Sci-Fi/Fantasy Films

» Sarah B. Hood - Horror & sci-fi evoke different responses

I think horror naturally works with humour because there's nothing so effective as being lulled into laughing, then being scared out of your socks. You could make an argument that whole canons of horror (zombie movies, teen slashers) were essentially comedic.

Jaws works brilliantly on this level; many of the most startling popcorn shots are preceded by laughs.

Perhaps I'd postulate that horror makes us respond physically, primally, from a place where a lot of humour also resides, whereas sci-fi appeals to a different level of the brain; it's less visceral, more cerebral. The humour is drier, likely to be limited to quips between characters.

It's hard to think of a truly funny sci-fi. Even Buckaroo Bonzai is pretty dry and arch and cynical. There aren't a lot of full belly laughs. I'd certainly call Ghostbusters a haunted comedy rather than a funny sci-fi.

And what works better than a funny, spooky ghost story, after all? Just ask Bob Hope.

(As an aside, there are probably long essays to be written about laughing at monsters. We all know subcounsciously that our bodies will someday go through a terrifying metamorphosis – into ashes, dust, slime, bones – and how scary is that! I think we laugh at skeletons and zombies because there's no other possible response, really.)