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The Comedy of Terrors

The Comedy of Terrors

Comedy · Horror · Crime · 1964

An undertaker who hasn't had any 'customers' in a long time is forced to pay one year's back-rent. To get money he starts to kill people, which brings absurd results.

Movie details

The Comedy of Terrors

1964 Comedy · Horror · Crime 1h 24m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

An undertaker who hasn't had any 'customers' in a long time is forced to pay one year's back-rent. To get money he starts to kill people, which brings absurd results.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Comedy of Terrors?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Voices

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Buried Alive

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jacques Tourneur

Written by

Richard Matheson

Vincent Price

Vincent Price

Waldo Trumbull

Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre

Felix Gillie

Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff

Amos Hinchley

Joyce Jameson

Joyce Jameson

Amaryllis Trumbull

Joe E. Brown

Joe E. Brown

Cemetery Keeper

Beverly Powers

Beverly Powers

Mrs. Phipps

Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone

John F. Black

Court is in session

Put The Comedy of Terrors on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Cool Ironist

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.