::DARK COMEDIES WITH PESKY CORPSES, BOTCHED KIDNAPPINGS, MURDEROUS BLUNDERS & ACCIDENTAL DEATHS::
by Schwenkstar | created - 14 Oct 2011 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicTHE GIST OF THE LIST: Dark comedies where a dead body proves to be a very pesky problem, mistaken identities often lead to mistaken kidnappings and murders, and some deaths happen to be just freak accidents...
[LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER]
OTHER LISTS:
CAMMANDO (MEN-ON-A-MISSION) THRILLERS
CON THRILLERS
COURTROOM THRILLERS
CULT EUROPEAN SUPERHERO MOVIES
DARK COMEDIES WITH PESKY CORPSES, BOTCHED KIDNAPPINGS, MURDEROUS BLUNDERS & ACCIDENTAL DEATHS
DEALS WITH THE DEVIL
DINNER PARTIES FROM HELL
DON'T PERFORM THE AUTOPSY! I'M NOT DEAD!
GOTHIC HORROR
HEIST THRILLERS
HEROIC BLOODSHED + BULLET BALLET + GUN-FU
HOLLYWOOD GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS)
INNOCENT FUGITIVE ON-THE-RUN THRILLERS
ITALIAN GIALLO (+ ITS OTHERS)
LOCKED ROOM MYSTERIES + IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES
LO-FI SCI-FI
ONE ROOM THRILLERS
PARALLEL UNIVERSES, ALTERNATE REALITIES, FEVERISH DREAMS
POLICE PROCEDURALS
PRISON ESCAPE THRILLERS
RURAL-COUNTRY THRILLERS
THEOLOGICAL FILMS
THRILLING SHORT FILMS
THRILLING TV EPISODES
THRILLING TV MOVIES
UNKNOWN + UNAVAILABLE THRILLERS
VANISHED PERSON THRILLERS
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1. Bizarre, Bizarre (1937)
84 min | Comedy
In Victorian London, a crime novelist and his wife fake their disappearance in order to hide from an uptight Anglican bishop who is leading a campaign against the "evils" of crime fiction.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Françoise Rosay, Michel Simon, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Louis Jouvet
Votes: 1,965
2. A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
Approved | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with forclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly
Votes: 2,568
A terrific oldie that's based on a stage play... many of these early screwy dark comedies that deal with pesky corpses, mistaken identities, confused kidnappings, and accidental deaths are based on plays.
3. To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance, War
During the German occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch | Stars: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart
Votes: 42,999
Plays out like a screwball comedy directed by Alfred Hitchcock - mistaken identities, clever escapes, and a dead body that proves troublesome for his look a-like who is very much alive. Probably my all time favorite screwball comedy.
Remade in 1983, to less effect, by Mel Brooks.
4. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Not Rated | 118 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot. Things get even more complicated when he learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are habitual murderers.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson
Votes: 74,961
As above, this is based on a stage play... and is probably the best example of a play doing this sort of stuff!
5. The Missing Corpse (1945)
Passed | 62 min | Comedy, Mystery
A feud between rival newspapermen Kruger (Bromberg) and McDonald (Guilfoyle) goes deadly when blackmailing McDonald ends up murdered and his corpse planted in the trunk of Kruger's car.
Director: Albert Herman | Stars: J. Edward Bromberg, Isabel Randolph, Frank Jenks, Eric Sinclair
Votes: 271
6. Murder, He Says (1945)
Passed | 91 min | Comedy, Mystery
Professional pollster Pete Marshall gets more than he bargained for when he heads deep into the Ozarks to investigate the disappearances of several of his colleagues.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Helen Walker, Marjorie Main, Jean Heather
Votes: 2,023
Hillbilly hijinks mixed up with murder, stashed loot, and other zaniness.
7. Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Passed | 124 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A suave but cynical man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money, but the job has some occupational hazards.
Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison Roddan, Robert Lewis
Votes: 19,126 | Gross: $0.33M
8. The Cupboard Was Bare (1948)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Crime
The aunt of Alfred Puc, a meek tax-collector in Paris, dies while riding in a moving van. The driver, not wishing to be bothered by a police interrogation, hides her corpse in a cupboard ... See full summary »
Director: Carlo Rim | Stars: Fernandel, Berthe Bovy, Germaine Kerjean, Albert Dinan
Votes: 247
9. Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
Approved | 105 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A man dreams of revenge when he suspects his wife is unfaithful.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, Rudy Vallee, Barbara Lawrence
Votes: 5,859
10. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime
A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood
Votes: 39,704
A man wants to be a duke... so naturally he murders all the heirs to leave himself the only surviving member! A fine, dignified, classic comedy that just so happens to dabble with a murder spree.
