves trying to escape danger that isn't there.

But that's what makes the movie funny.

It does.

And it's not really a slasher parody. It's a slasher movie about the prejudice that the slasher genre runs on.

Exactly.

Then we have Megan.

That one's about bone, well, phones and parenting.

And then you have Gemma's aunt. She doesn't really want to be a mom. That's because she doesn't know how to. So when her sister dies, she has

to take Katie and she can't do

it, so she does what she knows best. She gives her a robot to do

the parenting for her.

Right? So she can keep working, so she can have her career back.

And Megan does what every screen does. It absorbs the kid until the kid

only wants Megan and until Katie's having

a tantrum about being away from Megan.

Which is a kid just having a tantrum about losing their iPad.

Exactly.

And that's where the horror kicks in, because they're handing it off to someone else.

And Megan's the symptom and Gemma's the disease. Yeah, I know, right?

And then the first scary movie, that

one's the one I think about a lot, actually.

Why?

Because it's not just making fun of Scream, it's making fun of who Scream was for.

Right?

The whole late 90s, that very specific WB network, teen culture, pretty white kids in nice houses, Carson Daly on mtv, the mall, all of it.

And the weighins came in and went, yeah, we see you.

Right? And we're going to put a mostly black cast in the middle of your genre and watch what happens.

And that's part of why it landed, because nobody else was making horror with that perspective.

And it sold 70 times its budget. So the parody worked. And the parody also made a point.

Which brings us back around.

Brings us back around.

Yeah. Can scary movie 6 do that in a world where everybody has the parody muscle?

I don't know yet. Me either, but I'm rooting for it.

You are?

Yeah. Because the spoof movie used to be a thing that drew everybody in. R rated comedy that played in real theaters.

Right?

And if that can come back, that means theatrical comedy can come back.

Oh, good point.

And which means we still have a movie culture worth showing up for.

Okay, you just made it bigger than

I made it sometimes.

All right, let me ask you this, okay? If you were in any of these four movies, which one are you surviving?

Oh, easy. Shaun of the Dead.

Okay. Why that movie?

Because in Shaun of the Dead, the smart move is just go inside, lock the door, wait it out.

You got a point there.

And you don't go to the pub, you don't try to save your stepdad. You don't drive across London.

So you'd be in your apartment with snacks.

Yeah, snacks and bottled water and a baseball bat.

That is so you.

So what about you?

Honestly? Megan?

Really?

Yeah. Because in Megan, as long as you're not Gemma's boss, you don't get killed, right? You don't really get killed and the body count is low.

So what you're really saying Is you just don't be the guy in Megan's way.

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Okay, what about Tucker and Dale?

Oh, I die. Hell, I die immediately.

Why?

Because I'm one of those college kids. I see two guys with a chainsaw, I'm gonna assume the worst. I'm gonna run, I'm gonna do something stupid. I'm gonna trip over a sharp branch and stab myself.

You're gonna stab yourself on a tree?

Yeah, I'm gonna stab myself on a tree branch.

Okay. And Scary Movie one?

Well, that depends.

Okay, on what?

For starters, what part of Scary Movie am I even in? Because if it's the scream part, yeah, I'm probably dead in the opening scene. But if it's. I know what you did last summer. That's easy. Just don't kill anyone and keep it a secret. And then nobody knows what I did last summer.

Oh my God, you're impossible.

Well, at least I'm alive and not the joke.

Alright, so who is this episode for?

Well, anyone who grew up in a video store rental aisle.

That's a good one.

And anyone who knows what the smell of a Blockbuster Friday night smells like.

So anyone whose first horror movie was rented and not streamed. Yeah, because the horror comedy is part of that culture. You know, the DVD culture, the cable comedy block culture.

Definitely. And if those movies can still work

in 2026, then maybe the genre never died, it just went underground.

That's true. So look, if you've watched the original scary movie a hundred times, and if you have Shaun of the Dead in your top 10 of all time, or if you've defended Tucker and Dale to people who haven't seen it, and if you stood in line for Megan, you're our people. You are. And we're going to be in a theater June 5th together watching Scary Movie 6.

And we're rooting for it.

Oh yeah, we're rooting for it hard.

Even if the Internet got there first?

Especially because the Internet got there first.

Okay, that's a good place to land.

