Horror spoofs are pretty hard to do. Like horror movies themselves, they seem easy, but there are a lot of pitfalls that can derail even the best comedians. So the fact that Hell Baby, a movie written and directed by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, actually has a funny trailer is already putting them ahead of the game.
Basically, it’s a fairly standard horror movie, with the delusion of the main characters ramped up to ridiculous degrees.
Lennon, recently seen playing Bruce Wayne’s doctor in The Dark Knight Rises, and Garant are respected screenwriters and script doctors (they’ve also written a hilarious, informative book on screenwriting), and they also happen to be the creative force behind Reno 911! and key members of the comedy troupe The State. Also, this really has an unimpeachable cast: in addition to Lennon and Garant, there’s Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Michael Ian Black, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhomme (of Garfunkel and Oates fame; yes, the duo who just released a music video about taking it up the butt for Jesus), Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer. Also, it was shot in the house our very own Cajun Boy lives in, and it’s nice to see they cleaned it up a bit for the shoot (we kid, we kid).
Also, we’ll be pretty surprised if the trailer isn’t downplaying the gore at least a little bit — these guys aren’t shy about going for the splat if it’s funny. We’ll find out this fall; that’s when Hell Baby is headed for theatrical release, but it will be available on-demand July 25th.