15 Greatest Horror Movie Comedies

The ‘Burbs is a class act in the comedy horror genre. It manages to bring Hitchcockian levels of paranoia and suspense to an absolutely hilarious comedy. Tom Hanks as Ray Petersen, a suburbanite who simply wants a peaceful week off work, puts in one of his most underappreciated performances.

He lives in a neighbourhood of strange characters which is made stranger by the appearance of the Klopek family next door to Ray. Ray becomes instantly curious about his new neighbours and his paranoia is magnified by his other neighbours; Art (Rick Ducommun), a crazy man-child with an over-zealous need to fully investigate the Klopeks and the wonderfully funny Lt. Rumsfield (Bruce Dern), an army vet who treats suburban life no differently to living on a military base.

The comedy here comes from dark and uncomfortable places and absurd levels of tension. There are a number of terrifically funny scenes, particularly when Dern and Hanks are forced to pay a social visit by their wives. And it all races toward a brilliantly chaotic ending as Ray finally breaks and finds out the truth about the Klopeks.