The zombie comedy, often called zom com or zomedy, is a film genre that aims to blend zombie horror

Horror fiction

Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...

 motifs

Motif (narrative)

In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative aspects such as theme or mood....

 with slapstick

Slapstick

Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...

 comedy as well as dark comedy.

Early years

The earliest roots of the genre can be found in Jean Yarbrough

Jean Yarbrough

Jean Yarbrough was an American film director.-Biography:He was born in Marianna, the seat of Lee County in southeastern Arkansas. After attending the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, he entered the film business in 1922, first as a propman, but he steadily rose in the ranks to...

's King of the Zombies

King of the Zombies

- Plot :During World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. Guided by a faint radio signal, they crash-land on an island. The passenger, his manservant and the pilot take refuge in a mansion owned by a doctor...

(1941) and Gordon Douglas

Gordon Douglas (director)

Gordon Douglas was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.-Hal Roach and Our Gang:...

's Zombies on Broadway

Zombies on Broadway

Zombies on Broadway is an American Comedy-horror film released in 1945.-Plot summary:The duo of Jerry Miles and Mike Strager are employed as Broadway press agents. Miles and Strager's latest idea is to hire a genuine zombie for the opening of a new nightclub...

(1945), though both of these films dealt with Haitian-style zombies. An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London

An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 British-American horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne....

(1981) and the Return of the Living Dead

Return of the Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa....

series (1985) (especially the first two and the last of the series) can be considered some of the earliest examples of Zombie-comedy using the modern zombie.

Modern examples

Modern zombie comedies include Edgar Wright

Edgar Wright

Edgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs...

's Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...

(which was in fact a self-dubbed Romantic Zombie Comedy, or RomZomCom). This movie made many in-jokes and references to George A. Romero

George A. Romero

George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...

's earlier Dead films.

Andrew Currie's Fido

Fido (film)

Fido is a 2006 Canadian zombie comedy film directed by Andrew Currie and written by Robert Chomiak, Currie, and Dennis Heaton from an original story by Heaton...

, Matthew Leutwyler

Matthew Leutwyler

Matthew Steven Leutwyler is an American writer, director, producer.-Life and career:Leutwyler studied film at The San Francisco Art Institute. His first feature film was the dark comedy/road picture Road Kill starring Jennifer Rubin, Erik Palladino, Brian Vander Ark, Anthony Denison, Jeffrey Dean...

's Dead & Breakfast

Dead & Breakfast

Dead & Breakfast is a 2004 horror/comedy film directed by Matthew Leutwyler.-Plot:Six friends take a road trip to Galveston, Texas in an RV for the wedding of their friend, Kelly...

, and Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

's Braindead

Braindead (1992 film)

Braindead , released as Dead Alive in North America, is a cult zombie comedy splatstick horror film directed by Peter Jackson. The film is universally regarded as being one of the goriest films of all time...

, are also good examples of zombie comedies. Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi

Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...

's Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II, also known as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, is a 1987 horror comedy film directed by Sam Raimi. It is a retcon sequel to the 1981 film The Evil Dead. The film was written by Raimi and Scott Spiegel, produced by Rob Tapert and starring Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams...

, although a horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

, contains some light hearted and dark comedy elements, and its sequel, Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness

Army of Darkness, also known as Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness or simply Evil Dead III, is a 1992 horror comedy fantasy action film directed by Sam Raimi. It is the third and final installment in The Evil Dead trilogy. The film was written by Raimi and his brother Ivan, produced by Robert Tapert,...

, is even more comedic. The Evil Dead series

The Evil Dead (franchise)

The Evil Dead is a trilogy of horror films created by Sam Raimi. The films focus on the protagonist, Ashley "Ash" J. Williams, played by Bruce Campbell, who deals with "deadites", which are undead antagonists created by the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis. The film series has since expanded into other...

 does not, however, feature any traditional style zombies.

