Zombie Cliche Lookout: Lightening the Mood
Just because it’s the zombie apocalypse doesn’t mean everything has to be dour and moody. Somethings, things can just be silly. At least for a minute or two, and then it’s right back to everyone being totally bummed out about the end of civilization and a worldwide scourge of zombies. To be fair, that is pretty depressing.
A bit of humor (and whether I’m actually fun is a highly debatable subject) is always a good thing, and certainly not out of place in the horror genre. They call it “comic relief” for a reason; it’s there to temporarily relieve the tension that’s been ratcheting up. Used well, this can be extremely effective. In horror, comic relief tends to be used to put us at ease for a moment, only to pull the rug out from under us a few minutes later.
About this Episode:
Yeah, Barb is generally all business, but everyone can be goofy now and then, right?
Also, I thought it was a little strange for Ted to just leave the body and no one noticed.
Discussion Question: Favorite Bit of Humor in a Horror Film
On the subject of comic relief and horror, what’s your favorite instance of this? It doesn’t have to be in a zombie movie, and it doesn’t even have to be intended humor. For instance, I never fail to laugh at the scene in the original Night of the Living Dead where Ben punches Barbara right in the face. I think he was supposed to “just” slap her to bring her to her senses (because that’s totally reasonable), but used a bit too much force.
Not that I find violence, and specifically violence against women, funny. It’s just that the moment in the movie is so wildly inappropriate and unexpected that it takes me by surprise every time, even after watching the movie dozens of times.
In About This Episode “no one even take notice” should probably be reworded to just “nobody noticed”. 😀 Or “no one even took notice”. 😀
That’s the only typo I can find for today! 😀
Right on! Fixed.
I suppose that if Barb isn’t intentionally breaking the fourth wall by looking as if she’s talking to the author in this comic, that whomever she’s really talking to will show up on Monday! Possibly it’ll be Ted, although it’s somewhat likely it could be another member of the group! 😀
I don’t do the fourth wall breaking thing. She’s just talking to no one in particular.
My favourite moment of comic relief is in Shaun of the Dead when Queen is turned on, and they all freak out, and then when they are trying to turn the power back off, they accidentally keep attracting more zombies with the flashing of lights, etc.
Great moment, great movie.