Film

Cornered!

Name: Cornered!
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Released: 2009
Cast: Steve Guttenberg, James Duval, Peter Story, Elizabeth Nicole Abrams, Eduardo Antonio Garcia

Horror

A comedy-horror mashup where a group of small-time criminals trapped in a convenience store during a poker game face off against a masked killer. It's silly and darkly funny rather than genuinely scary, with a scrappy charm and Steve Guttenberg playing against type. Perfect for late-night viewing with friends who like their horror movies to wink back.

TMDb rating

2.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy horror-comedy built on cramped, talky banter between losers, where the jokes and the jolts keep trading places through one long night.

Skip it if you want a slick, original scare machine; this is a single-location affair where jokes and gore can feel unevenly matched and pacing sags between set pieces.

What it asks of you: It asks for roughly ninety minutes of lightly tense, mostly indoor attention, with room for lulls and the occasional dropped beat before the next flare-up.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Tremors1990

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But The pacing is deliberate, and if you're after pure scares rather than laughs, it'll feel too knowingly playful for its own good.

The Cabin in the Woods2012

Deconstructs horror tropes with wicked humour while delivering real tension and inventive kills. Like Cornered!, it knows exactly what kind of film it is and uses that self-awareness as the actual entertainment.

But The meta-commentary can feel exhausting if you just want a straightforward scare, and the third act goes baroque in ways that don't land for everyone.

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil2010

Flips the hillbilly-killers horror cliché on its head with genuine affection for its bumbling heroes. Same DNA as Cornered!: blue-collar guys, case of mistaken identity, horror-comedy that trusts the audience to find regular people funny.

But The premise is clever but the execution leans too hard on slapstick gore, and the sentiment can feel saccharine underneath all the blood.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Cornered!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Bad Boys II2003

Both centre on the chemistry between criminals/outcasts forced into crisis, where the relationship matters more than plot efficiency, and both trust their audience to enjoy people being funny under pressure.

Michael Bay's buddy-cop sequel is a three-hour action comedy explosion. It shares Cornered!'s DNA: scrappy guys under pressure, character dynamics doing the heavy lifting, and a refusal to take itself seriously while still delivering genuine entertainment and craft spectacle.

But It's aggressively loud, hyperactive, and the comedy hasn't aged gracefully in places. Also it's exhausting—the energy never drops, which some people find thrilling and others find punishing.

Chopping Mall1986

Teenagers hunted by killer robots in a shopping mall. Perfectly captures that b-movie spirit where budget limitations become assets—practical effects, practical locations, and a screenplay that's having too much fun to be pretentious.

But The acting ranges from charming to genuinely stiff, and the pacing drags between action beats. Also deeply eighties in ways that might feel more dated than retro.

Slither2006

A small town plagued by shape-shifting aliens that consume and repurpose human bodies. Director James Gunn balances genuine body-horror dread with laugh-out-loud comedy, never winking so hard it ruins the monster design.

But The gore is substantial and played straight enough that squeamish viewers might find it genuinely unsettling rather than fun, which breaks the tone.

Phantasm1979

A surreal nightmare about teenage friends battling an interdimensional mortician and his flying sphere of blades. Genuinely weird, low-budget ingenuity on full display, and it earned its cult status by refusing to explain itself.

But The logic is deliberately dreamlike and fractured. If you need plot coherence, you'll spend the runtime frustrated rather than delighted.

Assault on Precinct 131976

John Carpenter's siege film: criminals and cops trapped together against overwhelming odds. Teaches the masterclass in escalating tension and finding character beats in desperation. Minimal budget, maximum craft.

But It's slow to start and the synthesizer score is dated in a way that can read as unintentionally funny. Also violence feels casual in ways modern audiences might find jarring.

Braindead1992

Peter Jackson's zombie splatter-comedy where restraint is a foreign concept. The practical effects are astounding, the gore is absurdist art, and it commits so completely to its own insanity that you can't help but admire the audacity.

But The gore is genuinely extreme and the humour is often scatological. Watching it requires a specific mood and a strong stomach. It's punk rock when you might want folk.

Night of the Comet1984

Post-apocalyptic LA where a comet wipes out most of humanity, leaving two Valley Girls to navigate the chaos. Scrappy, weird, charming sci-fi that subverts expectations about who survives and why—pure b-movie spirit with heart.

But The budget shows in every frame and some of the dialogue lands awkwardly. Also the pacing meanders, and it's less interested in plot momentum than vibe.

After Hours1985

Both use confinement and mounting pressure as comedy fuel rather than pure horror, and both believe their characters' panic is funnier than any jump scare could be.

Martin Scorsese's midnight comedy of errors: a white-collar guy's night in downtown Manhattan spirals into surreal nightmare logic. Same premise as Cornered!—ordinary people trapped and hunted—but treated as existential absurdist farce with genuine style and darker wit.

But The pacing is deliberately manic and disorienting. It's airless and claustrophobic in ways that can feel deliberately unpleasant rather than fun. Also it's very 1985 New York, which might feel alienating.

Eating Raoul1982

Both are low-budget comedies where ordinary people doing extraordinary things under pressure is the entire point, and both trust their audience to find character awkwardness more entertaining than conventional narrative.

A prudish married couple accidentally kill a swinger in their home and begin murdering the city's libertines to fund their dream house. Deadpan horror-comedy where the satire lands harder than the scares. Genuinely inventive, genuinely weird, and genuinely funny.

But The sexual content is explicit and the satire might feel heavy-handed or dated. It's also very slow-burn and the humour is subtle enough that you'll spend stretches wondering if anything is happening.