October is the month for terror, and at the Weekly Triple Feature we have you covered. Each week we’re offering up horror selections from throughout film history that range from spine-tingling to bloody, to downright hilarious. Whatever your particular flavor of horror is, you’ll find it here this month.
THIS WEEK: HORROR COMEDY
THE FILMS: Student Bodies (1981, Mickey Rose), The Return of the Living Dead (1985, Dan O’Bannon), Werewolves Within (2021, Josh Ruben)
Comedy and horror are very dissimilar genres of film. Their tones couldn’t be more different, and the responses they elicit might seem on opposite ends of a spectrum. But if you keep going in either direction, you’re bound to circle back around and the two will meet. Comedy can get dark, and horror can be so terrible that it’s laughable. Where these two things intersect is where this week’s triple feature lives.
Throughout film history—especially over the past 40 years—every genre has had a dollop of comedy put on top. There are western comedies like Blazing Saddles, action comedies like Tropic Thunder, and so on. So it only makes sense that horror comedy would be a thing too, despite how far apart the genres seem on their own.
This week’s triple feature examines the balance of the two elements. The first film, Student Bodies, is a screwball parody of slasher films that uses the horror plot as a foundation upon which it can layer gag after gag. After that is The Return of the Living Dead, a cult classic that feels as though it’s equal parts horror and comedy. And finally, we look at the most recent of the three, Werewolves Within, a video game adaptation from 2021 that puts the horror and suspense first, but uses clever writing and a comedic cast to bring in the humor.
No matter how much the needle moves in either direction, horror comedy can be wildly entertaining. Hopefully, you’ll explore the entire range as you watch this week’s films.
Student Bodies, Mickey Rose, 1981
It’s easy to look at the poster for Student Bodies and dismiss it as a screwball horror spoof that you’ve already seen in things like the Scary Movie franchise—or even Scream, to a lesser extent. But to do that would be to ignore the roots of those films. On said poster, right there above the dead coed and chalkboard murder count, it says, “At last the world’s first comedy horror movie.” That, of course, isn’t true; you can go back at least to the 1940s and find Universal’s monster/Abbott and Costello crossover films. But Student Bodies is unique in that it’s the first parody of the burgeoning slasher genre, and it came out during a sweet spot for both comedy and horror.
The first slasher films were made long before 1978’s Halloween, but that’s definitely when it made its way to mainstream audiences. John Carpenter’s Michael Myers character spawned an entire decade of copycats, including Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees. Many of these ran with a theme gleaned from Halloween (though never intended by its director) that the young people who have sex are the first to die. At the same time, the early eighties were rife with teen sex comedies like Porky’s and Screwballs. As it did for horror, technology helped put screwball comedy films in front of more people; the VCR was a boon for both genres. Suddenly young people had more access to horror and comedy films via their local video store, and Student Bodies was the perfect blend of the two.
The comedy is there from the very start of Student Bodies when an official-seeming disclaimer states “This film is based on an actual incident.” A wholesome teenager named Toby (Kristen Ritter) watches as her horny friends are picked off one by one—one couple at a time. Police and teachers deem Toby one of the suspects, so she seeks to prove her innocence by working to catch the killer. But the flourishes atop the narrative are what make it a lot of fun. It starts and ends with well-done homages to horror films like Black Christmas and Halloween—and even The Wizard of Oz—and those bookend a second act that’s more Airplane! than Prom Night, even though that’s spoofed too. It’s in the middle of the film where it falls apart a bit—the gags are nonstop and maybe about half of them actually work. (This might be a product of the Writers Guild strike that was happening at the time. It’s speculated that backup director Michael Ritchie co-wrote it with director Mickey Rose, but took no credit because of the strike. (He might be the producer listed as “Alan Smithee” in the credits—the name people give when they don’t want to be listed.) There is questionable editing throughout, too. But despite those few quibbles, it holds up and does a particularly good job with the horror nods, even if there aren’t as many of them as there probably should be.
