It’s not east to combine laughter with people getting their heads chopped off, but the best horror comedies of all time manage to walk the tricky cinematic tightrope with relative ease. For the purposes of my list, I’ve tried to focus on films that deliver both genuine humor and horror. That’s why all my selections tend to be from the last few decades. While Abbott and Costello were certainly hilarious, there was nothing legitimately scary about their run-ins with any of the old Universal movie monsters.

• Shaun of the Dead (2004) – After teaming up with Simon Pegg for the BBC comedy Spaced, director Edgar Wright brought his red-headed comic to the big screen for this zombie movie set in the UK. Pegg stars as Shaun, a mild-mannered guy who works at an electronics store and spends most of his free time loafing with pal Ed (Nick Frost), neglecting girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), or getting aggravated at stepfather Phillip (the wonderfully dry Bill Nighy). But then the much-dreaded zombie apocalypse goes down, and Shaun finds himself trapped in a city crawling with the hungry undead. Teaming up with Ed, the duo decide to rescue Shaun’s mum (Penelope Wilton), kill the possibly infected Phillip, grab Liz and her roommates (Dylan Moran and Lucy Davis) and ride out the whole bloody mess at the local pub. A clever tribute to almost every significant zombie fill that came before, Shaun includes buckets of gore, fart jokes, and a red strawberry Cornetto.

Psycho killer or not, my eyes would be firmly planted on Ms. Ellison's lovely lady lumps.

• The Cottage (2008) – David’s (Andy Serkis) plan was very simple: kidnap the busty stepdaughter (Jennifer Ellison) of local crime figure Arnie and hold her for ransom. But the plan starts falling apart right from the beginning thanks to his dimwitted accomplices and the sheer meanness of his victim. A pair of Asian killers are soon on David’s trail, meaning the less-than-forgiving Arnie, his former boss, knows his identity. And to top it all off, their secluded cottage turns out to neighbor the land of a murderous, disfigured farmer. A riotous British comedy featuring Serkis at his finest, a fat guy getting caught in a bear trap, the buxom talents of Jennifer Ellison, and hundreds of moths moving in slow motion. Pour yourself a nice cup of tea (green tea is best) and take a look.
• Bubba Ho-tep (2002) – Equal parts sad, amusing, and dramatic, Bubba Ho-tep is set in an East Texas nursing home that just so happens to house the legendary singer Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell). You see, Elvis switched places with an impersonator in order to lead a normal life, but a freak propane explosion destroyed all proof and doomed him to a life of anonymity. As he grapples with old age, his depressing surroundings, and a “growth on his pecker,” he spends time reminiscing with a fellow patient (Ossie Davis) who claims to be President John F. Kennedy. But things get a little more interesting around the old folk’s home when an ancient Egyptian mummy comes calling. Dressed as a cowboy and driven by a need to steal the souls of his victims, the mummy (dubbed Bubba Ho-tep by Elvis) lumbers towards a final showdown with The King and one of our most beloved dead presidents. Based on a novella by Texas author (and member of the Karate Hall of Fame) Joe R. Lansdale, the film is anchored by a moving performance by Campbell as a man whose life no longer seems to be relevant…at least until some mummy ass needs kicking. If they don’t already sell this at Graceland, they certainly should.
• Evil Dead 2 (1987) – Bruce Campbell makes the second of three appearances on the list, this time as the hero of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise. Playing Ashley “Ash” Williams, Campbell shows off his rock-solid chin and the ability to generate laughs while being tormented by demonic Deadites. Whether he’s cutting off his own hand with a chainsaw or trying to blast the now-severed hand with a shotgun, Ash delivers slapstick goodness in the face of bile-spitting terror. It’s been 18 years since the last film in the series was released, yet Evil Dead lives on though comic books and video games. If you’ve ever wondered how it generated such staying power, this good horror movie will tell you everything you need to know.

That fat dude from 30 Rock is about to get effed up.

