The 2006 New Zealand horror comedy newly restored in 4K, supervised by writer-director Jonathan King, with HDR.

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That’s why the rise of horror comedies was all but inevitable, as most horror hounds were already willing to laugh alongside their favorite filmmakers instead of at them. That being said, some of these humorous scares are more popular than others, and today we’d like to shine a light on six criminally underseen horror-comedies that deserve a second chance at success!

As usual, this list is based on personal opinion, but don’t forget to comment below with your own underrated favorites if you think we missed a particularly fun horror comedy that doesn’t get the love it deserves.

With that out of the way, onto the list…

6. Grabbers (2012)

After the massive success of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place, the horror genre was inundated with a whole slew of rules-based monster movies where our protagonists had to refrain from some sort of activity in order to survive. Jon Wright’s Grabbers may have preceded this movement by several years, but I’d still argue that this Irish creature-feature is somehow one of the best examples of it.

More than a little inspired by Tremors, Grabbers follows the residents of a small island community who find themselves under siege by man-eating aliens. The invaders’ only weakness appears to be an extreme aversion to alcohol, meaning that our heroes must avoid sobriety in order to survive! What follows is one of the zaniest flicks on this list, and one that’s worth tracking down if you still haven’t seen it.

5. Little Monsters (2019)

Zom-Coms have become so prolific that they’re basically a sub-genre in and of themselves at this point. That’s why it takes a particularly charming feature to stand out among the countless Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland wannabes that populate most streaming sites. Thankfully, Abe Forsythe’s Little Monsters is precisely that, following a down-on-his-luck musician who develops feelings for his nephew’s kindergarten teacher and volunteers to chaperone on a field trip. Unfortunately, the trip coincides with a zombie outbreak, leading to a hilarious scramble for survival as the adults attempt to convince the children that everything is fine.

Benefiting from genuinely touching moments and a lovable performance by Lupita Nyong’o, Little Monsters is a must-see even if you’re burned out on zombie comedies. The only downside is that you’ll likely walk out of the experience with either Sweet Caroline or Shake It Off stuck in your head for the foreseeable future.

4. Detention (2011)

Josh Hutcherson needs to be in more horror flicks. However, while I routinely defend the Five Nights at Freddy’s adaptation as a surprisingly fun B-movie, 2011’s Detention remains the actor’s best genre work, taking audiences on a chaotic thrill ride involving time travel, serial killers and the horrors of adolescence.

While the film has developed something of a cult following over the years, it’s still nowhere near as popular as it deserves to be (likely because it was released years before the streaming boom that gave similar features a chance at success). That’s why Detention earns a place on this list, as I’d like to live in a world where lines like “Just because you’re a bitch it doesn’t give you dog years,” are commonly quoted by genre fans.

3. Black Sheep (2006)

From Dead-Alive to What We Do in the Shadows, New Zealand has a history of providing horror fans with some of the funniest subversions of genre tropes ever put to screen. And while Black Sheep isn’t as popular as these aforementioned examples, it’s no less entertaining.

Following an outbreak of carnivorous sheep created by genetic tampering, this surprisingly vicious take on infection horror will have you laughing and recoiling in terror in equal measure – which is why I still have my fingers crossed for a sequel nearly two decades later.

2. Murder Party (2007)

Director Jeremy Saulnier is mostly known for hyper-serious thrillers like Green Room and Rebel Ridge, but this modern-day master of suspense actually began his career with a satirical horror comedy about a Halloween Party gone terribly wrong. Produced on a shoestring budget, Murder Party stars Saulnier’s childhood friend and fellow filmmaker Macon Blair as a loner who gets himself kidnapped by murderous art students.

From its plethora of loving homages to genre cinema (the characters’ creative costumes are definitely a highlight) to the genuinely freaky moments where Blair agonizes over his inevitable fate at the hands of these radical artists, there’s a lot to love about Murder Party if you can stomach its low production value and some iffy pacing.