11. La Poison (1951)
Not Rated | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
Through a series of circumstances and plot twists an enterprising man manages to get away with murdering his wife, even though he cheerfully admits his guilt in court.
Director: Sacha Guitry | Stars: Michel Simon, Jean Debucourt, Jacques Varennes, Jeanne Fusier-Gir
Votes: 1,625
12. The Red Inn (1951)
Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Crime
A group of travelers, including a monk, stay in a lonely inn in the mountains. The host confesses the monk his habit of serving a soporific soup to the guests, to rob their possessions and ... See full summary »
Director: Claude Autant-Lara | Stars: Fernandel, Françoise Rosay, Marie-Claire Olivia, Jean-Roger Caussimon
Votes: 1,596
The manager of the inn confesses to a monk whose staying overnight that he has a nasty habit of poisoning the guests with soup... The monk obviously tries to warn the other guests that their lives are in danger, but the twist is that he can't break the holy secrecy of confession! What to do?!
13. The Unfaithfuls (1953)
99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An industrialist has his wife tailed because he secretly hopes she is betraying him so that he can ask for a divorce and marry the model he's fallen in love with. This leads to a series of thefts, blackmail and a suicide as well.
Directors: Mario Monicelli, Steno | Stars: Gina Lollobrigida, May Britt, Pierre Cressoy, Tina Lattanzi
Votes: 239
14. The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The delirious journey of a mentally disordered man, who is obsessed with committing the perfect crime.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Ernesto Alonso, Miroslava, Rita Macedo, Ariadne Welter
Votes: 5,889
15. The Ladykillers (1955)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Crime
Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom
Votes: 31,392
Another classic comedy about a group of thieves who are tempted to murder their landlady out of fear she knows too much... but when the begin to fear one another, the bodies begin to pile up.
16. The Trouble with Harry (1955)
PG | 99 min | Comedy, Mystery
Harry's dead and, while no one really minds, everyone feels responsible. After Harry's body is found in the woods, several locals must determine not only how and why he was killed but what to do with the body.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick
Votes: 41,262
Hitchcock's take on this peculiar sub-genre... a proper, dignified comedy about a corpse who simply seems to pop up in the most inconvenient places...
17.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Wet Saturday
(1956)
TV-14 | 26 min | Drama, Mystery
Mr. Princey's daughter has just murdered the schoolmaster. A murderess in the family? That won't do. It's up to Mr. Princey to frame someone else for her crime.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Cedric Hardwicke, John Williams, Tita Purdom
Votes: 952
An episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" where a father has the thoroughly unsavory duty of disposing a body... and the unquestionably unpleasant task of finding someone to blame in order to protect his daughter... after all, we can't have a murderer in the family, can we now?
18.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Conversation Over a Corpse
(1956)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
Cissie Enright is not exactly thrilled with the idea of poisoning the real estate man. But her sister, Joanna, insists that it's the only way.
Director: Jules Bricken | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Dorothy Stickney, Carmen Mathews, Ray Collins
Votes: 747
Two old ladies meticulously plot the poisoning of a rather horrid man... Their plan works... but forget they never planned on what to do with the corpse!
19.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
One More Mile to Go
(1957)
TV-14 | 26 min | Drama, Mystery
Sam Jacoby has his wife's corpse in the trunk of his car, and is menaced by a motorcycle cop, who nags him about a taillight.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, David Wayne, Steve Brodie, Louise Larabee
Votes: 915
20.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
The Diplomatic Corpse
(1957)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
A married couple stands to inherit 30,000 British pounds when the wife's aunt riding with them dies, but while in Mexico their car with her body inside is stolen.
Director: Paul Henreid | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Lorre, George Peppard, Mary Scott
Votes: 587
21.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Guest for Breakfast
(1958)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
A murderer holding a bickering married couple at gunpoint, tries to decide which one to kill, but their constant arguing over who should die confuses him.
Director: Paul Henreid | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Joan Tetzel, Scott McKay, Richard Shepard
Votes: 532
22.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Lamb to the Slaughter
(1958)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
After Mary Maloney's police chief husband is murdered, the police investigate but have a hard time figuring out the murder weapon.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Barbara Bel Geddes, Harold J. Stone, Allan Lane
Votes: 1,269
23.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Post Mortem
(1958)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
A wife refuses to let her husband squander away the money from a 133,000-dollar sweepstakes ticket inherited from her first dead spouse, so he plans on killing her.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Steve Forrest, Joanna Moore, James Gregory
Votes: 592
24.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962)
Episode:
Bull in a China Shop
(1958)
TV-14 | 30 min | Drama, Mystery
A handsome homicide detective is befriended by four old ladies who invite him for tea and proceed to play out a variation of Arsenic and Old Lace for his benefit.
