In their recent article “The Evil Dead-issance: The Unexpected Revival of a Horror Classic” fellow Post writer Mia Ashby sums up the “Evil Dead” franchise with this quote: “If you’re interested in campy, bloody, wacky fun, I suggest giving these films a watch; they're equally entertaining and off-the-wall unhinged, but it’s completely worth it.”
Ashby’s article poses an interesting point that “Evil Dead” often walks a fine line between comedy and horror, but how? To trace this idea back we must look at what inspired the later “Evil Dead” films, “The Three Stooges.”
“The Three Stooges” slapstick often plays against the expectations of violence. Instead of drawing blood, the pain inflicted is superficial and played for laughs. Sam Raimi’s inspiration for “Evil Dead 2” humorous stems from this slapstick trio. However, the slapstick loses this superficial quality and often goes beyond comedy to pure horror.
It’s the moment when the Black Knight from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” when the belabored de-limbing and the jets of blood become a well-paced joke. The pacing, paired with effects and the gore taking on a kind of humor only found in horror.
This is evident in films like “Re-Animator,” which follows a student coroner’s quest to bring the dead back to life. The film often blends horrific imagery with deadpan humor, and confrontations with the undead become stern lectures. In one scene, the humor is underscored by the tension building and the sibilant words of a severed head.
In this vein we have the works of Troma Entertainment, whose low-budget B-movies dominated the movie rental space throughout the ‘80s. Films like “The Toxic Avenger” are a perfect send up of the horror-hero while doling out gore in excess. Often the shock of the gore is underpinned by a wry humor, like adding a cherry before placing a man’s head in a milkshake maker.
J. Michael Muro, famous for his work with James Cameron, made his directorial debut with “Street Trash.” Following several junkyard vagrants who happen upon a crate of liquor that melts people, we see the formula of comedy and horror pushed to its limit.
The film is like a picaresque late night special, aiming to shock and gross out anyone who watches it. Throughout the film, the violence never ceases to shock viewers, only to end on the crooning of a melting man. Many viewers who find themselves laughing and appalled at the sheer shock of the film are left asking, “who is this for?”
To understand that we must look at Peter Jackson's early work. Well before he took us to The Shire in “Lord of the Rings,” he directed the splatterfest known as “Dead Alive.” Following a young man in love with an overprotective mother, this zombie film eschews laughs with gore for some iconic scenes.
When rated by the BBFC, the board nearly gave it their second highest rating for 15 years old and above, before moving it to 18 and up. The reason for slight second guessing was in part to the film’s humor. This ruling shows some of the complexity that goes into presentation of horror, since not all gore is meant as exploitative. There can exist a humor blended into the violence, which is described as a guignol farce.
For many viewers, horror walks a fine line between humor and horror, and the crossing of these lines leads to some true standouts in the genre. There is something creative in leaning so far into horror or humor that it results in the inverse effect. Striking that balance of when something is scary to when it’s funny often elevates films beyond either genre into something distinctly horror and slapstick.
Benjamin Ervin is a senior studying English literature and writing at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Benjamin know by emailing him be425014@ohio.edu.