1. I Sell the Dead (2008)

The (mostly) obsolete profession of graverobbing is criminally underexplored in the world of horror. Glenn McQuaid’s charming I Sell the Dead remains one of few exceptions, starring Dominic Monaghan and Larry Fessenden as a mismatched duo of corpse salesmen who accidentally discover a more bizarre -not to mention lucrative- side to their line of work.

Stylish, hilarious and more than a little disgusting, McQuaid’s debut feature may not have seen much box office action outside of the festival circuit – and it released way too soon to become a streaming hit – but there’s a reason why this movie has steadily been finding more fans online as more folks connect with its unique brand of gallows humor.

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King will direct the sequel, currently titled Black Sheep 2, from a story he wrote with Matthew Grainger and Rosie Howells.

The filmmaker isn’t the only one back for this sequel to New Zealand’s most successful horror movie; lead actor Nathan Meister returns to the role of Henry Oldfield. Henry is the “sheep-phobic son of a farmer who discovers his twisted older brother has been carrying out dangerous genetic experiences on his livestock, which transform them from docile vegetarians to ruthless, carnivorous killers.” Meister will be joined by new faces on this outing.

As for Sheep 2’s plot, it’ll “follow a young scientist who is convinced that a dangerous new pathogen threatens the population and tracks it back to her hometown – which is located in the shadow of the remote sheep station where the macabre events of the original Black Sheep unfolded.”

Perhaps the most exciting news is that King and Meister will also reunite with Richard Taylor’s award-winning special effects company Wētā Workshop, who provided the gnarly creature effects in the first film. B-movie sheep zombie mayhem ensues in 2006’s Black Sheep, complete with fantastic creature and gore effects by Wētā Workshop (Krampus, District 9, Meet the Feebles). Black Sheep captures the tone of Peter Jackson’s early splatstick era but with modern SFX. That bodes well for the sequel.

The movie is produced by King and Grainger, alongside James Partridge and Samantha Braun of Terror-Fi Films, with executive producers Richard Fletcher of Libertine Pictures, Philippa Campbell, Ari Harrison, and Jasmin McSweeney from Umbrella Entertainment.

Umbrella Entertainment will distribute Black Sheep 2 in Australia and New Zealand and expect a 4K re-release of the 2006 film on the horizon, too. WTFilms plans to officially launch worldwide sales on the movie in 2025.

Production is currently set to begin in Spring 2025, so stay tuned for additional details as they arrive.

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And with so many viral scares out there, we’ve decided to come up with a list recommending six of the strangest infection horror flicks for your viewing pleasure. After all, it might do horror fans some good to remember that things could still have been much worse after living through a very real pandemic.

Naturally, the films on this list aren’t the only strange viral horror flicks out there, so don’t forget to comment below with your own favorites if you think we missed a particularly weird one.

And while it’s not included on the list, I’d also recommend checking out the apocalyptic rat plague of Jim Mickle’s Mulberry Street, another oddball infection film that deserves some love.

Now, onto the list…

6. Blindness (2008)

Based on José Saramago’s critically acclaimed book of the same name, Blindness tells the story of a mysterious “white sickness” that spreads across the globe and renders its victims blind. Naturally, chaos ensues as society must learn to deal with the new status quo as governments are revealed to be incompetent and humanity’s worst instincts prevail.

While Saramago’s provocative novel is still the superior version of this story, the stellar cast (featuring the likes of Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo) and some surprisingly impressive production value make this a must-watch thriller for fans of apocalyptic fiction.

5. The Ruins (2007)

Another book adaptation, Carter Smith’s The Ruins is an underrated little splatter flick where the infection isn’t actually a disease, but instead a mysterious breed of carnivorous vine that consumes and spreads through human flesh. Following of a group of tourists who become trapped in the titular ruins of a Mayan temple as they slowly succumb to infection, this is a particularly gnarly example of a vacation gone horribly wrong.