Director: James Neilson | Stars: Alfred Hitchcock, Dennis Morgan, Estelle Winwood, Elizabeth Patterson
Votes: 553
25. The Green Man (1956)
Not Rated | 80 min | Comedy, Crime
An assassin is annoyed by a vacuum cleaner salesman determined to stop him.
Directors: Robert Day, Basil Dearden | Stars: Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas, Jill Adams
Votes: 2,324
An assassin can't quite seem to kill his target and a man tries to stop the assassin but no one quite seems to believe him.
26. How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957)
79 min | Comedy, Crime
The impoverished Clitterburn family live on a grand English estate but times are hard and the head of the household, Sir Henry, seizes upon news of the impending arrival of their rich ... See full summary »
Director: Nigel Patrick | Stars: Nigel Patrick, Charles Coburn, Wendy Hiller, Katie Johnson
Votes: 272
British comedy.
27. The Gazebo (1959)
Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Thriller
TV writer Elliott Nash buries something under the new gazebo in his suburban backyard. But the nervous man can't let it rest there.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner, John McGiver
Votes: 2,223
Another clever comedy about a husband who accidentally (or rather, intentionally but accidentally) kills (or rather, causes indirectly but purposefully) a death of a man... and now faces the pesky problem of hiding it from the eyes of his wife... A perfect time to start work on that new gazebo!
28. ...And Suddenly It's Murder! (1960)
106 min | Comedy, Crime
A randomly formed group of Italians gets deeply involved in a crime in Montacarlo.
Director: Mario Camerini | Stars: Alberto Sordi, Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Dorian Gray
Votes: 399
29. Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (1960)
85 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A taxidermist decides to murder his wife after having to put up with her after fifteen years of hellish marriage.
Director: Rogelio A. González | Stars: Arturo de Córdova, Amparo Rivelles, Elda Peralta, Guillermo Orea
Votes: 2,106
30. Divorce Italian Style (1961)
Not Rated | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must concoct a crime of passion to do away with his wife.
Director: Pietro Germi | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Leopoldo Trieste
Votes: 14,173
31. The Lamp in Assassin Mews (1962)
Not Rated | 65 min | Comedy
A stubborn couple plan to defend a treasured lamp from those who want to remove it from its rightful place.
Director: Godfrey Grayson | Stars: Francis Matthews, Lisa Daniely, Ian Fleming, Amy Dalby
Votes: 50
32. The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy, Horror
Dishonest undertaker Waldo Trumbull and his sidekick Felix Gillie are creating their own customers when they cannot find willing ones.
Director: Jacques Tourneur | Stars: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Joyce Jameson
Votes: 7,026
A funeral parlor has bills to pay so they go to stir up some more customers... through murder! Richard Matheson wrote this gem!
33. Crooks in Clover (1963)
105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A dying mob boss hands over his business to an old friend, Fernand. The boss' assistants want to get rid of the latter. But are the Volfoni brothers and Théo real threats? Ensuing fights and shootouts are more comical than deadly.
Director: Georges Lautner | Stars: Lino Ventura, Bernard Blier, Francis Blanche, Claude Rich
Votes: 6,591
French gangster comedy with a series of comical killings...
34. Cadavere per signora (1964)
90 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
Laura is the victim of a blackmail, asks for help to her childhood friends Renata, Marina and Giovanna in the meantime become a nun to collect the amount requested.
Director: Mario Mattoli | Stars: Sylva Koscina, Sergio Fantoni, Scilla Gabel, Sandra Mondaini
Votes: 55
35. Dandelions by the Roots (1964)
95 min | Comedy
Jockey Jack has a bill open with a gangster just released from jail. He somehow manages to parry the gangster's knife attack backstage at a theatre and the latter ends up dead being put ... See full summary »
Director: Georges Lautner | Stars: Michel Serrault, Maurice Biraud, Louis de Funès, Mireille Darc
Votes: 683
36. Strange Voyage (1964)
92 min | Comedy, Crime
Paquita and her brother Venancio, both single and childish, live in a small town near Madrid. Their bossy eldest sister Ignacia, also an old maid, dominates them. One night, Paquita hears ... See full summary »
Director: Fernando Fernán Gómez | Stars: Carlos Larrañaga, Tota Alba, Lina Canalejas, Rafaela Aparicio
Votes: 1,664
37. They All Died Laughing (1964)
94 min | Comedy
An English professor decides that there are too many useless people in the world and invents a gas that will kill them off. But first they'll at least have a good laugh.
