10 Seriously Dark Comedy Movies Guaranteed To Make You Squirm

These 10 seriously twisted dark comedies aren't for the faint of heart, and they are guaranteed to make you squirm. Comedy is a versatile genre, and the only thing that audiences expect is to get a few laughs. Dark comedies are unique because they often walk on the wild side, making light of the worst parts of human society and history.

Dark comedy is nothing new, but it has certainly grown in popularity in the last five decades. Topics that were once totally off-limits are now acceptable fodder for cinema's greatest humorists. Many dark comedies from the past have lost their edge over time as the barriers that they once broke are forgotten by those who are too young to remember them.

Nevertheless, some dark comedies are so seriously twisted that they will remain shocking forever. These movies touch on topics that will always be taboo, and they aren't afraid to dive headfirst into life's greatest controversies. No matter how they approach their humor, the darkest of dark comedies are vile, sick, and hilariously depraved.

Some opt for the gross-out approach, using lewd humor to get laughs. While others go after fiercely complex social and political issues. Finally, some dark comedies transform beloved elements of pop culture into perverse mirror images, often making a point in the process. Regardless, these 10 dark comedies will make even the most jaded moviegoer uncomfortable, which is exactly what the filmmakers intended.

10 Very Bad Things (1998)

Very Bad Things practically drips with '90s-ness, and the pitch-black comedy is clearly inspired by the films of Tarantino and others. After a bachelor party trip to Las Vegas goes awry, a group of friends goes on a violent murder spree to keep their secrets safe from prying eyes. Christian Slater steals the show as Boyd, the most unstable of the bunch.

Though the content isn't that edgy, all things considered, it's the cringe-inducing tension that makes the movie so deliciously depraved. Each blood-soaked scene builds upon the next, and Very Bad Things gleefully throws twist after twist at the audience. Other films on this list are darker and more shocking, but few are as brilliantly crafted as Peter Berg's directorial debut.

9 The Death Of Dick Long (2019)

A24 produces just about everything worth seeing these days, and The Death of Dick Long is a hidden gem that needs unearthing. In a small Alabama town, several people try to cover up their involvement in the death of a close friend, but their stories spiral out of control. Just when you think you've seen it all, The Death of Dick Long takes things one step further.

The big twist at the end of the movie is so absurd and disgusting that it defies explanation. The movie's humor comes from the characters' farcical attempts to cover their tracks, and how each one of them eschews responsibility for the title character's death. Dark comedies are often unconventional, but The Death of Dick Long is an unusual specimen among unusual specimens.

8 Meet The Feebles (1989)

Before he traveled to Middle-earth, Peter Jackson made some of the most subversive horror comedies of all time in the '80s and '90s. Meet the Feebles is like The Muppets on acid, and concerns a troupe of performers who go to extreme lengths to hit it big in showbusiness. All the characters are anthropomorphic animal puppets, but Meet the Feebles never acknowledges that fact.

Part of the movie's dark appeal is seeing cutesy puppet characters partaking in pure hedonism, and it's essentially a big middle finger to schmaltzy children's programming. Nothing is too taboo, so nearly every off-limits topic is splashed across the screen for all to see. Despite its smash-mouth approach, Meet the Feebles does have quite a bit of biting satire to go along with its gross-out gags.

7 Eating Raoul (1982)

Eating Raoul is one of the funniest comedies of the '80s, and also one of the decade's darkest cinematic ventures. A prudish couple begins killing and robbing the swingers in their apartment building, and strike a deal with a thieving locksmith to cleverly "dispose" of the bodies. Paul Bartel's biting social satire completely dismantles the turn toward conventionalism in the 1980s.

Like the films of John Waters, Eating Raoul has a rough-around-the-edges appeal. The ironic juxtaposition of snobbish prudes committing murder, says a lot about the hypocrisy of the so-called traditional values of the time. It has an outright icky sense of humor, though it rarely resorts to overt gore like other dark comedies. Nevertheless, Eating Raoul is a squirm-inducing ride.