While The Ruins is one of the most disturbing movies on this list, with scenes verging on so-called “torture porn” as the main characters suffer through intense body horror and impromptu amputations, it’s also impeccably directed and features some great performances from the likes of Shawn Ashmore and Jena Malone. Just be sure to pick up the unrated version for a slightly more interesting ending…

4. Black Sheep (2006)

Did you know that there are more sheep than people living in New Zealand? Writer and director Jonathan King certainly does, as this simple fact is the inspiration for his oddball horror comedy Black Sheep, which pits a group of locals against genetically engineered mutton that can transform human beings into cannibalistic sheep-zombies through a mere bite.

Featuring a laugh-out-loud script and absurdly entertaining practical effects (courtesy of New Zealand’s own Weta Workshop), Black Sheep is an insanely creative subversion of tried-and-true zombie tropes and one hell of a good time. That being said, you’ll likely never look at a wool sweater the same way again after watching this one.

3. Shivers (1975)

The film that introduced David Cronenberg to mainstream audiences is also one of his best, with Shivers encapsulating nearly all of the fleshy shenanigans that the Canadian director is now infamous for. Telling the story of an isolated high-end apartment complex under siege by a parasitic disease that removes its victims’ inhibitions, the movie can basically be described as a zombie flick where the infected are after sex instead of brains.

While it’s often deeply unsettling and features quite a bit of disturbing imagery, Shivers also has a surprisingly effective sense of humor and feels like a glorious time capsule from an age when even the most bonkers stories still had a chance of connecting with the general public if they were thrilling enough.

2. Pontypool (2008)

A zombie film unlike anything you’ve ever seen (or heard) before, Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool is a unique single-location thriller about a very different kind of apocalyptic infection. Taking place in a small Ontarian town, the film follows a language-based virus that turns its victims into cannibalistic killers upon hearing a certain string of words. Naturally, society begins to collapse as a radio host becomes torn between keeping his audience informed and not wanting to spread the verbal infection even further.

Featuring a clever script with plenty of apocalyptic thrills, what really makes Pontypool tick is a career-best performance from the legendary Stephen McHattie, who grounds this horrific parable with a relatable protagonist and makes us truly fear for the future of mankind – or at the very least Canada.

1. Splinter (2007)

Boasting some of the most effective body-horror ever put on film, Toby Wilkins’ Splinter is an unconventional monster movie about a mysterious fungus that takes control of its victims’ bodies while they’re still aware enough to feel it. While the action here is mostly contained to the area surrounding an isolated gas station, Wilkins extracts so much tension out of this small-scale infection that audiences will soon be worried about the fate of the world if this thing manages to reach a larger population.

A quick and dirty romp that doesn’t outstay its welcome, Splinter also benefits from gruesome special effects courtesy of practical puppetry and nimble stunt-people working together to create monsters out of the re-animated bodies of the infected. Hell, this flick made fungi terrifying years before The Last of Us introduced us to mutated cordyceps.

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In the film, a 500-pound apex predator ingests a staggering amount of cocaine, sparking a coke-fueled rampage that’ll end in a lot of bloodshed. While it appears poised to deliver a raucously entertaining time at the movies, Cocaine Bear isn’t the first horror-comedy or horror movie to feature a drug or serum-enhanced animal on a violent warpath.

This week’s streaming picks highlight five entertaining creature features centered on rampaging animals of all varieties. As always, here’s where to stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

Alligator – AMC+, freevee, Roku Channel, Shout TV, Shudder 

The plot, borrowing from a popular urban legend, follows a baby alligator flushed down the toilet. It winds up in the sewer, a local laboratory’s precise spot used as a dumping ground for growth hormones and waste. That cute baby alligator grows into a monstrous beast and wreaks havoc on the town. Only Robert Forster’s Officer David can stop it. From director Lewis Teague (Cujo, Cat’s Eye), Alligator is legitimately good. It also earns major points for having the gall to kill a child in a suspenseful scene. And nothing beats the climactic wedding with a rampaging reptile.