• Feast (2005) – Most horror films follow a pretty predictable set of rules: there’s going to be a final girl in a white tank-top, children will always survive, and the resident dumbass will be one of the first to die. Feast throws those rules right out the window and pisses on them for good measure. When the patrons of a bar in the middle-of-nowhere suddenly come under siege from hulking mutants, there’s literally no telling what’s going to happen next. But you can bet that plenty of laughs will be interspersed among the disembowelments and projectile vomiting, as film director John Gulager never wastes an opportunity to shock or defy expectations. Featuring Balthazar Getty, Navi Rawat, Henry Rollins, Judah Friedlander, Jason Mewes (as himself) and Clu Gulager, Feast is one of the most outrageous and unpredictable horror-comedies you’ll ever set your eyes upon.
• Botched (2007) – When his most recent heist goes horribly awry, professional thief Richie Donovan (Stephen Dorff) is sent to Russia by his employer to steal a priceless cross that’s kept on the top floor of a Moscow office building. It’s supposed to be a simple job, but Ritchie’s Russian helpers prove to be a little on the trigger-happy side. Now weighed down with hostages and hiding out on the abandoned 13th floor, Richie and his cohorts soon realize that something even worse is lurking in the building. As people are picked off one at a time, viewers will be treated to disco ball death traps, crazy-ass Russian religious fanatics, the long legs of Jaime Murray, and perhaps the world’s most manly security guard.
• Braindead (1992) – Before he documented the exploits of Mr. Frodo, director Peter Jackson cranked out a number of gross-out films in his native land of New Zealand. Braindead, also known as Dead Alive, is the most notable. While no hobbits are present, there are Sumatran Rat-Monkeys, kung-fu priests, zombie sex, and even a horrifically cute undead baby. Set in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1950s, the film follows the life of Lionel Cosgrove (Timothy Balme) as he romances the daughter of a local shopkeeper and cares for his zombified mother. As the old battle-axe starts killing the neighbors, Lionel hides them in the basement and tries to protect his mother’s dignity. But things get out of hand, leading to a climatic battle featuring hundreds of gallons of blood, animated spinal cords, and a mother/son confrontation that would leave Sigmund Freud drooling in delight.

Ash (Bruce Campbell) impressing the local screwheads with his boomstick.

• Army of Darkness (1993) – The third and final film in director Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, Army of Darkness picks up where the last film left off. Our hero, Ashley “Ash” Williams (Bruce Campbell), has been flung through time and stranded in the Middle Ages. After dispatching a Deadite and impressing the locals with his shotgun, Ash sets off to find the Necronomicon and return to his own time. But he botches the spell because he wasn’t paying attention, and soon an army of evil is marching across the land. Luckily, Ash still has his “boomstick,” as well as a 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 and a chemistry textbook. Let the battle begin! If you’ve never experienced the big-chinned humor of genre favorite Bruce Campbell, this is the best place for an introduction.
• Tremors (1990) – Earl (Fred Ward) and Valentine (Kevin Bacon) are a couple of likable handymen plying their trade in a small Nevada town with only 14 residents. Life is nice and quiet, at least until people start getting sucked underground and eaten. Turns out the culprits are a race of massive underground worm-like creatures that our heroes dub “Graboids.” Along with a pair of gun-toting survivalists (Michael Gross and Reba McEntire) and a lovely seismologist (Finn Carter), Earl and Valentine must make their final stand against creatures that can sense vibrations and strike in a heartbeat. Ward and Bacon are impossible to dislike, and the rest of the cast (including crazy-eyed Victor Wong) all deliver the goods.
• Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) – Shot as a mockumentary, Behind the Mask follows a journalist (Angela Goethals) and her camera crew as they document Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel), an aspiring slasher who hopes to be as big as legends like Michael and Jason. It’s a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at all the effort that goes into a murderous rampage, including building folklore at the library, choosing a “final girl,” preparing props and traps at an abandoned house, and lots and lots of cardio. The scenes between Leslie and his retired mentor are priceless, as is Leslie’s delight at finding himself an “Ahab” (played with gusto by Robert Englund). Watch for small roles from genre favorites Kane Hodder and Zelda Rubinstein.

