Slasher comedy Totally Killer has come out swinging in the streaming charts with a fresh take that mixes time travel capers with a classic horror movie murder plot ― and there are plenty more fantastically scary, bloody, and silly movies to follow it up with. As well as paying homage to Back to the Future, Totally Killer‘s time travel horror story joins a wealth of movies that play on the familiar tropes of slasher flicks, following killers picking off the cast one by one. Meanwhile, many similar horror comedies turn a smart and subversive eye on other sub-genres, such as vampire and zombie films, with fun and terrifying results.
Totally Killer features Chilling Adventures of Sabrina‘s TV star Kiernan Shipka in another spooky role, showing her traveling back to the 1980s to team up with her mom and defeat a mysterious killer. The 2023 film mixes an ironic self-awareness of the already-silly genre, a commitment to shocks and gore, and genuine tension – elements that the best horror comedies have always wielded. Totally Killer is part of a rich tradition that uses horror tropes for funny or subversive ends, and there’s wealth of similarly entertaining comedies, both classic and new, to peek at from behind your fingers next.
Related: Totally Killer Ending & Sweet 16 Killer Identity Explained
10 The Final Girls
The Final Girls is the perfect movie for those who enjoyed Totally Killer, as the 2015 movie uses the same slasher structure. In this case, though, instead of being transported back to the 1980s, the movie goes further and more meta. A group of teens, which includes Arrested Development‘s Alia Shawkat, is taken inside a 1980s slasher movie called Camp Bloodbath. They try to save campers with their knowledge of movie tropes; for instance, the fact that the killer only turns up when someone has sex. The title of the movie, in fact, alludes to the Final Girl horror trope of the last woman standing ― normally the one of the group who has avoided sex or drugs.
9 Renfield
Surely, Dracula is the role Nicolas Cage was born for, and he plays it with fantastic gusto in 2023’s Renfield. The actor is famously a silent movie fan, and channels Nosferatu and German expressionism into his grisly and characteristically over-the-top performance. As Renfield himself, Dracula’s assistant from the original novel, Nicholas Hoult maintains both zaniness and ease to balance Cage’s mania. The movie is full of theatrical, bloody fights, and hilarious moments between Renfield and Dracula ― but, unexpectedly, also features a genuinely heartwarming and life-affirming personal journey for the titular henchman.
8 Tucker And Dale Vs Evil
Like Totally Killer and The Final Girls, the 2010 movie Tucker and Dale vs Evil is another slasher comedy. In a genius twist, though, there actually isn’t a slasher on the loose at all. While the main cast are picked off one by one, and think that two “hillbillies” are to blame, they are actually just having a series of increasingly gory and implausible accidents. As well as the cringe-worthy hilarity of someone just happening to fall in a wood chipper, Tucker and Dale vs Evil has a bigger overall message. The movie criticizes the ways in which Tucker and Dale are judged by the campers, and what kind of people horror movies typically cast as villains.
7 The Babysitter
Arriving only six years before Totally Killer, Netflix’sThe Babysitter is a newer offering that plays like an ’80s teen caper before matters get hilariously dark. Twelve-year-old protagonist Cole (Judah Lewis) spies on his attractive babysitter, who has taken him under her wing ― only to find out that she’s part of a cult conducting Satanic rituals and slaughtering people. Then, it’s up to Cole to avoid being the group’s next victim. The Babysitter is unabashedly cheesy and features stock characters, but that’s part of the fun. It’s certainly one to add to The Final Girls and Totally Killer in any comedy slasher marathon.
6 Day Shift
Another new addition to the genre, Day Shift is a vampire comedy that follows Jamie Foxx as a no-nonsense vampire hunter. Channeling elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Blade, Day Shift is a fairly straightforward but fun movie that looks at what a work day would be like for a jobbing vampire hunter. While there may not be any big twists or inventive new takes on genre conventions, Day Shift is filled with fun vampire movie references, a stellar performance by Foxx, plenty of good jokes and gross-out moments, and some impressively gruesome fights. Plus, its biggest cameo from Snoop Dogg is certainly one to rival that in Zombieland.
5 Shaun Of The Dead
Part of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s fantastic Cornetto trilogy, Shaun of the Dead knocks it out of the park as both a top-tier zombie movie and comedy ― a rare film that caters to comedy fans who don’t normally like zombies, and vice versa. The protagonists’ escape from zombies becomes a pub crawl, with the goal being to hide out in a bar “until this all blows over,” which contains genius foreshadowing for what actually unfolds in the movie. Pegg and Frost’s fondness for and knowledge of classic zombie flicks shines through, and the film contains all the wry and nerdy humor the duo are known for.
4 Zombieland
Zombieland also holds it own in the zombie comedy genre, deserving equal footing with Shaun of the Dead. Zombieland is a wonderful blend of zombie movie and road trip comedy, keeping a wry indie sensibility. With a solid ensemble cast featuring Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and a young Abigail Breslin, the 2009 horror-comedy also catapulted The Social Network‘s Jesse Eisenberg to stardom. His protagonist Columbus’s list that helped him stay alive while dealing with a burger-borne zombie plague ― including the “double tap” rule ― gained iconic pop culture status, as did Bill Murray’s legendary cameo as himself.
3 Beetlejuice
Director Tim Burton is known for his fondness of the gothic and macabre, with his sometimes creepy and sometimes camp offerings also including Sleepy Hollow and The Corpse Bride. The 1988 comedy Beetlejuice is no different, and is elevated by a stellar cast including Winona Ryder, who later worked with Burton in Edward Scissorhands, and Michael Keaton, who starred in Burton’s Batman. Keaton, who is reprising his role the upcoming sequel Beetlejuice 2, plays the stripe-clad Beetlejuice with relish, after he is summoned to deal with a living couple “haunting” a dead couple’s house.
2 Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein is a classic of the horror comedy genre. Created by the golden team of writer-director Mel Brooks and writer-actor Gene Wilder, who also worked together on The Producers and Blazing Saddles, the 1974 movie is witty and irreverent. It plays on and parodies the tropes of classic horror ― even shooting in black and white and using a 1930s-esque score ― to re-tell the story of Frankenstein’s Monster. Wilder plays Victor Frankenstein’s descendent Frederick, who finds himself conducting similar spooky experiments after traveling to the family estate in Transylvania.
1 The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is another absolute classic of the genre, as well as another that uses plot lines from Frankenstein. The stage musical, with a jaw-dropping and chaotic cast including Tim Curry and Meatloaf, maintained its subversive sensibility after being made into a movie. It still retains cult icon status, as well as being a coming of age staple for many young crowds ― with indie theaters across the world still showing regular screenings to which fans show up in full costume to do the Time Warp. Despite its camp credentials, though, Rocky Horror has genuinely macabre, spooky, and even stomach-churning moments that make for another entertaining watch after Totally Killer.