Black Sheep – freevee, Plex, Tubi, Vudu

You don’t mess with mother nature. That rule gets broken in this New Zealand horror comedy when a farmer’s son conducts genetic experiments with the farm’s sheep, transforming them from docile animals to carnivorous beasts whose bite turns humans into rabid sheep monsters. Oh yeah. It’s that kind of movie. Taking it a step further, the protagonist, the mad scientist’s brother, has a profound sheep phobia to overcome if he hopes to survive. It’s as gory as it is silly, making for a highly entertaining watch.

Eight Legged Freaks – HBO Max

Arachnophobia proved that venomous, normal-sized spiders are terrifying. Throw toxic waste into the mix, creating gigantic killer arachnids, and the temptation to nuke the planet to eradicate all things arachnid becomes very tempting. Luckily, Eight Legged Freaks takes a comedic approach in this love letter to the atomic ’50s. Giant spiders become slightly less scary when they chirp at each other in a cute gremlin-like language. It’s a fun, campy feature, but that won’t make it any easier if you’re an arachnophobe.

Shakma – AMC+, Shudder, Tubi

An experimental drug meant to inhibit aggression has the opposite effect on its test subject, a baboon named Shakma. When it goes berserk, Professor Sorenson (Roddy McDowall) orders his med student to euthanize the animal, but it instead escapes and embarks on a rampage through the facility. That’s terrible news for Sorenson and the students assembled for a live-action role-playing game. Chris Atkins and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Amanda Wyss round out the cast, but really, the star here is the ferocious baboon with a ruthless, mean streak. Being trapped anywhere with Shakma is a nightmare.

Ticks – freevee, Night Flight+, Pluto TV, Roku Channel, Tubi, Vudu

Common blood-sucking ticks become abnormally large and aggressive thanks to getting mixed up in a drug dealer’s quest to make his marijuana plants larger with steroids. The teens enrolled in an inner-city wilderness project find themselves in the path of these massive ticks when they set up camp in their territory. It’s goopy, gory, and cringe-inducing. The highlight of the film is the violent climax that goes full-blown creature feature.

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Not a single one of Earth’s creatures is spared when it comes to casting nature’s revenge on humans. Joining the ranks of other unexpected critters in horror are those docile grazers who bleat and frolic to their hearts’ content. It’s not unusual to see sheep stippling the picturesque landscapes of rural New Zealand with white — after all, they outnumber the human population by almost six to one these days. In spite of their abundance, though, those fluffy clouds with legs are less than peaceful in Jonathan King’s 2006 film Black Sheep. As a result of bad science, woollies are about to become the country’s next top predator.

Set in pastoral Wellington, Black Sheep follows the fateful reunion between two estranged brothers. A prank deeply traumatized Henry Oldfield at a young age (Nick Fenton); his brother Angus scared him with a bloodied sheep carcass seconds before they both learned their father died in an accident. Years later, a hesitant and older Henry (Nathan Meister) returns to his childhood home to sell his half of the family farm to Angus (Peter Feeney). This is when he and an animal rights activist discover Angus’ horrific experiments on the sheep. With the hazard of countless people becoming prey to the flesh-eating livestock, Henry is now forced to confront his lifelong phobia.

Among all the things New Zealand is known for — including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, manuka honey, and rugby — sheep ranks the highest on the list. This factoid was part of the inspiration behind King’s debut. Producer Philippa Campbell didn’t normally work in horror, but she couldn’t turn King down after hearing his idea. She told Fangoria in 2007, “I hadn’t any ambitions to make comedy/horror films or to start hammering New Zealand, but Jonathan’s pitch was fantastic.” She adored the idea of playing with the country’s imagery and poking fun at herself and other fellow Kiwis.