The next time you’re ready to laugh and scream concurrently, be sure to give these best horror comedies of all time a look. And for even more chuckles, move your damn mouse and click on the following:

• Great Movies from The Asylum
• Best Hong Kong Comedies
• Films about Nixon and/or Elvis

If you’re a fan of lycanthropy, I invite you to sink your teeth into these 10 weird werewolf movies. Forget about all the usual tropes where a guy wanders into the woods, gets bit, and is eventually stopped by a silver bullet. Instead, these films feature afflicted characters who are teenagers, bikers, zookeepers, and even rock stars. There’s even one example where the film pauses for 30 seconds to allow the audience to guess the identity of the beastly killer. If you’re tired of Taylor Lautner and his six-pack abs, then you’ve definitely come to the right place.

• I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) – Before he starred on Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, Michael Landon played Tony Rivers, a rebel without a cause who seeks help from the world’s worst hypnotherapist (Whit Bissell). Turns out the therapist is more of a mad scientist, and he’s convinced that mankind should regress to a more primal state. He sets out to prove his theories on the hypnotized Rivers, giving him injections and eventually turning him into a crazed werewolf (I had no idea we were descended from werewolves). The inevitable rampage follows, and you’ll quickly realize that werewolves look much cooler wearing a jacket. A surprise hit at the box office, it would be followed by the film I Was a Teenage Frankenstein.

"Well, at least I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance."

• Ginger Snaps (2000) – Sisters Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald (Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins) are a couple of weird goth gals who love to take pictures of each other in various stages of fake death and dismemberment. But the local pets of their city are being devoured by the Beast of Bailey Downs, and the sisters have the misfortune to encounter it one dark night at the same time Ginger gets her first period. Turns out the creature is actually a werewolf, and it’s not long before Ginger is displaying animalistic behavior and growing plenty of unwanted hair. Drawing parallels between menstruation and lycanthropy, Ginger Snaps provides a uniquely feminist take on the werewolf legends. Two sequels would follow.
• Wolf Girl (2001) – Also known by the title Blood Moon, this poorly marketed film revolves around a teenage girl who suffers from a rare condition that causes abnormal hair growth. Working in a freak show, she longs to be like everyone else her own age. But that’s just not to be, especially when she encounters a young man whose mother is developing a radical depilatory treatment. She begins taking the drug to gain a normal life, but that’s when things start to get really hairy (har, har). Look for appearances from Tim Curry, the always freaky Grace Jones, and Lesley Ann Warren.
• Monster Dog (1984) – While he’s well-known for his accomplishments as a singer, rocker Alice Cooper has also tried his hand at acting on occasion. This is one of those occasions. He stars as Vince Raven, a rock star who heads back to his hometown to shoot a music video. But it seems that all is not well, as a number of people have recently turned up dead. The cops think it’s a pack of ravenous wild dogs, but they’re only half right. Fans of Alice will enjoy hearing two otherwise unreleased songs on the movie soundtrack, as well as watching the rocker mess people up with a shotgun. Filmed in Spain, Cooper didn’t provide his own English dubbing, so be prepared to hear voice actor Ted Rusoff each time Alice opens his mouth. But frankly, it only adds to the goofy appeal of this so-bad-its-good horror flick.

"Can somebody give me a hand over here? Oh, nevermind."