Other films that could be considered zombie comedies include the 1986 film Redneck Zombies

Redneck Zombies

Redneck Zombies is a 1987 very low budget independent horror comedy trash film directed by Pericles Lewnes and released by Troma Entertainment.-Plot:...

, 1993's My Boyfriend's Back

My Boyfriend's Back (film)

My Boyfriend's Back is a 1993 American romantic black comedy/fantasy/horror film directed by Bob Balaban which tells the story of Johnny Dingle, a teenage boy who returns from the dead as a zombie to meet Missy McCloud, the girl he's in love with, for a date...

, 1986's Night of the Creeps

Night of the Creeps

Night of the Creeps is a 1986 zombie horror film written and directed by Fred Dekker, starring Tom Atkins, Jason Lively, Steve Marshall and Jill Whitlow. The film is notable as an earnest attempt at a B movie and a homage to the genre...

, 1998's Bio Zombie

Bio Zombie

Bio Zombie is a 1998 Hong Kong zombie-comedy film, starring Jordan Bem Chan. It spoofs George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead and shows many similarities to Peter Jackson's Braindead.- Plot :...

, 1999's Idle Hands

Idle Hands

Idle Hands is a 1999 horror comedy film directed by Rodman Flender, written by Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer, and starring Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, and Vivica A. Fox...

, starring Devon Sawa

Devon Sawa

Devon Edward Sawa is a Canadian actor. Although he appears in independent films, he is best known for portraying the part of Alex Browning in the 1999 movie Final Destination...

 and Seth Green

Seth Green

Seth Benjamin Green is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, and television producer. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris...

, 2005's Tokyo Zombie

Tokyo Zombie

is a manga written in 1999 by Yusaku Hanakuma. It was subsequently made into a 2005 Japanese film written and directed by Sakichi Sato. The films stars Tadanobu Asano, Show Aikawa, and Erika Okuda. The movie was released in North America, UK and later Australia and New Zealand in 2009.-Story:Fujio...

, 2005's Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, 2008's Dance of the Dead

Dance of the Dead (2008 film)

Dance of the Dead is a 2008 American independent zombie comedy, directed by Gregg Bishop and written by Joe Ballarini. The film featured Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Chandler Darby, and Carissa Capobianco...

and Zombie Strippers

Zombie Strippers

Zombie Strippers is a 2008 zombie comedy, written and directed by Jay Lee, starring Robert Englund, Jenna Jameson, and Tito Ortiz and distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film is loosely based on Eugene Ionesco's classic play Rhinoceros....

, as well as 2009's Dead Snow

Dead Snow

Dead Snow is a 2009 Norwegian horror film directed by Tommy Wirkola, starring Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Bjørn Sundquist, Ane Dahl Torp and Jenny Skavlan.- Plot :A woman, Sara, is being chased through the snows of Norway...

and Zombieland

Zombieland

Zombieland is a 2009 American zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The film stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin as survivors of a zombie apocalypse...

, starring Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson

Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...

, Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American actor. He made his screen debut with the comedy-drama television series Get Real from 1999 to 2000...

, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin

Abigail Breslin

Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....

 , Zombie Dearest, and 2011's First Platoon

First Platoon

First Platoon is an upcoming post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film which is currently in pre-production and is slated for release in 2011. It was written and directed by Chris Gabriel, and Produced by First Earth Films and Laughing Jack Entertainment....

.

See also

• Cannibalism in popular culture
  Cannibalism in popular culture
  Cannibalism is a recurring theme in popular culture, especially within the horror genre.-As a cultural norm:In many popular culture works that depict cannibalism, the act has been the cultural norm for a tribe or group of people, normally located in South America...
  
  
• Comedy horror
  Comedy horror
  Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary and film genre, combining elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it.The short story "The Legend...
  
  
• List of comedy horror films
• Zombies in popular culture
  Zombies in popular culture
  Zombies are fictional undead creatures regularly encountered in horror and fantasy themed works. They are typically depicted as mindless, reanimated corpses with a hunger for human flesh, and in some cases, human brains in particular...