Editor’s note: Recreation marijuana is legal in certain states and not others (see if your state is on the list here). This feature is not an endorsement of marijuana use.
As 4/20 rolls around, everyone is gonna give you a list of “stoner comedies” to binge watch. And that’s all well and good, I love me some silliness, but there’s more to the emotional experience of getting high than just giggle fits (or so I hear). Much in the same way that weed can make funny movies extra funny, it can make scary movies even more frightening. So while your amygdala is being overstimulated, and you’re much more prone to both fits of laughter and shrieking, pop on one of these horror-comedy films and skate that sweet line of hysteria that can only come from being frightened and tickled at the same time.
We’ve hand-selected a list of films that strike that balance. Some lean into their comedy, some are more just amusingly trippy. Some of them feature cartoonish amounts of blood, but I kept to a very strict NO BODY HORROR rule because holy crap that stuff will mess you up if you’re blazed (again… so I hear).
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk are a perfect comedic duo in this send-up of backwoods horror movies. Mistaken for hillbilly murderers by awful teens, Tucker and Dale can do little more than watch as the spoiled partygoers hilariously and gruesomely (but in a fun way!) fall victim to the fates they’re trying so hard to prevent.
Scary Movie
Sure, this movie spawned over a decade of awful sequels and spinoffs, but the original Scary Movie is still a tonally perfect stoner comedy parody of ’90s horror movies. Crude, sophomoric, and raunchy in all the right spots, perfect for the one day of the year you definitely don’t want sophistication in your movies. Plus all the dated references have swung back around to fun and nostalgic again.
The Babysitter
This Netflix original film is part John Hughes teen comedy, part slasher flick. A virginal teen who has the hots for his babysitter has to find his courage and prevent himself from becoming her sacrificial lamb. It’s one of those movies where every set up has a satisfying payoff resulting in the death of someone who really has it coming.
Piranha
Piranha is by far the goriest movie on this list, but I contest that everything is so over the top that it passes being gross and just becomes cartoonish. Simultaneously a reboot and a parody of its original ’80s film, Piranha is exactly what you’re expecting. Thousands of hungry fish meet hundreds of nameless drunk teenagers in swimsuits.
Scream 3
Wait, hear me out here! Scream 3 ain’t the best Scream movie, that’s for sure, but it is the funniest. And in its defense, when your whole series is about doing sendups of horror movie tropes, you can’t blame it for having a convoluted, weird tonal shift third film. Don’t you get it, that’s how all third-entry horror movies are. Whoaaaaa. Plus Parker Posey is in it and she’s incredible.
Sharknado 5
There are probably multiple Sharknado films on Netflix but I selected the newest one. You can watch whichever one you prefer, and while you’re awash with the low budget effects and bad dialogue, you can get all introspective and ask yourself: if a movie is made crappy on purpose, does that make it good… or twice as bad?
The ABCs of Death
The ABCs of Death is a compendium of 26 short horror films, one for each letter of the alphabet. It’s absolutely bizarre, and because they’re so short you won’t have to try to follow a plot while your short-term memory functions are inhibited.
Ghostbusters 2
The third best Ghostbusters movie is still a Ghostbusters movie. This one definitely leans heavier into comedy, and the ghosts aren’t as delightfully creepy as the first film or the reboot. But who cares? They make a joke about the Titanic showing up and then the Statue of Liberty herself comes alive, so this is definitely a movie to watch while high.
Holidays
Ok, so 4/20 isn’t technically a holiday, and it’s not featured as one of the eight holidays in this anthology, but still. What makes Holidays perfect for baked viewing is that it’s frankly kind of a dumb movie. Each of the shorts is pretty strange and twisted, but my personal favorite is the one with the freaky crucified Easter bunny monster.
MST3K – Horrors of Spider Island
Really any Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie would be an excellent choice, but I’ve selected one of the more egregiously stupid monster movies from the Mike-era of the series. The plot doesn’t make sense, but you’re not gonna be able to process that anyway.