Well, I think you know what time it is.

Oh, no. Five movies in one episode? You're really gonna make me sit in the crypt this long?

Actually, no, I'm not. Because we can't fully review the new scary movie because it hasn't really came out. So we are just going to let the listeners know that they should go back and rewatch all of these movies and especially the original Scary movie, and get up to speed for the new one.

Well, what are we waiting Lead the way Crypt Boy.

Gather close, listeners, if you dare. The air grows cold and the light begins to fade. Can you hear them? Two brave souls have foolishly left the safety of the world above. They drop, descend the spiraling stairs, deeper and deeper into the damp darkness where cinematic skeletons remain unburied. They come not to praise the dead, but to dissect them. Watch your step, friends. You have now entered the critics crypt.

Okay, I noticed something on our way down here.

What are you talking about?

Well, it seems like we always come down here to give our final thoughts on the movies we are reviewing.

Okay, so what are you saying? We don't have to come down here anymore?

Why would you think that? No, I just noticed all the cobwebs on the wall.

Ew. Why would you say that to me?

I don't know. I just noticed it.

Well, next time, keep your eyes closed.

If I do that, I'll fall down the stairs.

Okay, and your point is?

I'd get hurt.

Oh, right. Anyway, okay, we have four movies on the slab today, and we only have one question. Can horror comedy make a comeback?

I do believe it can, because I keep coming back to. And this is gonna sound obvious, but the very first scary movie. Because I think after all these years, it actually holds up way better than it has any right to.

Really? You think so?

Yeah, I do. And like, we talked about the production stuff, the rehearsals, the casting chaos, Francis Kenny shooting it like a real slasher. And all of that shows the mismatch between the visuals being completely dead serious and the dialogue being absolute filth. That's a craft decision. That's not an accident.

And we can't forget that Anna Faris carries some. So much of that, like, she plays it so committed. I mean, Cindy Campbell is not winking at the camera.

No, and that's why it works. The second the lead stops believing it, the whole thing collapses.

Which is exactly what happened to the sequels.

Oh, those sequels sprint into the camera and wink. And they are just constantly winking.

And that's the difference. The first one has a structure under it, like a real skeleton.

Right. And for me, that's maybe the most impressive thing about that movie in retrospect. Kenan didn't just string jokes together. He built something and then put jokes on top of it.

Okay, you made your point, but mine is Shaun of the Dead.

Oh, obviously.

And look, I've already said it's the gold standard, but what I didn't say is how much of it comes from that score. Daniel Mudford and Pete Woodhead just Quietly building this Italian zombie sound underneath a British sitcom. And it never calls attention to itself. It just makes everything feel slightly more doomed than it should.

And you don't even notice it's doing that until, like, what, the third watch?

You're right, you don't. And that Winchester scene, you know, Mickey mousing every single punch and groan to Don't Stop Me Now. Now that's a masterclass in editing because someone sat in a room and manually synced every beat of that fight to a Queen song, and it works.

That's the kind of thing that looks effortless and is absolutely not.

Not at all.

Okay, so we know Scary Movie and Shaun of the Dead knocks it out the park. But what about the rest? Do they have any good qualities to them or is there no saving them?

See, that's a tough one because I liked them all. But you're right, the other two didn't land well for me as much as the first two.

Oh, you're so right about that. Because my thing with Tucker and Dale and I like this movie, and I will defend it to my last breath, but that third act loses a little bit of the elegance of the premise. Like, once Chad goes full villain, it just stops being a satire of the prejudice and just starts being a more conventional chase movie.

Yeah, there's definitely a shift.

And up until that point, the joke is that nobody's doing anything wrong. The deaths are just chaos and misunderstanding. And then it kind of needs a real villain to end it. And that's the one place where the concept strains a little.

Oh, yeah, because it needed a landing strip and it picked a safe one.

Exactly. Which is fine because it's still a great movie, but the ending is the least interesting part.

I agree. So, one left, Megan. And I'd have to say it was my least favorite, but it wasn't the movie's fault.

Uh oh, that never ends well when you say something like that.

And you know, I don't like to start things off by saying it wasn't the movie's fault, because, hell, nine out of 10 times, it's always the movie's fault.

Yeah, I know.

