Great Horror Parody Movies

When asked what are my favorite kinds of movies, the answer is easy; comedy and horror. Along with with being scared, I love to laugh. And sometimes nothing makes me laugh harder than a great spoof. I’m not talking about horror comedies, but over the top making fun of serious pre-existing horror. Usually people get those confused, and it burns my biscuits. They are completely different sub categories of horror.

The great thing about these flicks is that they contain homages to lots of your favorite films. One of my favorite parts is to sit and pick out which movie is which. And I always marvel at a writer who can seamlessly entwine so many different aspects into a single film. Now for the criteria; these are spoofs, not just comedies. You won’t see Shaun of the Dead in here and you won’t see Tucker and Dale vs Evil. While those films are indeed hilarious(and two of my favorite), they are not spoofs. So I compiled a list of some of my favorite horror parody films. As always, these are in no particular order, so read on and see if you agree with me.

Scary Movie 1-5 

I liked all 5 of them. These movies spoofs everything. I can turn my brain off and enjoy adolescent comedy. Plus you will see horror stars who do everything from cameo’s to full blown characters. Some people do not like all of them, and that is fine, but they are not made to be serious comedy. It is slapstick and dumb humor. You either like it or not.

Love at First Bite

 

This film is a traditional spoof from the Dracula mythos, it is definitely lampooning all those that came before. It is stylish and funny and has George Hamilton. It is the modern Dracula story, meaning the 70‘s, what could be better.

Wacko

 

This one makes me mad. More people should know about it. It has Joe Don Baker, Julia Duffy, Stella Stevens, George Kennedy and even Andrew Dice Clay. Cops are searching madly for the “Lawnmower Killer.” Maybe Peter Jackson might have got a few Ideas from this.

 

Pandemonium

Here is another from the vault that gets no play. The cast list on this one is huge. Tom Smothers, Eve Arden, Judge Reinhold, Carol Kane, Paul Reubens(pre-PeeWee but you can tell he is fleshing out the character), it’s a who’s who film for the time. This is classic spoofing and it is great. Cheerleaders are getting killed at camp and the brave Canadian Mounty must do what he can to stop it.

　

Saturday the 14th 1&2

Those films come up a lot on my lists. How could they not? It parodies everything from Jaws to Dracula and even has a bathtub scene(I think Freddy must have watched this). Like the Scary Movie films, you dont have to watch them in order. My favorite one is Strikes Back(pt2). If you had HBO in the 80‘s then I bet you have watched these, a lot.

Young Frankenstein
 

The seventies and early eighties were when spoofs were golden. This may be the best spoof of them all. Marty Feldman bugs his eyes, Gene Wilder fluffs his hair, Teri Garr looks smokin’ and Cloris Leachman, well she has a special relationship with horses. There are so many quotable lines I couldn’t even begin to pick out the ones I love the most. “Put ze candle back.”, “Frau Blücher” [horses whinny]. 

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

You can not have a spoof list without Leslie Nielsen. It is just impossible. So why try. Another spoof from the mind of Mel Brooks. This time he's out to poke fun at the Dracula myth. Basically, he took "Bram Stoker's Dracula," gave it a new cast and a new script and made a big joke out of it. The usual, rich English are attacked by Dracula and Dr. Van Helsing is brought in to save the day. How can you not like a movie that takes practically every word spoken by Dracula from the classic 1931 movie and makes fun of it.

Hysterical

The Hudson Brothers film that people either like or dislike. Here is the premise; A burned out writer retreats to a northwest town called Hellview to write the great American novel. Unfortunately for him, the lighthouse he is renting is inhabited by the spirit of a woman who killed herself there one hundred years before and now wants him to replace her lost love, Captain Howdy. When Captain Howdy is resurrected, two daring adventure seekers are brought in to solve the case and find out the secret of the lighthouse. This is another one HBO showed every other day back in the 80‘s. It has a good cast of TV stars and Robert Donner in a rain coat yelling “You’re Doomed” That alone is worth watching it.

Shriek if You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th

Made before Scary Movie, but was released after it. This movie is just a strait up rip on all the killer/stalker teen movies. It is slapstick comedy and juvenile humor. If you are a fan of Scary Movie films, then you should be a fan of this.

The Walking Deceased

I am not a fan of the TV series, but am a fan of the comic. And this tears into the whole Dead series. I was surprised I would like it as much as I did when I saw the trailer; with a tagline like “When a police officer wakes up in a hospital to find out he is in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, he will do anything to find his family, even sacrifice Twitter.” But it was stupid fun. I laughed and enjoyed myself. Be warned. If you are a fan of the TV series, you might hate it. Because for some reason, a lot of fans hate it. And I have no idea why. It was a fun watch.

The Silence of the Hams 

Another spoof of what some consider untouchable films. This time it is Silence of the Lambs. As with most good parodies, the stars have come out to act. This one is full of them. If the saying “You are what you eat”, then this cast ate a lot of ham and very few turkeys! Comedy from beginning to end.

Transylvania Twist

This film is a huge love letter for fans of 80's horror movies. The pre-credits sequence alone is great if you've seen (and enjoyed) Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The rest of the movie is good too, it is Roger Corman spoofing himself. It all revolves around a book of evil, a dead uncle, and a fight to keep the book. It has a host of stars from other horror movies, and some dead ones.