• The Beast Must Die (1974) – Also known as Black Werewolf, this weird movie stars Calvin Lockhart as master hunter Tom Newcliffe. Tom invites six guests to his country estate (including Peter Cushing and Michael Gambon) filled with high-tech cameras and security devices, and then he reveals that one of them is a werewolf. But he’s not sure which one, as each guest has a tendency to have people die around them. So he locks everyone in for the weekend, intent on finding out the lycanthrope’s true identity and putting an end to it. He’s not exactly doing the other guests a favor, as he’s just imprisoned them with a bloodthirsty killer for the weekend. Predictably, people start dying off, and Newcliffe runs around his compound like a madman. The most bizarre part is the “werewolf break,” where the film pauses 30 seconds prior to revealing the creature’s identity and invites viewers to formulate their own guesses. A unique premise, several familiar faces, and a bizarre end credits sequence make this one a must-see for hardcore fans of good werewolf movies.
• Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and The Wolfman (1973) – When I think of Mexico, I think of brutal drug cartels chopping people into bits, and oiled-up, masked wrestlers running about the countryside trying to stop them. Maybe that’s not what really goes on down there, but this bizarre Mexican film does focus on some heroes with masks and considerable prowess within the wrestling ring. Santo and Blue Demon play themselves, and they must take on both Dracula (Aldo Monti) and The Wolfman before the legendary vampire can turn a couple of pretty senoritas into his latest brides. The climax takes place over a pit of sharp stakes, which is admittedly a great stroke of luck for our heroes. If you ever wondered how Dusty Rhodes would fare against the Dracula, this may be the closest you’ll ever come.
• Legend of the Werewolf (1975) – When a baby is left for dead in the woods, a kindly pack of wolves see to his upbringing. Unfortunately, wolves don’t know a damn thing about raising humans, so the kid ends up working for a traveling carnival as a feral freak. After killing the head carney and running off to Paris (the movie is set in France during the 1800s), he takes a job as a zookeeper (makes sense) and develops an unhealthy obsession with a local prostitute. When clients start turning up dead near the brothel where she works, a police surgeon (Peter Cushing) takes an interest in the case. Cushing is as earnest as ever, and Ron Moody turns in an enjoyable performance as the slimeball head zookeeper.

For some reason, this picture makes me crave milk.

• Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch (1985) – Many consider this sequel to The Howling to be a piece of crap, but how can you dislike a film when Sybil Danning rips her top off in slo-mo during the end credits (18 times, no less)? Also known as Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf, the film stars Reb Brown (Uncommon Valor) as Ben White, the brother of the previous film’s now-deceased heroine (played by Dee Wallace-Stone). Following his sister’s funeral, he runs across Stefan Crosscoe (Christopher Lee), a strange individual who announces that Ben’s sister was a werewolf. After witnessing his sister’s corpse rising from the grave and being destroyed by Crosscoe, Ben (along with one of his sister’s co-workers) agrees to head to Transylvania to take on Stirba (Sybil Danning), an immortal and quite busty werewolf queen. What follows are werewolf orgies, supernatural parasites, loads of nudity, a Transylvanian arts fair, shaky special effects, and immortal lines such as “That dwarf is staring at us.”
• Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory (1961) – Also known by the titles The Ghoul in School, Monster Among the Girls, Lycanthropus, and I Married a Werewolf, the film takes place at a school for delinquent girls (yes!) and begins with the arrival of a new science teacher. Oh, and there are always a bunch of wolves roaming around the nearby countryside. When one of the girls gets ripped to pieces, the suspicion immediately falls on the aforementioned beasts. But after traps fail to catch the creature, some begin to wonder of the new instructor wasn’t involved. It’s rare for a werewolf movie to be set at a reformatory, hence its inclusion on our list.
• Werewolves on Wheels (1971) – Combine badass bikers with werewolves, and you’ve got this bizarre exploitation film from the early ‘70s. After they stumble across a monastery filled with monks in black robes, the members of The Devil’s Advocates motorcycle club fall asleep thanks to some drugged wine. (note: never accept wine from mysterious monks). While the men are napping, the monks (aka Satanic cultists) perform a ritual with the biker leader’s girlfriend. As she dances naked on an altar, she’s proclaimed the Bride of Satan. When the bikers wake up, they kick a little ass and trash the place before rising off. But every time they stop for the night, some of their members die in a gruesome fashion. Here’s what they don’t know: the lead biker mama (D.J. Anderson) is turning into a werewolf. She soon transfers her curse to her boyfriend, and you won’t want to miss a bizarre scene where a motorcycle-riding werewolf is pursued by fellow bikers wielding torches. It’s like a Universal horror flick for those who love choppers and swastika tattoos. And if you’re a fan of Rob Zombie, you might recognize some of the film’s dialogue being sampled at the beginning of “Sick Bubblegum” off his Hellbilly Deluxe 2 album.

