For much of today, my twitter feed has exuded THIS energy –
It started with an innocuous request for some off-the-radar horror movie recommendations –
Recommend me a great under-the-radar horror movie
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 28, 2022
Which prompted an (I assumed) equally innocuous tweet –
Apparently controversial opinion: Horror-comedies don't work.
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 29, 2022
An hour later it was ON. A lot of people did NOT appreciate this take, many of them inexplicably angered, offering up examples of successful horror-comedies amid copious dollops of HOW DARE YOU!
That's because if we can't settle this issue here on twitter, we must move on to Kal If Fee, the ancient trial by lirpa. https://t.co/j4BhdXsWhx
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 30, 2022
One of the most oft-repeated responses to my tweet has been along the lines of “Well, that’s just YOUR opinion!”. And to that I would say – Well, yeah. I assumed that would be self-evident given my use of the term “take” and the fact I chose to publish it on twitter rather than, say, the Chicago Journal of Empirical Studies. In the future, out of an abundance of caution, all of my tweets will include the following warning: “This tweet is just an opinion and has not been scientifically tested”.
Others felt I was being intentionally provocative so that I could garner more replies and, presumably ly, score a big cash pay-out from twitter because that’s what happens when your tweet receives a lot of engagement. Big cash and a trophy!
And yet here you are.
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 30, 2022
Absolutely. Twitter pays me 20 cents a response. Thanks for contributing to my retirement fund.
— Joseph Mallozzi (@BaronDestructo) June 30, 2022
To be perfectly clear, I’m not saying horror-comedies don’t exist as a sub-genre – which is something a couple of people assumed I was arguing. They do exist and some are great movies. But they don’t work for me as horror-comedies because the comedy almost always come at the expense of tension and suspense.
Again, to be clear, I’m referring to movies that fall into the category of horror-comedies as opposed to horror movies with comic elements. Jordan Peele’s Get Out is an example of a great movie with flashes of humor that never undermine the integrity of the horror.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Evil Dead 2 was one that came up a lot and I’ll concede it does buck the trend. Honestly though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it and another screening may be required to confirm this. An even better example is, I think, Scream which does an excellent job of walking that fine line, subverting the horror tropes without diluting the horror.
Anyway, it’s been an interesting experience that has taught me a valuable lesson. In the future, I will refrain from commenting on entertainment. I will stick to less controversial topics like politics and religion.
Lol! As soon as I saw your “horror-comedies don’t work” tweet, I knew you were gonna get bombarded. To be fair, it did seem like you were being deliberately provocative, just by how it was phrased: a naked, unvarnished statement, with no hedging. It was as you saying, “Prove me wrong.” So they tried, seemingly oblivious to the fact that matters of perception cannot possibly be proved or disproved. Ah well. It made for an entertaining read, anyway. 😂
It was a very Joe Mallozzi mix of riling the conversation while staying engaged and genuine. Your core followers know the difference between that and baiting.
I didn’t see the “dust storm” you started. 🤣 It reminds me of this guys post. I hope you get a kick out of like I did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7j674TsqiU
Wait a minute! Hold on! Wait a dog-gone minute! Twitter will pay you money to have a huge interest or big fight melt-down with one of your tweets?
I could not fight on Twitter. I just not mean enough, dammit.
Oh no! I’m begging you. Don’t concentrate on politics and religion. Please.
Geezzz…. People are getting way too serious. Hakuna Matata.
I haven’t read the threads (because it’s the Internet and I have the right to be outraged without having to read everything, damnit!!!!!!). I was going to suggest Scream as a good example of horror-comedy. I’d forgotten about Evil Dead 2! Definitely need to do an Evil Dead rewatch!
For under the radar horror movies have you seen “Lake Mungo”? It’s a highly regarded Aussie film. It’s filmed in a documentary format and kinda weird and I’m not 100% sure how I feel about it. I’m sure you’ll have it all worked out within the first 30 minutes but it kept me guessing until then end.
Enjoyed Lake Mungo.
“…it’s been an interesting experience that has taught me a valuable lesson. In the future, I will refrain from commenting on entertainment. I will stick to less controversial topics like politics and religion.”
Or … You could just give in to your secret deeply passionate desire to buy a new ice cream maker
so you can spend more time focused on developing delicious new booze infused flavors that inspire wondrous new daydreams and adventures And less time arguing with folks on twitter who are likely misguidedly taking their frustrations out on you simply because they cannot afford small luxuries such as an ice cream maker of their own these days so they can enjoy filling their time on this pale blue dot with something much sweeter than arguing with other misguided keyboard warriors on twitter.
“But they don’t work for me as horror-comedies because the comedy almost always come at the expense of tension and suspense. Again, to be clear, I’m referring to movies that fall into the category of horror-comedies as opposed to horror movies with comic elements.”
I agree. Everything, regardless of which genre, should incorporate at least some humor, because otherwise it’s either just depressing or takes itself too seriously. But ratcheting up the stream of jokes too high or existing for no reason other than parody falls flat for me.
‘Horror-comedy’ is also different from works like Buffy which incorporate both humor and horror elements (as well as scifi and urban fantasy) but defy easy categorization. In fact, the best overarching description for Buffy would be character-driven coming-of-age drama, which still leaves out a lot of detail.
“Anyway, it’s been an interesting experience that has taught me a valuable lesson. In the future, I will refrain from commenting on entertainment. I will stick to less controversial topics like politics and religion.”
Well, genre fans have strong opinions on genre works and a majority of people following a showrunner of genre shows are going to be genre fans, so entertainment is the topic for knee-jerk reactions.