So let me just cut to the chase. I have a big problem when a studio recuts a entire movie based on just one dance. That went viral. For us true horror fans, we would have loved to see the uncut version on the big screen. I mean, on one hand it's genius, but on the other hand, it's kind of depressing.

I see your point there, and I would have to agree with You.

So you get it, because the unrated version is genuinely scarier and the kills actually land. You know, that power washer, the paper cutter and the ear. Those aren't gratuitous, they're punchlines. The gore is the joke. And, well, when you cut the punchline,

you just have a setup.

Yes, and the movie's good enough to survive that, but it shouldn't have had to.

And this kind of circles back to the whole question, doesn't it? The Internet literally restructured a horror movie in real time because the trailer dropped and TikTok went. Went feral and Universal went, wait, we have a different audience than we thought.

Which is both impressive and a little sad.

It sure is. Okay, enough bitching and moaning. It's time we lay out our coffins. Right?

The reason we are down here.

So look, we're not rating a single movie tonight. No, what we are doing is rating the entire horror comedy as a whole, but only based on these four films and what they say about where we're headed with Scary Movie 6.

Okay, I like that because three of

these movies like Scary Movie, Shaun of the Dead and Tucker and Dale are genuinely great films that happen to be very funny. They all have something to say and they have a craft behind them, so they earn their laughs.

I can see your point on those three movies, but what about Megan?

Yeah, that one's a little shaky for me. But I think that's mostly because of a marketing choice that kind of stepped on what the filmmaker was trying to do. And honestly, it feels like the studio took away the thing that made it special. But still, I'll give them this. All four of these movies are actually saying something. They're not just tearing something down. They're standing for something too. And for me, that matters a lot.

Alright, so for me, I kind of agree with you on that.

Oh, come on.

No, seriously, I have to agree with everything you just said because I think we're being a little generous with Megan theatrically. And I want to acknowledge that without punishing the whole genre for it. But also, Shaun of the Dead alone is a five, and that just bumps everything up. Sorry, I can't help it.

So Shaun of the Dead is carrying the grade for you?

Yeah, Shawn is absolutely carrying the grade.

Okay, that's fair. Actually, I'll take four and a half

and Scary Movie six gets to inherit that score. If it earns it.

What do you mean if it earns it?

Well, that's a big if.

Okay, let's get out of here. My left knee has fully Given up?

Yeah. Let's get out of here. Something just touched my foot.

Okay, just don't look at it.

I'm not going to look at it.

Smart. Just walk.

I'm walking.

That's good. Just keep walking and don't look down.

What do you think I'm doing? And please, for the love of God, can someone hose this place down before we come back?

Okay, okay. You don't have to bite my head off.

So what are you waiting for, an invitation or something? Move your ass.

Damn, girl, you are feisty when you're scared.

I'm not scared. Just move it, crypt boy.

Silence has fallen upon the critics crypt. Once again, the screams have faded and the reels are back in their graves. Once again, you have survived the visit. But take heed. We will always keep a cold spot ready for your return inside the critic's crypt. Sleep well, my little critics. As for now, the crypt is closed. For now.

Okay, so we just did the horror comedy genre in one sitting.

Yeah, no big deal. Just casually cover decades of horror comedy. We're fine.

Of course we're fine, because that's what we do. And I stand by everything I said about Tucker and Dale, because that movie is criminally underrated.

Oh, isn't that sweet? See, for me, it's Shaun of the Dead. I love that movie.

And meanwhile, we also have Megan that is just existing because we really don't talk enough about it. It's a funny movie and, well, the unrated version, in my opinion, is scarier than the PG13 version.

I wouldn't go as far as saying it's scarier. I think I would lean more towards being a better version.

And Look, Scary Movie 6 is coming and I'm so looking forward to it. I just hope it lives up to the hype.

You and me both. Because it's been 25 years since the original and, well, a lot has changed.

That is so true, Jess. So here's what I want from you guys, and I'm being serious. What's your personal Mount Rushmore of horror comedy? Give us your top four horror comedy movies. That's it. Jump over to our Facebook page and tell us which four movies make your Mount Rushmore of horror comedy, There Will

Be Blood, which ironically fits the genre perfectly.

Perfectly on theme. Anyway, we'll be back next Friday with another movie to review, and it'll probably be something that wrecks us emotionally as

opposed to this week where we just had fun. Bye. 

Bye.