# What are the best black comedies ever made?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 24, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677 "2006-03-24T03:56:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/1 "2006-03-24T03:56:43Z")
No, this isn’t about movies with hip-hop, it is about comedies with very dark themes that are also meant to be hilarious. I don’t watch that many movies but I found out a long time ago that good black comedies are my favorite type of movie.
My nominations for best (that I have seen) are:
1. Heathers - clicky high school girl decides to kill her friends with the help of her psycho new boyfriend and make them look like suicides. Brilliant movie.
2. Rushmore - deranged over-achieving kid loves his teacher and finds a dark mentor in Bill Murray.
3. Election - Overachieving student wrecks plenty of lives including those of teachers.
These are all set in a younger school setting but others don’t have to be. I think Pulp Fiction worked as a great black comedy in some places although I seemed to be the only one cracking up in the theater.
What are some others of this genre that are truly great?
---
### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/2 "2006-03-24T04:05:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> No, this isn’t about movies with hip-hop, it is about comedies with very dark themes that are also meant to be hilarious. I don’t watch that many movies but I found out a long time ago that good black comedies are my favorite type of movie.
>
> My nominations for best (that I have seen) are:
>
> 1. Heathers - clicky high school girl decides to kill her friends with the help of her psycho new boyfriend and make them look like suicides. Brilliant movie.
>
> 2. Rushmore - deranged over-achieving kid loves his teacher and finds a dark mentor in Bill Murray.
>
> 3. Election - Overachieving student wrecks plenty of lives including those of teachers.
>
> These are all set in a younger school setting but others don’t have to be. I think Pulp Fiction worked as a great black comedy in some places although I seemed to be the only one cracking up in the theater.
>
> What are some others of this genre that are truly great?
There’s prob a dividing line somewhere between dark films that are funny in places and dark comedy (where does Fight Club go ?). But I’d say:
Monty Python’s Holy Grail and Life of Brian (I’d argue they’re pretty dark)
Dr Strangelove
Very Bad Things
Being John Malcovich
Best dark comedy TV show has to be [League of Gentlemen](http://www.leagueofgentlemen.co.uk/)
---
### Author:  [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/3 "2006-03-24T04:14:33Z")
> [@griffin1977](#):
>
> There’s prob a dividing line somewhere between dark films that are funny in places and dark comedy (where does Fight Club go ?).
I’d definitely label **Fight Club** as a dark comedy. Very dark, but definitely a comedy. I laugh all the way through it. Plus, by classical definitions, it is a comedy in that…
…the hero triumphs in the end.
**Harold and Maude** is right up there as one of the best black comedies ever. It centers around a teenager with a death fixation who goes to strangers’ funerals in his spare time. At one, he meets an elderly woman and … hilarity ensues. Absolutely a classic.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/4 "2006-03-24T04:14:44Z")
Dr. Strangelove. It doesn’t get much bleaker than nuclear annihilation, and it’s a damn funny movie.
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### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/5 "2006-03-24T04:25:32Z")
As others have said, _Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb_ is probably THE all-time classic Black Comedy.
Others I’d throw into the genre include _Fargo_, _Army Of Darkness_, _Death To Smoochy_, and _The Ladykillers_…
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/6 "2006-03-24T04:27:10Z")
Evil Dead 2 counts–maybe–but Army of Darkness is only a little dark. If you can find a movie called House of Yes, track that down.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/7 "2006-03-24T04:27:44Z")
[_Eating Raoul_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083869/)
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/8 "2006-03-24T04:37:02Z")
Oh, “The Ladykillers” - that’s a good one. We laughed out loud, long and hard when one of the guys died. I think that definitely qualifies it for “black comedy.”
Some of our favourites are “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “Snatch.” How about “Team America: World Police?” I don’t know if it’s a black comedy, but we were certainly laughing inappropriately.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/9 "2006-03-24T04:37:51Z")
The movie version of M_A_S\*H.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/10 "2006-03-24T04:38:41Z")
Oops, forgot one in the Anti-Black comedy category - “Vampire’s Kiss” with Nic Cage. This movie blew huge chunks - black, yes, comedy, not at all. Disturbing, yes.
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### Author:  [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/11 "2006-03-24T04:40:10Z")
> [@featherlou](#):
>
> “Snatch.” .
A pale rehashing of “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (with a budget and Brad Pitt) IMHO…
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/12 "2006-03-24T04:40:32Z")
I guess the movie version of the book “Catch-22” would also qualify, except the book was so good and the movie was, well, not as good.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/13 "2006-03-24T04:41:50Z")
For inappropriate laughter, nothing beats Marvin getting blown away in _Pulp Fiction_.
\*Vincent: Whoa!
Jules: What the fuck’s happening, man? Ah, shit man!
Vincent: Oh man, I shot Marvin in the face.
Jules: Why the fuck did you do that!
Vincent: Well, I didn’t mean to do it, it was an accident!
Jules: Oh man I’ve seen some crazy ass shit in my time…
Vincent: Chill out, man. I told you it was an accident. You probably went over a bump or something.
Jules: Hey, the car didn’t hit no motherfucking bump.
Vincent: Hey, look man, I didn’t mean to shoot the son of a bitch. The gun went off. I don’t know why.
Jules: Well look at this fucking mess, man. We’re on a city street in broad daylight here!
Vincent: I don’t believe it.
Jules: Well believe it now, motherfucker! We gotta get this car off the road! You know cops tend to notice shit like you’re driving a car drenched in fucking blood. \*
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/14 "2006-03-24T04:50:43Z")
_After Hours_
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### Author:  [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/15 "2006-03-24T04:54:55Z")
[Bringing Out the Dead.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163988/) Black, funnny, and that’s how it feels to pull a bunch of double night shifts during a crunch (At least I thought so when I woke up to it playing on TV after working a week of twelve hour nights and no sleep.)
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### Author:  [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/16 "2006-03-24T04:58:08Z")
Let’s mention some classics from the Golden Age:
_Arsenic and Old Lace_
_Kind Hearts and Coronets_
_The Ladykillers_ (with Alec Guinness, not the Tom Hanks remake)
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/17 "2006-03-24T04:58:24Z")
Fully agree with **Heathers** at number one.
It’s too dark to be funny for some, but **Shallow Grave** had me laughing (especially the end).
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/18 "2006-03-24T05:08:59Z")
Just my .02 for _Strangelove_, the gold standard of black comedies.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/19 "2006-03-24T05:22:22Z")
> [@griffin1977](#):
>
> A pale rehashing of “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” (with a budget and Brad Pitt) IMHO…
Yeah, but it had people talking with Newfie accents. 😃
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### Author:  [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/20 "2006-03-24T05:30:17Z")
Used Cars.
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