So there you have it: 10 weird werewolf movies. While all your friends are watching the latest entry in the Twilight series, you can smile with confidence knowing that none of the above werewolves would ever spend half the movie shirtless.

Also recommended:

• Uwe Boll Movies
• Vampire Movies
• Serial Killer Movies

The very notion that zombies could rise up and walk the planet is odd enough, but some films about the undead manage to rise head and shoulders above the others in terms of sheer strangeness. That’s where my list of weird zombie movies comes in. From nudist colonies to fast food restaurants, the following cult classics offer locales and premises that are truly bizarre. They’re all labeled horror films, of course, but many include a liberal dash of humor, whether it’s intentional or not. So the next time you’re perusing the latest DVD releases, be sure to keep an eye out for these offbeat gems.

You can find most of these via online rental services such as Netflix or Blockbuster. In a few cases, however, you may need to head over to eBay and search for a VHS copy to complete your weird zombie film collection.

• Zombies on Broadway (1945) – Abbott and Costello knock-offs Wally Brown and Alan Carney star as Broadway press agents who must bring home a real zombie for the opening of a new nightclub run by a former mobster. In order to get their hands on such a creature, they naturally head to an island in the Caribbean, where they soon run across a beautiful singer played by Anne Jeffreys. She wants off the island, probably because it’s home to the demented Professor Renault (Bela Lugosi), a mad scientist who’s able to create zombies via a serum. Horror and hijinx follow, and highlights include Lugosi playing it entirely straight and a monkey who acts like he’s a zombie.

• Redneck Zombies (1987) – The film poses the question, “What happens when these simple, down-to-earth folks accidentally drink a barrel of nuclear waste?” Answer: They become “tobacco-chewin’, gut-chompin’ creatures of the night.” Filmed in “Entrail-Vision,” this Troma release–one of the first shot entirely on videotape–features hillbillies taking on city slickers in an bloody battle to the finish. A dog wears sunglasses, a zombie reacts to getting kicked in the balls (good info to know), and an obviously gay soldier demonstrates the best way to violate the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. If you want a low-budget film that “makes Dawn of the Dead look like Mary Poppins,” then watch Redneck Zombies immediately.
• Wild Zero (2000) – Combine a zombie outbreak (thanks to an alien invasion) with the coolest rock band in the world, and you get this bizarre Japanese movie from director Tetsuro Takeuchi. Ace (Masashi Endo) is a huge fan of the band Guitar Wolf (who play themselves), and he wants to be a rock ‘n roll legend just like his idols. But first, he’ll need to survive the zombie outbreak, win the love of the transgendered Tobio (Kwancharu Shitichai), and defeat the evil machinations of the Captain (Makoto Inamiya). The Captain, by the way, loves to wear hot pants and later gains the ability to shoot lasers from his eyes. Meanwhile, plenty of zombie heads explode, and fire seemingly shoots out of everything. We even get a few performances from Guitar Wolf when they’re not throwing guitar picks like shuriken or pulling samurai swords from their instruments. It’s a zombie movie. It’s a romance. It’s a helluva lot of fun.
• Fido (2006) – Scottish comic Billy Connolly stars in this weird film that takes place in a setting very similar to 1950’s America, except that they’ve persevered in what would later be known as the “Zombie Wars.” Now the undead are used as part of the labor force, being kept in check by high-tech collars. When housewife Helen Robinson (Carrie-Anne Moss) buys a zombie (Connolly) to help around the house, her young son Timmy (K-Sun Ray) wastes no time in befriending the creature and nicknaming it Fido. But thanks to a collar malfunction, Fido is soon gnawing on local residents. Dylan Baker is the head of the Robinson household with little patience for the undead, and Tim Blake Nelson is a former corporate security chief fired for carrying on a romance with one of the local shambling babes.