Director: Don Chaffey | Stars: Leo McKern, Janet Munro, Maxine Audley, Dennis Price
Votes: 103
38. How to Murder Your Wife (1965)
Approved | 118 min | Comedy
A dedicated bachelor drunkenly marries a young woman and immediately lives to regret it.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi, Terry-Thomas, Eddie Mayehoff
Votes: 6,946 | Gross: $12.47M
39. Io uccido, tu uccidi (1965)
110 min | Comedy, Thriller
Six sketches with as many ways of murdering someone, and getting away with it.
Director: Gianni Puccini | Stars: Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia, Rosalba Neri, Franca Polesello
Votes: 86
40. The Loved One (1965)
Approved | 122 min | Comedy
Satire on the funeral business, in which a young British poet goes to work at a Hollywood cemetery.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer, Rod Steiger
Votes: 3,952
A black comedy from Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones") about a funeral parlor and its many strange employees...
41. The Secret of My Success (1965)
Approved | 112 min | Comedy, Horror
Fast climbing Arthur Tate rose to his fame, wealth and respectability quickly from a beginning as a naive constable His rise was also due to 3 women: dressmaker Violet Lawson, Lily, the ... See full summary »
Director: Andrew L. Stone | Stars: Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, Honor Blackman, James Booth
Votes: 312
42. Arrivederci, Baby! (1966)
Unrated | 100 min | Comedy, Crime
Nick tries to kill his wife to get her money, but when learning of this, she plans the same for him!
Director: Ken Hughes | Stars: Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, Lionel Jeffries, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Votes: 661
A husband tries to kill his wife for her money. His wife plans the same for him. Hilarity ensues.
43. Let's Not Get Angry (1966)
100 min | Comedy, Crime
Antoine helps two former acquaintances escape the country, who repay him with a debt transfer. All he has to do is collect from some Léonard Michalon, but for that he will have to go into much trouble to keep the man alive.
Director: Georges Lautner | Stars: Lino Ventura, Mireille Darc, Jean Lefebvre, Michel Constantin
Votes: 1,421
44. Old Maids (1966)
104 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Bettina Eriksen, manager of her Uncle Teodor's nursing home, is being framed for murder. With the help of 2 older ladies, Bettina sets out to find out the murderer's identity and motive.
Director: Sven Methling | Stars: Helle Virkner, Maria Garland, Else-Marie, Tove Maës
Votes: 94
45. The Undertaker and His Pals (1966)
R | 63 min | Comedy, Horror
An undertaker and his two friends, who are restaurateurs, make business by going out on town and killing people; the restaurateurs use body parts for their menu, the entrepreneur buries the rest.
Director: T.L.P. Swicegood | Stars: Warrene Ott, James Westmoreland, Marty Friedman, Sally Frei
Votes: 1,250
46. The Wrong Box (1966)
Approved | 105 min | Comedy, Crime
In Victorian England, a fortune now depends on which of two brothers outlives the other, or can be made to have seemed to do so.
Director: Bryan Forbes | Stars: John Mills, Michael Caine, Ralph Richardson, Peter Cook
Votes: 4,014
A corpse is mistaken for at least three different individuals, causing mayhem in this British romp... Bryan Forbes ("Seance On A Wet Afternoon", "The Stepford Wives") directs this cult classic!
47. Zlocin v dívcí skole (1966)
107 min | Comedy, Crime
Three short story omnibus. The main hero and connecting link is Lieutenant Boruvka, created by Lubomír Lipsky. He deals with the murder case between climbers, the death of the dancer in the... See full summary »
Directors: Jirí Menzel, Ivo Novák, Ladislav Rychman | Stars: Lubomír Lipský, Jan Preucil, Petr Kostka, Jana Gýrová
Votes: 106
48. The Busy Body (1967)
Not Rated | 101 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Sid Caesar stars as the bumbling right-hand man of mob boss Robert Ryan, who is sent to find a corpse buried in a suit lined with stolen mob money.
