XBox's "Horror Meets Comedy"

Games
Music
Movies
- Reviews
- Articles
- TV
- Trailers
- Calendar
Downloads
About
- Site Blog
- Staff
- Jobs
- Archive
Forums
Videos

XBox's "Horror Meets Comedy"—More Please!

Written by Arya Ponto

Tuesday, 04 November 2008

XBox is releasing a series of short films they've dubbed Horror Meets Comedy, available to stream or download on XBox LIVE. The idea is similar to Showtime's Masters of Horror series, except the horror directors are told to direct comedies. A cute idea, but best of all, it's free. I love free short films, and while this might not be as cool as the BMW series from a few years ago (the directors involved are certainly not as impressive, but that's just because this list doesn't have Wong Kar-wai, ahem), these should be a treat to watch in the upcoming weeks.

A new film will be released every Wednesday on XBox LIVE Marketplace starting November 19. Here's the line-up of the films that were announced back in July:

James Wan and Leigh Whannell (Saw)
Doggie Heaven (November 19): The creative team behind the smash hit Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, tell the story of a young man who is having a dog of a day. He's just been shot dead, but his real problems are only just beginning due to a clerical error that has sent him to the wrong heaven.

Lucky McKee (May)
Blue Like You (November 25): From director Lucky McKee, Blue Like You follows the antics of old friends Patrick and Cyndy as they get to know their mysterious and extraordinary new friend Blue, a beautiful young woman who doesn't seem to understand how the simplest of things work.

Andrew Douglas (The Amityville Horror)
The Miracle of Phil (December 2): From director Andrew Douglas, The Miracle of Phil shows that the best relationships are full of screaming, shouting and cursing, but when Phil gets knocked up, his girlfriend is the one who feels screwed.

David Slade (30 Days of Night)
MEAT DOG (December 9): Director David Slade presents MEAT DOG, an animated mutt made up of cold cuts. Our hero is pitted against a church of evil occult pigs while being pursued by a carnivorous rabbit and a slobbering hound. It's Dogicide when everyone wants MEAT DOG on their menu.

Originally, Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) was also announced to do a reality show satire called Adrenaline Slam and James Gunn (Slither) was going to do a sitcom called Humanzee, but both projects have been canceled. Instead, Gunn is doing something else and they've brought on two new horror directors. The three new projects are:

Peter Cornwell (The Haunting in Connecticut)
Post Apocalyptic Pizza (December 16): From Director Peter Cornwell, after a nuclear disaster even the most basic pizza ingredients command extravagant prices, no job is more dangerous than the pizza deliveryman.

Adam Green (Hatchet)
Fairy Tale Police (December 23): From Director Adam Green, a COPS-inspired reality show where two human police officers keep order in a land full of storybook villains, magical monsters, and other cartoonish Characters.

James Gunn (Slither)
Sparky and Mikaela (December 30): From Director/Writer James Gunn comes this Calvin & Hobbes style take of a a high school girl who fights crime in both the human and forest world with her best friend, a puppet raccoon.

Keep your eyes on your XBox for these shorts. If they actually do well, maybe we'll get those Masters of Horror big names to do them also, maybe even some Asian directors. I'm sure Takashi Miike is always available.