Sure, horror films starring comedians sounds like an oxymoron. When comedians branch out into movies, they'll usually try and stick to what they know best: comedy. Occasionally, though, comedians will be tapped to star in horror films -- with mixed results, at best. Here's a list of 13 comics who've tried their hand at bringing the scary.
11. Marc Price - 'Trick or Treat' (1986)
Unlike most of the people on this list, Marc Price was an actor first and a comedian second. Though he was still playing the Keaton family's lovably goofy neighbor, Skippy, on Family Ties, Price took the lead in this heavy metal horror flick. He played Eddie, a high school outcast that worships the music of heavy metal singer, Sammy Curr. Well, Curr dies and comes back to kill people...blah blah blah. Freddy Krueger he ain't. Sure, the movie showed Price's "edgy" side (he wears an earring!), but failed to make him a movie star. He's since been working as a stand-up, even trying out for one season of Last Comic Standing. He wasn't picked, which had to make him feel like Eddie all over again. Where's Sammy Curr when you need him?
12. Pauly Shore - 'Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge' (1989)
Before hitting it big and then disappearing back into semi-obscurity, Pauly Shore starred in this very, very '80s retelling of Phantom of the Opera. This time, the opera house has been -- as the title suggests -- replaced by a mall. It's about as bad as it sounds. Interestingly, this came out the same year as another POTO remake starring Robert Englund and featuring Saturday Night Live's Molly Shannon in a small role. Pauly Shore, playing yogurt shop employee Buzz, is also one of the only comedians in a horror film that actually survives to the end of the movie, much to the disappointment of viewers. I guess that simple fact says a lot about the role of comedians in horror movies.
13. Chris Kattan - 'House on Haunted Hill' (1999)
Chris Kattan was still a cast member on Saturday Night Live (doing lame but beloved characters like 'Mango' and 'Mr. Peepers') when he took a supporting role in 1999's better-than-expected remake of House on Haunted Hill. He plays the nebbish owner of said house on haunted hill (though I think it was the house, not the hill, that was haunted), and actually comes across as one of the only sympathetic characters in a movie filled with nasty people. He tries to squeeze a few laughs out, too -- mostly by being scared of stuff -- but the movie itself is pretty humorless. Still, it was nice to see him play something other than Chris Kattan...which he would do two years later in Corky Romano: Special Agent.