Director: William Castle | Stars: Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan, Anne Baxter, Kay Medford
Votes: 381
49. The Honey Pot (1967)
Not Rated | 150 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
In Venice, a millionaire hires an actor to help him prank three greedy ex-girlfriends into thinking he's dying and leaving his fortune to one of them.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Rex Harrison, Susan Hayward, Cliff Robertson, Capucine
Votes: 2,846
50. Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (1967)
Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy
A domineering mother and her sheltered son fly face first into love, murder, and the meaning of family in this black comedy based on Arthur Kopit's Broadway play.
Directors: Richard Quine, Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Rosalind Russell, Robert Morse, Barbara Harris, Hugh Griffith
Votes: 324
51. What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969)
M/PG | 101 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An aging widow hides a deadly secret which she will do anything to keep buried.
Directors: Lee H. Katzin, Bernard Girard | Stars: Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon, Rosemary Forsyth, Robert Fuller
Votes: 2,784
Housekeepers keep on disappearing from a widower's house in this black comedy...
52. Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas, mais... elle cause! (1970)
80 min | Comedy, Crime
Housemaid Georgette (Girardot) loves to gossip and this causes major trouble to people around her.
Director: Michel Audiard | Stars: Annie Girardot, Bernard Blier, Mireille Darc, Jean Le Poulain
Votes: 579
53. Entertaining Mr Sloane (1970)
Not Rated | 94 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Sloane, a manipulative lodger, joins Kath's household. Kemp recognizes Sloane as a murderer. Sloane kills Kemp. The story takes an unexpected turn regarding Sloane's fate, deviating from conventional justice.
Director: Douglas Hickox | Stars: Beryl Reid, Harry Andrews, Peter McEnery, Alan Webb
Votes: 743
54. Skulle det dukke opp flere lik er det bare å ringe..... (1970)
98 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Cleaning lady Lilly Hansen finds her employer, managing director Martinsen, with a knife in his back. The police is summoned and Chief Inspector Bakker is put on the case, despite suffering... See full summary »
Director: Knut Bohwim | Stars: Aud Schønemann, Arve Opsahl, Thorleif Reiss, Anne-Lise Tangstad
Votes: 545
55. Something for Everyone (1970)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In post-war Austria, young, handsome country lad Konrad Ludwig (Michael York) charms his way into a butler position at the castle of the widowed (and destitute) Countess von Ornstein (... See full summary »
Director: Harold Prince | Stars: Angela Lansbury, Michael York, Anthony Higgins, Heidelinde Weis
Votes: 1,080 | Gross: $0.30M
56. A New Leaf (1971)
G | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
Henry Graham lives the life of a playboy. When his lawyer tells him one day that his lifestyle has consumed all his funds, he needs an idea to avoid climbing down the social ladder. So he intends to marry a rich woman and - murder her.
Director: Elaine May | Stars: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose
Votes: 7,640
57. Jo (1971)
85 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A writer of detective stories desperately trying to hide a corpse in his house - and at the same time to know exactly who he killed accidentally.
Director: Jean Girault | Stars: Louis de Funès, Claude Gensac, Michel Galabru, Bernard Blier
Votes: 3,663
58. 'Ctyri vrazdy stací, drahousku' (1971)
103 min | Comedy, Crime
Two criminal gangs are ruthlessly fighting for a 1-million dollar check that, purely by chance, got into the flat of shy high school teacher George Camel. As the number of victims sharply ... See full summary »
Director: Oldrich Lipský | Stars: Lubomír Lipský, Jirina Bohdalová, Iva Janzurová, Marie Rosulková
Votes: 788
59. You Are a Widow, Sir! (1971)
97 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
After a soldier cuts off the arm of king's cousin, king decides to deactivate the army. Of course, generals don't like it at all and they try to kill the king. The assassin should be ... See full summary »
Director: Václav Vorlícek | Stars: Iva Janzurová, Olga Schoberová, Eduard Cupák, Jirí Sovák
Votes: 857
60. The Ruling Class (1972)
PG | 154 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
A member of the House of Lords dies, leaving his estate to his son. Unfortunately, his son thinks he is Jesus Christ. Their other, somewhat more respectable family members plot to steal the estate from him; murder and mayhem ensue.
Director: Peter Medak | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe, Hugh Owens
Votes: 6,802
A man thinks he's Christ... then Jack the Ripper... and there are musical numbers (?!)
61. A Full Day's Work (1973)
95 min | Comedy, Crime
A father plans to kill, in the same day, the nine members of the jury who had condemned his son to the death sentence.
