Recently I had the chance to see "Cemetary Man," an Italian/French film
(in English; so much for national cinema) billed as a "horror-comedy," and
I began wondering about the genealogy of the horror-comedy as a sub-genre.
The horror genre is one which I've thought relatively little about, and I
confess I am not even sure what I mean by "horror-comedy" in
theoretical/critical terms; while I know I'm referring to films like "The
Re-Animator," "Dead Alive," and the Evil Dead trilogy, I can't quite
articulate what makes this films hang together as a group (surely it's not
just the simultaneous presence of horror and comedy motifs; that would
require lumping "Dawn of the Dead" with "Abbot and Costello Meet
Frankenstein").  So I find myself intrigued by a series of questions, and
wonder if others have any insights:
 
1.  What defines a "horror-comedy"?
 
2.  What is its genealogy?  When does it appear, and why?  If, as it
seems, the sub-genre emerges in the early-to-mid-1980's, what is it about
this period that gives rise to the mixing of the two genres (aside from
the fact that the Reagan administration was at once horrific and comedic).
 
3.  Are there recommended readings on this topic?
 
TIA for the insights,
 
JRG
 
______________________________________________________________________________
John R. Groch <[log in to unmask]>            |  "Work!  FINISH!  THEN sleep."
English Department/Film Studies Program    |     -- The Monster,
Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260  |        "Bride of Frankenstein"
______________________________________________________________________________
 
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