The week's spookiest comedy on demand

A special pre-Halloween round-up of the week's comedy on demand...

Handcuffs For Poltergeists

Christopher Bliss, that gloriously unselfaware author of clunky prose created by comedian Rob Carter, has already ruined novels and theatre… and is taking on another medium: the movies.

This new short film, released online yesterday, charts his making of a chilling ghost story that is truly dreadful without being full of dread. It co-stars Ellie White as his unfortunately compliant best friend Karen and Ben Ashenden as a producer from the local council, funding the nightmare shoot as part of an arts initiative and getting increasingly exasperated by the process.

Supernatural phenomena investigated

Genuine cases of supernatural folklore, including many a haunted house, are investigated in Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Supernatural, but always with a sense of humour. It's hosted by Ryan Bergara and co-hosted by Shane Madej. Here is the playlist.

Also try The Last Podcast On The Left, covering horrors both imagined and real, from demons and slashers to cults and serial killers, from comedians Ben Kissel and Henry Zebrowski, plus researcher Marcus Parks. There are well over 300 episodes to sink your fangs into. Subscribe Listen here.

And That's Why We Drink is a paranormal (and true crime) podcast hosted by Christine Schiefer, Em Schulz… and boxed wine, which they glug to counter the fact that the world's a scary place.

Then there's double Chortle Award-nominated The Parapod, in which sceptic Ian Boldsworth and believer Barry Dodds investigate spooky phenomenon. There's been no regular episodes for a year, as a movie is on the way, but a special was released a couple of months ago, The archive is here

The Cabin In The Woods

With a cast that includes Chris Hemsworth and Sigourney Weaver, this 2012 horror-comedy was intended as a critical satire on 'torture porn' movies like the Saw franchise.And the critics loved it, with aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes saying 92 per cent of reviews were positive.

The site's critical consensus calls the move 'an astonishing meta-feat, capable of being funny, strange, and scary – frequently all at the same time'. Watch on Netflix here.

Comedy Shorts: Jamie Demetriou's Horror

One of the series of shorts released by Sky Arts in 2017 and 2016 to tie in with Halloween, this 11-minute film offers a new take on the body mutation horror genre. Eat Your Heart Out Kafka…

Jayde Adams's horror film, set in a supermarket, is also available online:

Attention HellMart Shoppers!

A serialised narrative horror-comedy set in a store built on a cursed burial ground, next to a burned down lunatic asylum, and above the gates to hell. The staff includes vampires, Nazis and gangsters… and that's before external events make things even weirder. Listen to the slickly prduced and skilfully voiced podcast here

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

In this 2010 comedy-horror film, a couple of well-meaning hillbillies are mistaken for killers by a group of dumb college students. It doesn't sound that promising, but racked up a batch of strong reviews for its 'good-natured, confidently executed slapstick', 'surprisingly clever' plotting and likeable characters. Watch on Netflix here.

Published: 27 Oct 2018