• Zombie Strippers (2008) – This film is set in an alternate world where George W. Bush has just been elected to a fourth term, and the United States is involved in nine different wars around the globe. In order to help with the shortage of soldiers, the government begins looking for a way to reanimate the dead to send them back into battle. This goes predictably awry, and soon an infected soldier is wandering into a strip club known as “Rhino,” where he wastes no time in biting the club’s star (Jenna Jameson). As it turns out, the totally uninhibited undead strippers prove even more popular with the customers, although they do have a nasty habit of devouring patrons during private shows. Robert Englund is the slimy owner of the club, and dancing hotties include Roxy Saint, Penny Drake, Jennifer Holland, and Shamron Moore.
• Violent Shit III: Infantry of Doom (1999) – Also known by the title Zombie Doom, this gory German flick features every manner of atrocity you could possibly imagine. Set on a remote island ruled by sadists Karl (director Andreas Schnaas) and Karl Sr. (Marc Trinkhaus), the film follows three shipwrecked friends as they struggle to survive being hunted by undead soldiers and assassins. Luckily, they’ll get some assistance from a pair of vengeance-minded ninjas named Son and Giang. The fight scenes are laughably clumsy, but Violent Shit III makes up for that with scene after scene of people having their spines pulled out their asses with meat hooks or being shot in the face at point-blank range with a shotgun. For more graphically gory goodness from director Andreas Schnaas, be sure to catch Karl vs. Axe, Demonium, and Nikos the Impaler.
• Nudist Colony of the Dead (1991) – You don’t see many zombie musicals these days. Even more scarce are zombie movies set to music and taking place in a nudist colony. This film has both. After the Sunny Buttocks Nudist Colony is shut down by the local religious nuts, the nudists show their displeasure by committing mass suicide and threatening revenge from beyond the grave. Sure enough, the naked undead rise up five years later, just in time to menace a busload of teens visiting the old nudist colony (now a religious retreat). Songs include “The Zombie Rap” and “Kill Kill Kill All the Zealots,” and other highlight include helpful inbred locals, a girl whose mascara runs suspiciously like Tammy Faye Bakker, and a guy receiving clues from the severed head of his buddy.

• Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2008) – It’s a bad idea to build your fast food chicken restaurant on the site of an Indian burial ground. If you do, don’t be surprised when the spirits of pissed-off Native Americans and chickens conspire to wreak bloody havoc on the employees and patrons. That’s what happens in this Tromo film that surprisingly holds a 64% freshness rating at Rotten Tomatoes. And in the middle of all the face-peeling and projectile diarrhea (courtesy of a morbidly obese naked man), a young man tries to win back the love of his now-lesbian girlfriend. With characters named Arby, Wendy, and Carl Jr., this is the kind of not-so-subtle humor we’ve all come to know and love from the makers of The Toxic Avenger franchise. Lots of things gets shoves up people’s butts, a big-breasted girl has her implants ripped out, and every dangerous item in a fast food restaurant gets used for maximum gory effect. There’s even an employee named Hummus who wears a burqa and utters the immortal line “The chicken is the great jihad of us all.” An absolute must-see for lovers of weird zombie movies and subversive satire.
• Hood of the Living Dead (2005) – N.W.A.‘s album Straight Outta Compton was a musical masterpiece that spoke volumes about life in the hood, but it sadly lacked any mention of the inner-city zombie issue. That’s where this straight-to-video release from brothers Eduardo and Jose Quiroz (The Dope Game, San Franpsycho) comes in. Set on the tough streets of Oakland, it tells the story of a struggling scientist (Carl Washington) working on a formula intended to regenerate dead cells. When his brother (Brandon Daniels) gets killed in a drive-by (the leading cause of death in inner cities), you can see exactly where this is headed. The formula works, but it also has the unintended side effect of turning the younger brother into a zombie. Soon, both gang bangers and corporate mercenaries are fighting to survive as the undead walk the streets and hone their rap skills (okay, I’m lying about that last part). Luckily, turning your gun sideways (kill shot!) proves just as effective against zombies.
• Dead & Breakfast (2004) – You’ve gotta be doing something right if your zombie movie wins an award in Nuremberg, Germany, right? This bizarre melding of horror and comedy follows a group of six pals as they make their way to Galveston, Texas for the wedding of their friend (Portia de Rossi). They predictably get lost along the way, winding up at a creepy bed and breakfast owned by the equally creepy Mr. Wise (David Carradine). Before long, a local chef (Diedrich Bader) is dead, and Mr. Wise has a fatal heart attack. The kids (including Jeremy Sisto, Ever Carradine, and Gina Philips) are considered the prime suspects at first, but the local sheriff (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) soon turns his attention to a mysterious drifter (Brent David Fraser) who’s blown into town. Then the zombies turn up, created when an evil spirit is unwittingly free from its prison. The blood flows freely from there, and more than one severed head graces the screen. But the most bizarre moment comes when a number of the undead locals stop their assault and begin to line dance while being accompanied by a zombie country band, even throwing in some moves from Michael Jackson’s Thriller. To my knowledge, it’s still the only zombie flick to center around a bed and breakfast.