The Return of the Living Dead, Dan O’Bannon, 1985
In 1968 George A. Romero released Night of the Living Dead, the zombie film that would go on to define the horror sub-genre. He established rules about how the undead should act and how they can be killed. Seventeen years later, Dan O’Bannon took that playbook and turned it on its head with The Return of the Living Dead. Where Student Bodies is a straight-up spoof, The Return of the Living Dead finds its footing squarely in the horror of its story, with comedic moments that are both intentional and unintentional. Like a handful of its characters and soundtrack, it’s a punk rock film that creates its own sub-genre of zombie horror comedy, one that would be revisited often in subsequent years by films like Shawn of the Dead and Zombieland.
Set in Louisville, Kentucky, this film posits a world where the events of Night of the Living Dead, set in 1968, were based on real-life events, but Romero didn’t tell the actual story. One of the characters sets the record straight: In 1968, he says, zombies were contained by the military and shipped out of Pittsburgh and lost in transit, then ended up at the medical supply company where this film is set. As the film progresses, when two warehouse employees accidentally open one of the containers, all hell breaks loose.
Through a seemingly impossible confluence of events, the gas in the container makes its way into the air and rain brings it back down to earth, infecting everybody in the local vicinity, including a group of punks hanging out in the cemetery next door. And when the water seeps into that hallowed ground, there’s an all-out uprising of the undead that the living must come together to battle. What ensues is a gory, practical effects–laden hour of mayhem that’s a lot of fun.
This is the first film (of only two) directed by Dan O’Bannon, who was brought in to punch up a script written by several other writers, including Night of the Living Dead co-creator John Russo. As the story goes, when original director Tobe Hooper was pulled away to make Lifeforce, O’Bannon stepped in. Due to his previous credits, like writing Alien and working with former USC classmate John Carpenter, the film was certainly in capable hands. That comes through when you watch this zombie classic. It’s campy, sure. But it’s also well-made and a ton of fun.
Werewolves Within, Josh Ruben, 2021
Like the other two films in this week’s triple feature, Werewolves Within opens with a note. But it’s not to tell you that the film is based on a true story. The note is an epigraph for what you’re about to watch:
“Listening is where love begins. Listening to ourselves. And then our neighbors.”
—Mr. Rogers
Set in the small and fictitious town of Beaverfield, this film, which was adapted from the popular video game, is full of neighbors. But an oil man who wants to run a pipeline through town has created a conflict that has them at odds with one another and nobody is listening. When the new forest ranger, Finn (Sam Richardson), comes to town, he wants to keep the peace. But a mysterious predator is on the loose who makes that hard to do. A snowstorm hits, so everyone gathers at the local inn—there’s safety in numbers. There they meet a scientist who informs them that among them is a lycanthrope or werewolf. That’s when listening goes out the window and it’s every man for himself as people die and fingers are pointed.
This film is serious. It turns a little Lord of the Flies by the end, with everyone trying to protect themselves from this werewolf they’ve never seen. But with comedy experience both in front of and behind the camera, director Josh Ruben is able to balance the terror with humor and make it as funny as it is scary. Having a cast of comedians and comedic actors helps.
Adapting video games into films has historically not gone well. Even back when Bob Hoskins donned the red jumpsuit and an Italian accent to play Mario in Super Mario Bros. everyone had problems with it. We haven’t gotten very far since 1993. But Werewolves Within might just break that curse by reimagining the entire thing and turning it into an actual story, with characters who have dimension. And the mystery of it engages the viewer almost like the game would. You’re an active participant, trying to play along and figure out whodunnit. Fans of Clue will love this film because that’s pretty much what the second act is. But the only way to win is to listen to your neighbors.
FURTHER READING (AND WATCHING):
- “Sam Raimi: How Does Horror Comedy Work?” (Patrick (H) Willems)
- “Student Bodies Remains Texas’s Strangest Contribution to Horror Movie History,” Texas Monthly
- The Return of the Living Dead, Deep Focus Review
WHERE TO WATCH: