Humor doesn't always have to be clever to get a laugh from audiences. Awkward situations and grotesque banter can provide enough shock value to tickle anyone's funny bone. But unfortunately, some comedy movies that rely on this formula don't stand the test of time.
Jokes that depend on cringe humor usually end up being more uncomfortable than humorous upon a revisit. In the worst-case scenarios, humor that was once considered funny can now be seen as in poor taste due to changing societal norms. While these movies may have originally thrived on making their audiences squirm, some are just a little too cringe-worthy to be fully enjoyable.
The following article references sexual harassment.
10 Vampires Suck Doesn't Hold Up, Even As A Parody
Despite being a parody, many viewers consider Vampires Suck to be just as painful as the Twilight films it's mocking. With obvious jokes, such as turning Jacob into a Chihuahua instead of a werewolf, it's difficult to find any creativity in this satire.
Audiences who already despise Twilight won't find much clever commentary, as the film is essentially a carbon copy of the original storyline. While tearing apart Stephanie Meyer's vampire romance might have been trendy in 2010, this film's cheap humor doesn't carry well into the modern day. This idea may work well in a five-minute skit, but its humor is too corny to succeed as a full-length film.
9 Just Go With It Showcases One Lie After Another
While lying to raise the stakes isn't new in comedies, Just Go With It spirals with one uncomfortable lie after another to an excessive degree. The trope of the main character concealing a huge secret has been done before, but Daniel's consistent lies to Palmer about being recently divorced are almost too discomforting to stomach.
Daniel's lie grows uncontrollably until he and his fake family embark on a tropical vacation with his new girlfriend. The trip is soaked in cringe-worthy slapstick, including Eddie giving CPR to a sheep. While Daniel may not be destined to end up with Palmer, the fact that their entire relationship is built on deception leaves a sour taste in audiences' mouths.
8 Fred: The Movie Is Almost Instantly Dated
It's no surprise that a film based on an internet meme would become horribly dated, and Fred: The Movie is proof of that. While Fred may have made viewers laugh on YouTube more than a decade ago, seeing him in his own movie puts into perspective how cringe-worthy certain internet humor was in the late 2000s.
Known for his childlike behavior and shockingly high voice, Fred comes across as far more irritating than endearing. Without the format of quick videos, audiences are trapped with his grating voice for well over an hour.
7 The Garfield Movie Turns An Iconic Character Into An Unfunny Furball
Garfield may be an iconic character who's stretched across generations, but the Garfield movie takes a beloved kitty and makes him nearly impossible to watch. The dated CGI effects, odd dance moves, and jokes that break the fourth wall are no longer entertaining and are instead unbearable.
While Bill Murray's voice acting may be able to still rouse a laugh here or there, his comedic delivery can't distract from painfully blatant product placement. At one point, Garfield belches, looks directly at the camera and utters the phrase, "Got Milk?" These references not only take viewers out of the story, but they date a typically timeless character.
6 Superbad's Cringe-Worthy Teenage Boy Humor Doesn't Work Past High School
Superbad will always be known for its hilarious shenanigans and its famous McLovin' alter ego, all in the name of drinking alcohol and getting girls. While some of these awkward jokes will live on as the epitome of comedy, other scenes are brutal reminders the movie hasn't grown up with its audience.
The discomforting high school boy humor becomes glaringly apparent when Seth dances with a woman at a party, only to have her menstrual blood stain his leg. The scene plays for laughs as Seth reacts to something portrayed as grotesque. While period blood humor might be funny to some adolescents, for adults, it's uncomfortable proof that what they found humorous as teens now comes across as downright painful.
5 Dumb And Dumber Is Too Stupid To Last As A Classic
Resorting to stupid humor is a running gag in comedy, from fart jokes, to screeching, to everything in between. Dumb And Dumber not only embodies these agonizing tropes, but it relies on them in nearly every scene.
It's no surprise that a film as on the nose with its title as Dumb And Dumber makes audiences eventually realize this flick is pretty dumb. Lloyd's fart scene with fire may have been explosively funny back in the day, but nowadays, there needs to be a little more effort to rouse genuine laughter. And as for Lloyd's most annoying sound in the world, his caterwauling is far less delightfully unpleasant and more agonizingly irritating.
4 American Pie's Poor Message Clouds Its Outrageous Humor
Sexually maturing can be awkward for any teen, but American Pie's particular brand of carnal situations has become intolerable to stomach. The movie's ridiculous erotic antics, such as Jim having sex with a warm apple pie, are almost too mortifying to watch, let alone laugh at.
Moreover, the film's excessive sexualization of women is less humorous and more disturbing, even when it's from the perspective of ignorant teenage characters. While high school boys messing around is one thing, it's another matter to film a woman changing without her knowing it, as the main characters do with Nadia. This blatant invasion of privacy might have garnered a few laughs upon its 1999's release, but these days, it's too disconcerting to sit well with most viewers.
3 Horrible Bosses Uses Workplace Sexual Harassment As A Running Joke
In Horrible Bosses, one storyline, in particular, doesn't stand the test of time. While the film thrives on uncomfortable interactions with the characters' superiors, Julia, Dale's boss, constantly sexually harasses him at work. And these scenes are constantly played for laughs.
While Dale is upset by her advances, Nick and Kurt downplay his complaints, even implying that they wish Julia harassed them. She even goes as far as to blackmail Dale into having sex with her. This running joke may have garnered some chuckles upon its release, but modern audiences may find the interactions too unsettling and in poor taste.
2 Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues Doesn't Capture The Movie Magic Of Its Predecessor
Anchorman may have thrived on its cringe-worthy jokes, cementing itself as a comedic classic, but its sequel tries a little too hard to recapture its charm with lackluster results. In Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Ron Burgundy and the gang return for more shenanigans. But this time, the awkward jokes feel forced, making its tone more discomforting than legendary.
This brand of humor becomes most prevalent when Ron Burgundy encounters his new manager, Linda Jackson. Although Burgundy is incredibly attracted to her, the film relies on a running joke where he keeps telling her to her face that she is Black. While the gag is meant to be at the expense of a flustered Burgundy, it certainly doesn't come across that way, and it makes the audience as uncomfortable as Jackson.
1 Grown-Ups Never Matures With Its Audience
It's a given that a parenting comedy will be teeming with absurd, over-the-top humor and embarrassing dad jokes, but Grown-Ups is more juvenile than it's worth. The film is riddled with eye-rolling slapstick and potty humor meant for a demographic far younger than its PG-13 rating.
Viewers are forced to watch Lenny and his friends urinate inside a pool at Water Wizz as their children flee in distress. Not to mention the group's blatant objectification of their friend Rob's daughters, with Marcus even going as far as buying two of them skimpy bikinis. Despite its best efforts to throw in a message about family, any moral is clouded by its nonstop uncomfortable events and cheap gimmicks.