Top 10 British Horror Comedies

Featuring part-time Gollum, Andy Serkis, master of creepy humour, Reece Shearsmith, and… Jennifer Ellison, this salute to b-movies has plenty of intense gross-out moments. A kidnapping gone wrong leads to the central characters falling into the clutches of a psycho farmer, which is never a good thing, and, of course, means gore aplenty. Through all the over-the-top maiming and dismembering, which includes someone’s head being cut in half, there are many moments that break the tension… and they’re largely down to Shearsmith’s comedic genius.

Shearsmith strikes again, this time with the full gang. This spin-off from the successful, surreal and blacker-than-black comedy “The League of Gentlemen” is wonderfully chilling and uncomfortable. The twisted, fourth-wall-busting tale sees the classic characters confront their creators after hearing about their impending write-offs, as they set about putting things right for the residents of Royston Vasey. Following on from the BBC series, it’s just as funny as it is terrifying. Overflowing with creepy comic acting and plenty of cameos, it’s a horror comedy that certainly stays with you – even if you aren’t ‘local’.

This liquored-up monster flick is impressive for its glossy production, cast and cracking Irish humour. After a mob of squid-like aliens appear on the shores of an unsuspecting coastal village, the locals' lives are thrown into utter turmoil, to say the least. And so, it comes down to two police officers, a pub landlord, a scientist and a fisherman to save the day. They soon discover that alcohol is the monsters’ kryptonite… so to defeat them, the entire village crams into the pub for a lifesaving knees-up. What happens next is one of the weirdest nights out you’ll ever have.

While this movie’s title isn’t exactly ambiguous, it definitely delivers exactly what it promises – Londoners and the living dead. The spooked-up story centres on a gang of East-enders who initially plan a bank robbery to stump up the money needed to save a certain retirement home from demolition – as you do… Only, a pesky undead epidemic sweeps the land and the plan is ruined. With lashings of blood, guts and hilarity, things you can expect to see in this film include: football hooligans, a low-speed pensioner chase and a zombie baby, all in a gritty urban setting. Oh yeah, and there’s even a brief lesson in Cockney rhyming slang.

Written and directed by Joe Cornish, this movie sees a South London apartment complex become an alien warzone. It’s packed with some very familiar faces, including exactly who you’d want to have by your side in this situation, the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker (pre-Who, of course). Not only is this film sharply shot and fast paced, but it also manages to touch upon class and race issues. And, although it underperformed at the box office on its release, it still won various accolades at film festivals around the world, including Best Film, Best Debut Director and Best Visual Concept.

It wouldn’t be a true countdown of gritty British films if Danny Dyer didn’t make at least one appearance – would it. “Severance” is a must-see for anyone who hates team-building exercises, as the premise follows a corporate retreat in Hungary that goes terribly awry. One thing leads to another as the characters, who are all completely different and have contrasting personalities, are picked off one by one in some of the most gruesome ways imaginable. It’s dark, it’s violent, but, most importantly, it’s entertaining! Plus, Danny Dyer tripping on mushrooms whilst freaking out next to a skeleton is worth the watch alone.

Those who say caravan holidays are a nightmare best avoided, may very well have a point. Starring Alice Lowe as Tina and Steve Oram as Chris, this film starts with a planned tour of the British Isles in an Abbey Oxford caravan to see such quintessential sights as the Crich Tramway Museum and the Keswick Pencil Museum… But, it ends in a cut-throat killing spree. Deliciously deadpan and darker than the clouds on a Northern British camping trip, things escalate pretty quickly as the brilliantly acted lead pair become more and more twisted with every passing minute.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, this low-budget werewolf romp will make you howl with laughter. On a routine expedition north of the border, Sergeant Harry Wells unwittingly leads his men into trouble, getting up close and personal with a pack of blood-thirsty Lycanthropes. With its relentless, edge-of-your-seat action, interspersed with a scattering of gallows humour, “Dog Soldiers” certainly leaves you breathless – if a little bit ‘scarred for life’. It even won a Golden Raven award at the 2002 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, an honour shared with the likes of “Ringu” and “Army of Darkness”.

“Stick to the roads, stay off the moors” is a simple-enough instruction to follow... just not for American tourists, David and Jack, whose UK trip meets a grisly end in Yorkshire. For a cheeky bonus, see if you can spot a young Rik Mayall along the way. David somehow survives, winding up in a London hospital. Unbeknownst to him, however, he will soon be wreaking havoc on England’s capital. It’s a movie that’s genuinely frightening, with impressive visual effects for the time, but it also has many moments of comic relief, thanks in part to in-limbo Jack’s frequent visits while at varying stages of decay.

Everything about this zom-com is iconic. From Simon Pegg’s symbolic red tie and blood-splattered shirt, to the Queen-soundtracked scenes at the Winchester pub. This film, as well you know, sees the titular character, along with his haphazard group of friends, try to battle their way out of a zombie outbreak – armed with cricket bats, silly walks, and Shaun’s vintage record collection. Pegg and Frost’s on-screen chemistry injects laughs by the barrelful, and the film itself has won awards for both its horror and comedy. “Shaun of the Dead” splices the genres perfectly, with relentless gore, quick-witted gags and one of the best movie bromances you’ll ever see.