The classic theme of corporate evil getting its comeuppance is alive and well in Black Sheep. Although knowledge of akin eco-horrors like Alligator, Frogs and Piranha isn’t required, it may add context. Those aforesaid titles are just some of the movies that helped lay the subgenre’s foundation; for stories of nature rising up when humans act recklessly. In King’s take on the topic, two “greenies” get wind of the disturbing goings-on at the Oldfield farm. Angus, the face of capitalism in these parts, has done the unthinkable and created an “uber” specimen that will forever change sheep farming. Progress doesn’t come without its setbacks as a wormy experiment escapes from the lab and accidentally turns Angus’ whole flock into voracious maneaters. Add in some were-sheep and the movie brings new meaning to the old saying “A wolf in sheep’s clothing.” 

When it’s not spoofing creature-horror movies of yesteryear, Black Sheep fires on all cylinders as a horror-comedy. Nearly every scene is punctuated with wry or physical humor, and King doesn’t shy away from lampooning New Zealanders, either. What helps the film tremendously is it plays everything with a straight face; there is no shameless winking at the audience or breaking of the fourth wall. The characters respond to their dilemma with sincerity, and for this reason alone, the many laughs come naturally. From greenie Experience (Danielle Mason) walking into a bloody murder scene and immediately complaining about the feng shui, to Angus letting loose a deadpan “baaa-stard” as his sheepish infection worsens, the jokes are well thought out.

When asked by Meister in the commentary session who among the Oldfield boys is the movie’s de-facto namesake, King claims there are no black sheep. However, either Henry or Angus could fill the role, albeit in very different ways. The youngest is an easy candidate for the title; he was a sheep-shearing prodigy until he developed a serious case of ovinaphobia. On top of that, he’s avoided his family and their legacy. Henry may be the odd man out simply because he doesn’t adhere to tradition. Meanwhile, Angus is the more obvious prospect. Something that didn’t pan out much to the director’s regret was explaining Angus’ antipathy toward nature. The leg brace his younger self (Eli Kent) wears was meant to hint at Angus’ bitterness and how he dislikes the natural order of things in life. This loathsome attitude is why he later becomes so open to science and allows the creation of the uber sheep. It only seems reasonable Angus is his family’s most disfavored member due to his unethical ways.

In the movie’s making-of featurette, producer Campbell said turning her homeland’s national icon into something it wasn’t was challenging from all sides. These fuzzy paragons of purity wouldn’t ordinarily strike fear into the average person’s heart, but the crew swore sheep were quite terrifying when up close and personal with them. Their sheer size and brassy baas were enough to unnerve the staff when live sheep were brought in for measurements. Turning them into daunting carnivores didn’t seem too difficult a task at that point. And once it came time to make the fleeced mutants, New Zealand’s Weta Workshop outdid themselves. Prioritizing tangible effects over CGI was in the film’s best interest seeing as the hands-on approach established a genuine connection between the cast and the faux sheep. The Miramar-based special effects and props company gets top marks here; their animatronics, makeup, and prosthetics are all exceptional.

The movie is often likened to Peter Jackson’s earlier genre works such as Bad Taste and Braindead, and after watching, anyone will agree the comparison is both accurate and flattering. Having Glenis Levestam from Jackson’s zombie comedy play the matriarchal housekeeper Mrs. Mac in Black Sheep only adds to the resemblance. King also cites The Evil Dead and An American Werewolf in London as inspirations. The were-sheep’s transformation is a reference to John Landis’ lycan classic, and the visual gags would feel right at home in Sam Raimi’s earlier films.

Black Sheep inhales and fully harnesses the spirit of schlocky comedy-horrors that came before it. King’s first feature has aged well all thanks to its earnest sense of humor, timeless practical effects, and humble satire. This unique eco-horror is a roaring good time that continues to stand out from the herd.

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2000-2009 had something for every type of genre fan, getting the new century in horror off to a stellar start. So much happened in the genre, and there’s still plenty of underrated or underseen gems to seek out from the early aughts. This week’s streaming picks belong to those lesser discussed favorites. 

From haunted hospitals to clever creature features, here’s where you can stream these five titles this week.

