10 Films Where Dead Bodies Were Main Characters

5. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

After Life
TriStar Pictures

It’s no wonder that references to this 1989 cult classic appear whenever Bernie Sanders ramps up his presidential campaigns.

The movie features Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman as two low-level employees who discover their boss, the eponymous Bernie, has mob dealings. While the latter intends to have them killed, he is himself killed instead, and his body is discovered by our two protagonists.

Not wanting to be framed for the crime, they bluster their way through a series of shenanigans in which they try to convince the rest of the world that Bernie is, in fact, still alive, even going so far as to string him up like a puppet or carry him on a pole between them and pretend he’s merely blackout drunk.

The slapstick comedy combined with the witty and panicked dialogue of McCarthy and Silverman make the movie the highly-respected gem that it is. It’s definitely worth the watch, as is the sequel, despite the fact that Bernie’s corpse gains the odd ability to dance in that one.

But still, whenever you hear the phrase “weekend at…” it’s hard not to fill in the blank with the name we all remember.

Contributor
Contributor

I'm a writer living in Indiana, United States, who specializes in horror, both in cinema and literature. I'm a fan of H.P. Lovecraft as well as an aspiring writer who is constantly striving to perfect my craft and become a better version of myself, while also providing for my wife and daughters.