Top 7 Best Buddies in Horror
Scott Hallam
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Jackie Gleason and Art Carney, Chris Farley and David Spade, Tom Hanks and that other guy on “Bosom Buddies” who didn’t go on to massive fame and fortune. Buddies have always had a place in comedy. In The Battery we see it works in horror, too.
The Battery follows a pair of minor league baseball players, Ben and Mickey (a pitcher and catcher, thus the title), who are surviving during a zombie apocalypse. Written and directed by Jeremy Gardner, who co-stars with Adam Cronheim, the pair do their best to survive in a broken world full of dangers, not all of which are the undead kind.
With the Blu-ray release of The Battery on September 16, we decided to look back on some of the best buddy combos in horror. Some were funny, some were brutal, some were both. But all of them relied on each other in one way or another. First we’ll start with some honorable mentions.
David (Andy Serkis) and Peter (Reece Shearsmith) were a hilarious duo in The Cottage, and Joe Lynch (Shawn Ashmore) and Dan Walker (Kevin Zegers) are an entertaining pair as they hang perilously high above the ground in a ski lift in Frozen. Although the party didn’t last too long, Ash (Bruce Campbell) and Scott (Hal Delrich) headed off into a cabin in the woods with the girls in Evil Dead as Dr. Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) and Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne) got chummy over some Budweisers in Pet Sematary. Chainsaw Sally (April Burril) and Miss Busy Bee (Nicolette le Faye) were perhaps more master/pet than true buddies in The Chainsaw Sally Show, but Farmer Vincent (Rory Calhoun) and his sister Ida (Nancy Parsons) were a great team in Motel Hell.
And now, on to the Top 7 Best Buddies in Horror!
Tucker and Dale in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk were absolutely hilarious in this stellar horror/comedy that took the genre world by storm a few years ago. Plagued by one misunderstanding after another, hillbilly nice guys Tucker and Dale find themselves falling deeper and deeper into a murderous tale in the woods, in which they are unknowingly the antagonists while just trying to be helpful. With a sequel churning in the works for some time, Tucker and Dale promise to return with even more horrific comedic gold. Funny, bloody and just downright magnetic, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil was a perfect blend of buddy comedy and horror.
Columbus and Tallahassee in Zombieland
Another fantastic horror-comedy team, Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg kick ass as Tallahassee and Columbus in Zombieland. Of course, the duo would later meet up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), making them a full foursome, but before this happens, the unlikely pairing of grizzled Tallahassee with vulnerable Columbus makes for great viewing. With highlights like the rules of surviving a zombie apocalypse (Rule #1-Cardio!), the hilarious supermarket zombie fight complete with Tallahassee’s rendition of “Dueling Banjos,” and the unfortunate hunt for Twinkees, Tallahassee and Columbus were a fantastically entertaining duo. And we can’t mention Zombieland without including the awesome Bill Murray cameo. Who’s a better buddy than Murray?
Seth and Richie Gecko in From Dusk Till Dawn
Yep, they’re related, but brothers can be buddies, too. However, this wasn’t the fun time pairing that we saw in our first two entries. Seth and Richie don’t have time to be frivolous. Seth and Richie are on the run to Mexico, and when they finally get there, they find something much more dangerous than the Border guards could ever hope to be. More a dramatic pairing than a comedy duo, Seth finds himself as Richie’s keeper. The new “From Dusk Till Dawn” television series expands just what exactly is going on with the Gecko Brothers, but if we just stick with the movie, we see Richie wanting nothing more than to be able to gain his brother’s approval, but always doing something insanely psychotic that derails their plans. You do have to love Richie though. He makes for some interesting viewing!