6 Me And You And Everyone We Know (2005)

Unlike the other films on this list, Me and You and Everyone We Know is not a confrontational dark comedy. A divorced dad tries his hand at romance with an artist, while his young kids begin their first tentative steps into the world of sexuality. There is a frankness to Me and You and Everyone We Know that is both funny and cringy simultaneously.

Miranda July's directorial effort is sincere and heartfelt, but has flashes of dark comedy that are so funny they put more overt examples of the genre to shame. The film takes its romance so seriously, while including pitch-black swipes at incredibly dark topics. It's the most realistic movie on this list because of how effortlessly it incorporates the good and the bad of everyday life.

5 Four Lions (2010)

Politics and religion are two topics that are usually left out of most comedies, but Four Lions attacks them both. A handful of Muslim men living in the UK decide to become terrorists, but their own ineptitude causes them to fail over and over again. Smashing about six or seven hot-button topics just in its logline, the British dark comedy is absurdly funny.

Finding satire in such a dour topic isn't easy, and the strong script is elevated by a near-perfect ensemble cast. Instead of punching down, Four Lions explores the humanity in its characters, for better and worse. Because it's about such a horrific real-life topic, the audience naturally wants to crawl out of their skin, but the movie is just so funny and sincere that it draws them back in every time.

4 Welcome To The Dollhouse (1995)

There's nothing more cringe-inducing than the pre-teen years, and Welcome to the Dollhouse is a celebration of adolescent awkwardness on an outlandish scale. A bullied tween named Dawn just wants to fit in and fall in love, but she can only seem to catch the eye of a bully who shows affection through violence. The movie intentionally crushes every trope in the coming-of-age genre.

Nothing is too dark for Todd Solondz's hilarious vision, and Welcome to the Dollhouse uses some seriously twisted subjects for laughs. It's gross, unsettling, and also undeniably relatable. Everything is filtered through the mind of a desperate young girl, so even Dawn's most unusual struggles smack with a sense of realism. Because of this, it's a tough watch for those who don't miss childhood.

3 Man Bites Dog (1992)

Man Bites Dog is a classic of Belgian cinema, but the dark comedy is pretty hard to watch. A documentary crew follows an indiscriminate serial killer, but the seemingly passive camera crew slowly begins to take part in the crimes. The film's satire is as subtle as a heart attack, but it gets its point across quite effectively.

The documentary style lends an edge of gritty realism to the violence, and many of the movie's shocks are legitimately disturbing. It's also quite hilarious, especially for those with a macabre sense of humor. Man Bites Dog is about the corrupting influence of media and fame, a message that's all the more important in the social media age.

2 Dinner In America (2020)

Having been released in phases, the indie flick Dinner in America is finally catching on six years after its debut. A lonely girl hits it off with the lead singer of her favorite band, and the duo embark on a weird and romantic adventure across the crumbling heart of middle America. Kyle Gallner and Emily Skeggs are a powerhouse team in what is a total subversion of rom-com clichés.

Dinner in America features challenging characters that are difficult to know or even like, and therein lies the movie's darkest humor. Instead of offering audiences something familiar to latch onto, they are left hilariously baffled as the romantic comedy vengeance story plays out. It's an acquired taste, but that isn't unusual for the dark comedy subgenre.

1 Happiness (1998)

Like the other Todd Solondz movie on this list, Happiness embraces every taboo to present a truly shocking dark comedy experience. Three sisters all live very different lives, and everyone around them seems to be some sort of desperate loser or horrible degenerate. Politically incorrect is an understatement, and Happiness is arguably the most shocking comedy ever made.

What makes the film so compelling is how it plays every moment completely straight. It looks like a stark drama on the surface, so every absurd and disgusting twist comes out of nowhere. Dylan Baker's performance deserves special praise, but the whole cast is perfect. There's a reason the dark comedy got an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, and it still shocks all these years later.