Director: Jean-Louis Trintignant | Stars: Jacques Dufilho, Luce Marquand, Franco Pesce, Albin Guichard
Votes: 448
62. A Pain in the Ass (1973)
PG | 85 min | Comedy
Milan must kill Louis Randoni before he testifies in a court of law. He is disturbed by his depressed roommate François Pignon who commits suicide by hanging himself from the toilet pipe flooding Milan's room. Here he is stuck in problems.
Director: Édouard Molinaro | Stars: Lino Ventura, Jacques Brel, Caroline Cellier, Jean-Pierre Darras
Votes: 3,684
A hit man tries to keep a low profile but his suicidal neighbor keeps on trying to bump himself off in the most attention-grabbing ways...
63. Slither (1973)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A car thief gets out on parole from a penitentiary and intends to go straight. Nonetheless, he ends up in a wild goose chase for stolen cash, together with a small-time bandleader and his wife, and a friendly free-spirited woman.
Director: Howard Zieff | Stars: James Caan, Peter Boyle, Sally Kellerman, Louise Lasser
Votes: 1,713
64. Ante el cadáver de un líder (1974)
81 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
When a union leader dies in a sleazy hotel room, his wife, mistress, co-workers flock to the hotel with the police, reporters, colleagues, and political figures--each with their own intentions.
Director: Alejandro Galindo | Stars: David Reynoso, Gonzalo Vega, Celia Viveros, Ana Lilia Tovar
Votes: 65
65. Homebodies (1974)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Horror
When a group of pensioners learns that their homes are to be torn down, they take action. An attempt to discourage soon escalates into murder of construction workers.
Director: Larry Yust | Stars: Peter Brocco, Frances Fuller, William Hansen, Ruth McDevitt
Votes: 766
66. The Infernal Trio (1974)
107 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A cunning French legal adviser teams up with an unemployed German girl and her sister to commit murders in Marseille.
Director: Francis Girod | Stars: Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Mascha Gonska, Philippe Brizard
Votes: 927
French comedy with a dead body, a bath tub, and a bottle of acid.
67. Bons baisers... à lundi (1974)
94 min | Comedy, Crime
Three thieves, Henri-Pierre, Bob and Dimitri decide to take on Frankie Strong, a wealthy businessman.
Director: Michel Audiard | Stars: Jean Carmet, Bernard Blier, Maria Pacôme, Evelyne Buyle
Votes: 165
68. The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975)
PG | 80 min | Comedy, Mystery, Crime
A chicken hatchery owner (and novice private eye) tries to solve the arrow murder of local milkman, philanderer and animal fetishist.
Director: Dean Hargrove | Stars: Gabriel Dell, Will Geer, Anjanette Comer, Joyce Van Patten
Votes: 271
Spoof of Film Noir.
69. Brunet wieczorowa pora (1976)
90 min | Comedy, Thriller
Modest editor, has shipped his wife and kids for the weekend, and is trying to relax in his house at the outskirts of Warsaw. His quiet evening is only disturbed by the accidental forecast ... See full summary »
Director: Stanislaw Bareja | Stars: Krzysztof Kowalewski, Wojciech Pokora, Janina Traczykówna, Wieslaw Golas
Votes: 1,619
70. Family Plot (1976)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A phony psychic/con artist and her taxi driver/actor boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers while trailing a missing heir in California.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane
Votes: 24,825
Hitchcock incorporates dark humour with a story about a couple who stumble upon some serial kidnappers!
71. Holka na zabití (1976)
98 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
In a white jeep the waitress Gita from the hotel Bobí vrch reproaches to the driver who has not left his wife yet. She gives him an ultimatum: if he does not do all according to her wish, ... See full summary »
Director: Juraj Herz | Stars: Dagmar Havlová, Ilja Prachar, Vít Olmer, Josef Abrhám
Votes: 137
72. Silver Streak (1976)
PG | 114 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
On a long-distance train trip, a man finds romance but also finds himself in danger of being killed, or at least pushed off the train.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan
Votes: 21,711
A spoof of Hitchcock, complete with kidnappings, vanished bodies, and accidental deaths!
73. Murder by Death (1976)
PG | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Five famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
Director: Robert Moore | Stars: Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Eileen Brennan
Votes: 41,661
Neil Simon's zany murder mystery screwball comedy!
74. Foul Play (1978)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
A San Francisco librarian picks up a hitchhiker whose car has broken down, which leads to her being stalked and hunted by shady individuals. A cop she briefly met during a function eventually comes to her rescue.
Director: Colin Higgins | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith, Rachel Roberts
Votes: 16,933 | Gross: $45.00M
Another spoof of Hitchcock films...
75. Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)
PG | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
One by one, the greatest Chefs in Europe are being killed. Each chef murdered in the same manner that their own special dish is prepared in. Food critics and the (many) self-proclaimed greatest Chefs in Europe demand the mystery be solved.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: George Segal, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Morley, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Votes: 2,604
Wacky, zany murder mystery with bodies disposed of the most interesting ways...
76. Buffet Froid (1979)
Not Rated | 89 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Alphonse lives in an empty building. Empty but for one neighbour, the police captain Morvandieu. When the man who have killed Alphonse's wife appears, the three men will be thrown in a serie of event in a surrealist world.
Director: Bertrand Blier | Stars: Gérard Depardieu, Bernard Blier, Jean Carmet, Denise Gence
Votes: 6,502
77.
Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)
Episode:
The Kipper and the Corpse
(1979)
TV-PG | 32 min | Comedy
One of the guests has died in his sleep, but Basil thinks it's due to serving him spoiled food.
Director: Bob Spiers | Stars: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth
Votes: 2,099
An episode from the show "Fawlty Towers" - a guest dies (perhaps due to the "kipper" being not so fresh) and the keepers of the inn need to keep this quiet from the other guests...
78. Deathtrap (1982)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's play.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth
Votes: 15,436 | Gross: $19.28M
Michael Caine wants to steal a young writer's stage play... by murdering him and taking all the credit!
79. Eating Raoul (1982)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Crime
A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discovers a bizarre, if not murderous, way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
Director: Paul Bartel | Stars: Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Robert Beltran, Susan Saiger
Votes: 9,172
How to get rid of all the dead bodies you keep accumulating? Cannibalism, naturally...
80. Santa Claus Is a Stinker (1982)
88 min | Comedy
Two neurotics, working for a suicide hotline on the night of Christmas Eve, get caught up in a catastrophe when a pregnant woman, her abusive boyfriend, and a transvestite visit their office.
Director: Jean-Marie Poiré | Stars: Anémone, Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel, Christian Clavier
Votes: 10,493
The dead body may not appear until the last third of the film, but when it does it becomes the focal point of the picture... and just how they dispose of this pesky corpse is utterly audacious!
81. The King of Comedy (1982)
PG | 109 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A passionate yet unsuccessful comedian stalks and kidnaps his idol to take the spotlight for himself.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Votes: 119,128 | Gross: $2.50M
Psychotic stand up comedian kidnaps talk show host to get on his show...
82. To Be or Not to Be (1983)
PG | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, War
At the onset of WW2, a Polish actor's family and the Polish Resistance help the troupe of a theatre escape Poland and the invading Nazis.
Director: Alan Johnson | Stars: Mel Brooks, Anne Bancroft, Ronny Graham, Estelle Reiner
Votes: 12,032 | Gross: $13.03M
A remake of the Ernst Lubitsch classic. Not as good, but the scenes with Charles Durning occasionally capture the magic of the original - his Oscar nomination was well deserved.
83. Blood Simple (1984)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies, and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh
Votes: 105,218 | Gross: $2.15M
The Coen brothers seem to be the master of this peculiar genre... a mistaken murder and a corpse who doesn't seem to want to be buried highlight this classic dark comedy/thriller.
84. The Census Taker (1984)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Crime
Exasperated by his intrusions, a family shoots a census taker and tries to hide his body from a detective.
Director: Bruce R. Cook | Stars: Greg Mullavey, Meredith MacRae, Garrett Morris, Austen Taylor
Votes: 212
Strange film that is like "Who's Afraid Of The Virginia Wolf?" but with laughs and a dead body. Timothy Bottoms is hilarious and his role seems to foreshadow Kevin Kline's role in "A Fish Called Wanda" (they even look and act the same in both films).
85. The Crazy Family (1984)
106 min | Comedy, Drama
After moving into a new house, a family starts acting crazier and crazier.
Director: Gakuryû Ishii | Stars: Katsuya Kobayashi, Mitsuko Baishô, Yoshiki Arizono, Yûki Kudô
Votes: 987
Surreal satire that culminates in the family trying to bump off one another.
86. Unfaithfully Yours (1984)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A composer who suspects his wife of cheating plots to kill her and frame her lover.
Director: Howard Zieff | Stars: Dudley Moore, Nastassja Kinski, Armand Assante, Albert Brooks
Votes: 3,163 | Gross: $19.93M
87. After Hours (I) (1985)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An ordinary word processor has the worst night of his life after he agrees to visit a girl in Soho he met that evening at a coffee shop.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom, Tommy Chong
Votes: 81,328 | Gross: $10.60M
Paul Hackett meets a woman, goes to her apartment, and finds her dead... just the beginning of his nightmarish journey!