That wraps up our look at weird zombie movies, but there’s plenty more where that came from. Click on the links below to be taken to even more bizarre cinematic goodness from Odd Films.

• The Devil in Movies
• 10 Bizarre Takashi Miike Movies
• Rudy Ray Moore Movies

There’s just something about nuns. For most, I’m guessing it’s the idea of forbidden fruit, although the majority of real-life cloistered females aren’t nearly as hot as their counterparts in nunsploitation films (and not nearly as sapphic). For others, it might be the opportunity to thumb their collective noses at organized religion while still managing to get their rocks off. But whatever the reasons for cultivating a nun fetish, you’ll be glad to know that I’ve put together a list of good movies from this very specific sub-genre of cinema. Lovers of weird movies will not be disappointed.

"Are those...tentacles?"

Modern-day examples of nunsploitation films do exist, but their undisputed heyday came in the 1970s. Depicting women of faith engaging in occult activities, lesbian romps, or displays of gun-wielding vengeance, these works of art are still causing controversy and titillation to this day. Just be warned: watching nunsploitation movies may prove a hard “habit” to break.

• Alucarda (1978) – Made in Mexico, Alucarda stars Tina Romero as a teenage orphan who’s lived her entire life in a convent. When fellow orphan Justine (Susana Kamini) arrives at the normally peaceful convent, the two start getting into trouble, falling for one another, and inadvisably poking around a nearby gypsy camp. As you might imagine, they unwittingly let loose a demonic force (thanks, gypsies) and get possessed for their efforts. The events that follow are filled with orgies, lesbianism, Satanism, and good old-fashioned murder. Religious groups had a fit when the film was released, but fans of nunsploitation cinema were in heaven.

"And this is for calling me Firecrotch!"

• Machete (2010) – The bulk of this Robert Rodriguez film has to do with the (frequently bloody) battle over immigration, but there’s a climactic scene that qualifies it for the nunsploitation sub-genre in my book. While Robert De Niro dresses up like a day laborer and Michelle Rodriguez shows off her eye-patch and buff body, Linday Lohan makes an appearance in full nun regalia and wielding an arsenal of weapons. Seeking vengeance for the death of her incestuous father, she wastes no time in gunning down fanatical militiamen and corrupt politicians. Prior to donning the habit, her character was hanging out in crack houses and filming raunchy webcam content (even coaxing her big-breasted mother into participating).
• Satánico Pandemonium (1975) – Quentin Tarantino must have been a big fan of this nunsploitation film, as he named the vampiric Salma Hayek character in From Dusk till Dawn after her. Boasting the tagline “From bride of Christ to slave of Satan,” the film follows Sister Maria (Cecilia Pezet), a young nun who works tirelessly to help the needy. But Maria has needs of her own, and these perverse fantasies are satisfied in dreams and vision sent by none other than Satan. As she slowly succumbs to the pleasures of the flesh, Sister Maria realizes that she’s been chosen to destroy her fellow nuns and lead them all on the path to hell.
• To the Devil a Daughter (1976) – One of the last horror films from Hammer before their long period of dormancy, this tale of terror revolves around an occult author (Richard Widmark) who is tasked with keeping a young nun (Nastassja Kinski) safe from sinister cultists. Christopher Lee is the Satanic villain, and other co-stars include Honor Blackman and Denholm Elliott. The 16-year-old Kinski bares it all, and it’s got every bit of the lurid charm you’d expect from a Hammer production.
• School of the Holy Beast (1974) – Director Norifumi Suzuki delivers this beautifully-shot Japanese movie about a woman (Yumi Takigawa) who becomes a nun in order to solve the mystery surrounding her mother‘s death. She gets more than she bargained for, uncovering lecherous and even blasphemous clergy and nuns with a penchant for whipping one another. A fine examples of the Pink films so popular in Japan.

