Halloween is, almost by definition, a holiday dedicated to scares. Sometimes, though, you want to celebrate the holiday and get into the festive spirit without also being terrified out of your wits. When that’s the case, you might be looking for a Halloween movie that is more funny than terrifying.
If that’s the case, then we’ve got you covered. We’ve pulled together a list of eight funny Halloween movies designed to make you laugh, and that will hopefully leave you without any nightmares.
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Shaun of the Dead (2004)
99m
Genre
Horror, Comedy
Stars
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Directed by
Edgar Wright
Watch on Peacock
Edgar Wright’s sense of humor is entirely his own, and Shaun of the Dead is one of the best encapsulations of it. This sharply directed horror-comedy tells the story of Shaun, a dead-end electronics store employee who has avoided doing anything hard his whole life. When Shaun comes face to face with a zombie apocalypse, though, he realizes that he has to rise to the occasion in order to protect everyone around him. Shaun of the Dead has a few thrilling moments, but the movie’s chief joy is the way it subverts the formula of the zombie movie to arrive at a place where you feel delighted instead of horrified.
Jennifer's Body (2009)
102m
Genre
Horror, Comedy
Stars
Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons
Directed by
Karyn Kusama
Watch on Hulu
It may not have been widely understood at the time, but the cult around Jennifer’s Body has only grown since the film’s initial release. The film tells the story of a woman who is attacked by a group of men and then possessed by a demon. Following her possession, Jennifer decides to work her way through her high school’s male population, all while her friend attempts to uncover what happened and put an end to the mayhem. Featuring terrific, hilarious central performances from Amanda Seyfriend and Megan Fox, Jennifer’s Body has a lot on its mind, but it’s also wildly fun.
Freaky (2020)
102m
Genre
Comedy, Horror
Stars
Vince Vaughn, Kathryn Newton, Celeste O'Connor
Directed by
Christopher Landon
Watch on Peacock
Combining the body swap comedy with some parts of the Scream franchise, Freaky tells the story of a teenage girl who discovers that she is the local serial killer’s next victim. When she’s on the verge of death, though, the killer’s mythical knife allows them to switch bodies, and plenty of light-hearted chaos ensues. Vince Vaughn is excellent here, especially after the body swap, as a young girl trapped in the body of a middle-aged serial killer. What keeps Freaky afloat, though, is that it lands most of its jokes and has enough genuine thrills to go along with them.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
94m
Genre
Horror, Comedy, Mystery
Stars
Maria Bakalova, Amandla Stenberg, Myha'la
Directed by
Halina Reijn
Watch on Amazon
Bodies Bodies Bodies may have the single best joke on this list, but the movie is also fun from front to back. It tells the story of a group of young adults who congregate at an enormous house on the eve of a hurricane and eventually agree to play Bodies Bodies Bodies, a variation on games like Secret Hitler. When one member of the group actually winds up dead, though, they begin to turn on one another as the night slowly spirals out of control. Featuring a generation of young talents and also Lee Pace for some reason, Bodies Bodies Bodies will have you cackling.
Beetlejuice (1988)
92m
Genre
Fantasy, Comedy
Stars
Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder
Directed by
Tim Burton
Watch on max
Tim Burton is from a previous generation of horror comedy directors, and Beetlejuice might just be his masterpiece. The film tells the story of a perfectly normal couple who suddenly find themselves dead and haunting the house they once owned. Because they want to live in their house in peace, they try unsuccessfully to scare the new family out of their home. Eventually, they call upon the skills of Beetlejuice, an afterlife chaos agent who has an agenda all his own. Beetlejuice is zany, light on its feet, and features one of Michael Keaton’s great performances. There’s a reason it’s a classic.
Clue (1985)
94m
Genre
Comedy, Thriller, Crime, Mystery
Stars
Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn
Directed by
Jonathan Lynn
Watch on Paramount+
A murder mystery movie filled with comedians, Clue is probably the least scary movie on this list, but that’s part of its appeal. Telling the story of six people who show up at a mansion after having been blackmailed and eventually find that their blackmailer was murdered, these people must figure out which of them is actually responsible for the crime before they all become victims. Thanks to an all-star cast, Clue will still leave you laughing all these years later, even if its premise no longer feels as fresh as it once did.
The Addams Family (1991)
100m
Genre
Comedy, Fantasy
Stars
Raúl Juliá, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd
Directed by
Barry Sonnenfeld
Watch on Paramount+
In its original iteration, The Addams Family was a comedy about a family of weirdos, and that same energy brings The Addams Family and its sequel to life. Thanks to a brilliant cast and some wonderful direction and set design, both of these films feel like loving homages to the show that they are riffing on. The second movie is typically more well regarded than the first, but both films have a sense of invention that allows them to maximize the chaotic charm that this family had at its best on the original show.
Happy Death Day (2017)
97m
Genre
Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Stars
Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine
Directed by
Christopher Landon
Watch on Peacock
Another genre mashup that proves to be wildly effective, Happy Death Day tells the story of a college student who discovers that she’s stuck in a time loop connected to the day of her death at the hands of a serial killer. In order to break out of the loop, she has to unpack some of her own trauma, discover who her killer is, and figure out exactly why she keeps living the same day over and over. Jessica Rothe’s inspired central performance is worth the price of admission, but Happy Death Day also feels like a genuinely innovative movie in a pretty stale genre.
