10 Most Unintentionally Hilarious Horror Movies

The horror comedy genre has been a profitable one over the years. Cutting through often po-faced scares with a bit of silliness has led to some great films like Shaun Of The Dead and Army Of Darkness, movies that spoof horror conventions while utilising an understanding of what makes them work - the best of both worlds.

Almost as enjoyable, though, are those horror films that set out to produce straightforward scares, but for a variety of reasons end up with something so ludicrous that you can’t help but laugh.

Horror is a genre that can thrive without much of a budget; this has produced great works like Night Of The Living Dead, but has also led to any number of chancers trying to turn a quick buck, and ending up with a laughable mess.

It’s also a genre prone to remakes, which are in the main inessential and tedious, but sometimes turn out gloriously bonkers.

These are just two reasons a horror movie might turn out unintentionally hilarious, of course. As we’ll see, there are endless ways creators can drop the ball, inadvertently creating a comedy far better than anything they could have made on purpose.

Horror movie remakes are generally a recipe for bland, inoffensive films - perfectly fine, but needn’t have bothered when there’s a superior original. 2006’s remake of The Wicker Man is not that. Neil LaBute’s reimagining of the Christopher Lee classic was unnecessary, yes - but it’s also gleefully, hysterically bonkers.

The key ingredient is the addition of Nicolas Cage. And not just any Nicolas Cage: this is peak Cage, walking meme Cage. As police officer Edward Malus he gives one of his most unhinged performances in a career full of them. Bug eyed, quick to anger, punching women while dressed in a bear costume, it’s hard to tell whether he was directed to behave like this, or is just undirectable. Either way, it’s glorious.

The film is full of mad moments, wild line readings, and a delightfully stupid take on the original plot (the 2006 version has a heavy focus on bees, for some reason). It’s a colossal, ludicrous failure. Still, we’d far rather see Nic Cage stomping around an island like a maniac than yet another bland remake of a foreign horror for people who don’t want to read subtitles.