Some nuns are hotter than others.

• Sacred Flesh (1999) – Set in medieval times (no, not the theme restaurant), Sacred Flesh strings together a number of vignettes in order to depict the seedy goings-on at a convent. Nuns engage in lesbian sex, threesomes with priests, and even bondage involving a very large crucifix. Meanwhile, the Mother Superior debates sexuality and faith with a less-than-saintly version of Mary Magdalene.
• Dark Waters (1994) – Also known by the title Dead Waters, this atmospheric nunsploitation film is also a damn fine horror flick. After her father passes away, a young woman named Elizabeth (Louise Salter) wants to know why he would fund a convent on an isolated island. She also wants to know why her mother died shortly after giving birth to her on the very same island. Despite all the warning signs that something is terribly wrongs, she heads to her destination and finds dark and unnatural secrets waiting in the depths of the island’s catacombs. Fans of H.P. Lovecraft will be especially pleased by the dark tone and creepy characters conjured up by Italian director Mariano Baino.
• The Devils (1971) – Ken Russell (Tommy, Altered States) helmed this controversial and frequently banned film that’s still difficult to track down in its unedited form. Drawing from numerous sources, the film tells the real-life story of Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), a priest in 17th century France who falls prey to political intrigue and the depraved sexual obsessions of a deformed nun (Vanessa Redgrave). The walls of a city are blown apart, a king guns down peasant dressed as birds, nuns engage in an orgy with a statue of Christ, men are tortured, and a charred femur–which only hours before belonged to a living man–is used as a masturbation tool. Is it any wonder than more conservative-minded countries edited the hell out of this one?

"What an odd place to hide a communion wafer."

• Killer Nun (1978) – Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita) stars as Sister Gertrude, a young nun who goes bonkers and starts shooting up heroin and morphine following her rushed recovery from delicate neurosurgery. She also goes on a rampage through the geriatric hospital where’s she’s staying, terrifying a number of the elderly patients and possibly killing one. But is she truly guilty of the murder, or is someone trying to frame the buxom, strung-out nun? Set in modern times and featuring nuns engaging in sexual activities, this Italian film was originally banned in Great Britain and considered one of the infamous video nasties.
• The Nun and the Devil (1973) – Also known by the titles Sisters of Satan and The Nuns of Archangel, this Italian nun movie takes place in 16th century Naples and is based on a true story. Horny nuns frolic about enjoying all manner of sin with both male visitors and one another. Meanwhile, Sister Julia (Anne Heywood) schemes to replace a dying Mother Superior. But the Catholic church can be such a bummer, and soon they’re making the nuns pay for their actions with numerous sequences of beautiful and erotically-charged torture.
• Sister Emanuelle (1977) – Part of Italy’s successful Black Emanuelle series, this film stars Laura Gemser as an investigative reporter who journeys around the globe getting into all manner of erotic adventures. This time around, she’s renounced her torrid past and become a nun in a convent. But the real star of this show is Monika (Monica Zanchi), the wild daughter of a nobleman who participates in group sex, bangs the lucky locals, and even seduces and later blackmails a fellow nun. Excuse me while I pop over to Mapquest to try and find the nearest convent.

There are other nunsploitation films to be sure, but I recommend seeing the above selections before all others. And when you’ve got your fill of such debauchery, be sure to peruse all the other fine articles from Odd Films.