Subgenre Sampler
Black Comedy: 497 Films to Buy & Rent
Raven, The (1963)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff…
- A great cast inhabits this low budget fantasy–comedy version of Edgar Allan Poe's tale – one of Corman's best.
Shock Corridor (1963)
- Dir. Samuel Fuller
Feat. Peter Breck, Constance Towers
- An unsolved slaying in a mental hospital prompts over–ambitious journalist Peter Breck to pose as a 'lunatic', so as to find the killer. Alas,…
Lolita (1962)
- Dir. Stanley Kubrick
Feat. James Mason, Peter Sellers, Shelley Winters…
- A middle–aged man falls in love with a 14–year–old girl, so marries her mother to be near her. Fascinating black comedy of sexual…
Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
- Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Mel Welles, Jack Nicholson
- Hammy black comedy about that ferocious, carnivorous plant named Audrey. A Corman quickie, shot in two days, still remains one of his best, plus it…
Green Man, The / School for Scoundrels (1957-1960)
- Dir. Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer
Feat. Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas…
- A double feature of comedies starring Alastair Sim.
The Green Man (1957) Dir. Basil Dearden – One of Sim's best films, playing an apparently…
Naked Truth, The (Your Past is Showing) (1957)
- Dir. Mario Zampi
Feat. Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, Peggy Mount…
- Dark comedy set in the tabloid industry with an extortionate publisher marked for death by his celebrity victims.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV Series) (1955-1962)
- Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, various
Feat. Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, John Forsythe…
- Pre–dating THE TWILIGHT ZONE by some years, the Master of Suspense created this iconic television series featuring self–contained tales…
Ladykillers, The (1955)
- Dir. Alexander Mackendrick
Feat. Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Frankie Howerd
- Priceless Ealing black comedy in which bungling robbers Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers et al conspire to snuff out their rich old landlady, an…
Trouble with Harry, The (1955)
- Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. John Forsythe, Shirley Maclaine
- The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and the townspeople, including a young John Forsyth and Shirley Maclaine, don't quite know how to deal with…
Dov'e La Liberta...? (Where Is Freedom?) (1954)
- Dir. Roberto Rossellini
Feat. Toto, Vera Molnar, Nita Dover
- Legendary Italian comic Toto plays a barber who cannot abide the hypocritical society he is thrust into after spending two decades in prison, and…