88. Compromising Positions (1985)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
An ex-newspaper woman who is now a suburban housewife can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who had been having affairs with several of her neighbors.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Raul Julia, Edward Herrmann, Judith Ivey
Votes: 1,130 | Gross: $12.53M
89. Clue (1985)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Six guests are anonymously invited to a strange mansion for dinner, but after their host is killed, they must cooperate with the staff to identify the murderer as the bodies pile up.
Director: Jonathan Lynn | Stars: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd
Votes: 109,257 | Gross: $14.64M
"Nobody. No body, that's what we mean. Mr. Boddy's body, it's gone."
90. Ruthless People (1986)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Crime
A couple cheated by a vile businessman kidnaps his wife in retaliation, not knowing that their enemy is delighted that they did.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Bette Midler, Danny DeVito, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater
Votes: 30,517 | Gross: $71.62M
A kidnapping gone wrong scheme with Danny DeVito!
91. Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987)
105 min | Comedy, Thriller
Finlander Alex works as a taxi-driver in Berlin and is married to an Italian. One night, two men get into his taxi with a briefcase full of money. Unluckily for Alex, they are being chased ... See full summary »
Director: Mika Kaurismäki | Stars: Kari Väänänen, Roberta Manfredi, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Margi Clarke
Votes: 752
Finnish (!) dark comedy about a taxi cab finding a suitcase full of cash and two dead bodies to go with it... What to do? Keep the cash and dispose of the bodies... a job that proves nearly impossible!
92. Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Writer, ex-con and 40-something bottle-baby Tim Madden, who is prone to black-outs, awakens from a two-week bender to discover a pool of blood in his car.
Director: Norman Mailer | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini, Debra Stipe, Wings Hauser
Votes: 1,846 | Gross: $0.86M
93. Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
PG-13 | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
A bitter ex-husband wants his former spouse dead. A put-upon momma's boy wants his mother dead. Who will pull it off?
Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Kim Greist, Anne Ramsey
Votes: 40,667 | Gross: $57.92M
Another Danny DeVito vehicle... takes a Hitchcockian idea of swapping murders and plays it for laughs!
94. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
R | 108 min | Comedy, Crime
In London, four very different people team up on a jewel heist, then try to double-cross one another for the loot, complicated by their efforts to fool a very proper barrister.
Directors: Charles Crichton, John Cleese | Stars: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Votes: 153,890 | Gross: $63.49M
A cult classic. Hilarious how Michael Palin continually fails in trying to kill an old woman.
95. A Weekend of Deceased Persons (1988)
94 min | Comedy, Drama
Very black and grotesque comedy about the little office-worker Tase and his death wife Kata. She died in hospital in Skopje, the capitol of Macedonia, but the nurses mixed bodies of deaths.... See full summary »
Director: Nikola-Kole Angelovski | Stars: Dimce Meskovski, Vladimir-Dadi Angelovski, Djordji Jolevski, Blagoja Corevski
Votes: 179
The title says it all!
96. Heathers (1988)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime
At Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.
Director: Michael Lehmann | Stars: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk
Votes: 115,810 | Gross: $1.11M
High school outcasts murder the popular students and make them look like suicide... doesn't sound funny, but it is!
97. Cheap Shots (1988)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy
The owner of a sleazy hotel, along with his friend, decides to videotape a room that is rented by a sexually active couple. Inadvertently recording their murders, the men are soon faced ... See full summary »
Directors: Jerry Stoeffhaas, Jeff Ureles | Stars: Judson Camp, John Galateo, Clarke Gordon, David Patrick Kelly
Votes: 33 | Gross: $0.00M
98. Drowning by Numbers (1988)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
Three generations of women share the same problem--marriage woes--and want to put an end to it.
Director: Peter Greenaway | Stars: Bernard Hill, Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson, Joely Richardson
Votes: 10,972 | Gross: $0.42M
99. Out Cold (1989)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Sunny is married to Ernie and their marriage is on the rocks. One evening drunken Ernie and Dave have a fight which results in Ernie getting knocked out in the fridge where he dies during the night.
Director: Malcolm Mowbray | Stars: John Lithgow, Teri Garr, Laura Alcalde, Madison Arnold
Votes: 948 | Gross: $0.29M
100. The 'Burbs (1989)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
An overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Corey Feldman
Votes: 83,482 | Gross: $36.60M
Tom Hanks thinks there is a cannibalistic cult in their suburban neighborhood!
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