House of Wax – Tubi

Creative kills are crucial to the slasher, and House of Wax brings the goods. Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, The Shallows) insisted everything be as practical as possible for his directorial feature debut, which pays off dividends. For the teens that take a shortcut to their college football game and instead wind up in a backwoods little town of wax, they pay for their mistakes with their lives in the most brutal fashion. The death scenes are remarkable in this loose remake. House of Wax, with its gruesome deaths and stellar production design, didn’t deserve its multiple Razzie Award nominations. It offers slasher fun and fantastic set pieces in spades.

Black Sheep – Tubi

If you’re in the mood for a completely over-the-top splatstick horror-comedy from New Zealand, watch this one. As a child, Henry developed a sheep phobia after his brother Angus played a cruel prank on the family sheep farm. Fifteen years later, Henry returns to the farm to sell his share, unaware that Angus covertly carried out a series of genetic experiments to transform the sheep into ferocious carnivores. B-movie sheep zombie mayhem ensues, complete with fantastic creature and gore effects by Weta Workshop (Krampus, District 9, Meet the Feebles). If you’ve been missing Peter Jackson’s early works but love modern special effects, Black Sheep should scratch that itch.

Splinter – Pluto TV, Tubi, Vudu

A young couple sets off for a romantic camping getaway but instead gets car-jacked by an escaped convict and his girlfriend. Then they get a flat tire that prompts them to seek help from a nearby gas station. Something is very, very wrong there, and the foursome must team up against a bizarre parasite infecting everything. A parasite that spreads and turns its hosts into deadly beings. Brutal, suspenseful, and with a highly cool creature concept, Splinter hides its low budget well. This underseen creature feature deserved a sequel.

Them – Prime Video (IMDb TV)

Them, also known as Ils, predates the more well-known The Strangers by two years yet rivals it in terms of bone-chilling suspense from start to finish. Lucas and Clementine live quietly alone in their rural countryside home. Their peaceful existence gets shattered one night by the arrival of hooded assailants that begin to terrorize them throughout the evening. This French-Romanian home invasion movie brings intensity and nail-biting tension. While touted to be “based on a true story,” it also rivals The Strangers in its unsettling one-liner in terms of the killers’ motivation.

Fragile – Prime Video, Vudu

Before Jaume Balagueró teamed up with Paco Plaza to unleash one of the most terrifying movies of the decade, [REC], he proved an aptitude for delivering chills with this underseen haunted hospital fairy tale, Fragile. Calista Flockhart stars as Amy, a nurse brought on to the nightshift in the children’s ward at an old hospital in the process of closing down. The problem is that the hospital’s closing means a ghost is very, very unhappy about the children leaving, and Amy has to somehow find a way to keep the children safe from unseen attacks. Fragile is creepy and atmospheric with effective scares, but even better is that Balagueró gives this ghost story an emotional center that resonates.

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As they embark on their upcoming ‘Terminator’ tour with Cyanotic, which kicks off Sunday, the band has put together a list of The Top 10 Infectious Horror Movies, which features some of the genre’s best offerings! Check it out below.

Problems can be purchased for $5 via Bandcamp.

28 Days Later (2002)

Post apocalyptic zombie horror…this was a cool movie. Probably the first time I was ‘exposed’ to horrifying, high-speed, running zombies…I thought they were supposed to be slow/dumb and easy to get away from??? This adds a whole new dimension of horror to the zombie genre + I got the inspiration for my hair cut from Cillian Murphy’s one-side shaved, surgery look…

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But sometimes those tropes are so blatantly obvious that we can’t help but groan and facepalm. These clichés stick out like a sore thumb and drive me insane, almost to the point that I want to turn off a movie when it happens.

So I put together a few of my most hated clichés for you to check out below. Then, if you’re up for it, put together a few of your own in the comments! Let’s hear what drives you batty when it shows up!

No Cell Phone Signal (Or Other Issues)

Sorry, I’m just not buying this one anymore. If you were in the middle of the desert, a lá The Hills Have Eyes remake, I’d be okay with it. But when you’re at a motel or a cottage or a camp, I’d expect there to be service. In fact, I’d almost guarantee that it’d be there.

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