Film

Repossessed

Name: Repossessed
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Released: 1990
Cast: Linda Blair, Ned Beatty, Leslie Nielsen, Anthony Starke, Thom Sharp

A 1990 comedy horror film that gleefully shreds The Exorcist by having the devil return to repossess a now-adult Nancy Aglet. Leslie Nielsen plays an exorcist with deadpan authority while the film escalates into absurdist chaos, TV evangelism satire, and pure slapstick. It's deliberately stupid in the best way—giddy, fast, never mean-spirited. For people who love parody that commits fully to the bit.

TMDb rating

2.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy horror that deliberately winks at itself, where a parody of The Exorcist plays its scares for laughs and Leslie Nielsen's deadpan carries the joke.

Skip it if you want the dread of the original film; this one leans so hard into slapstick and camp that any tension it builds gets undercut almost immediately.

What it asks of you: It runs a brisk 84 minutes and asks only that you go along with its broad, cheerful silliness, switching between gags and gross-out bits without much pause.

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

If you liked this

Ghostbusters II1989

Another horror-comedy sequel that knows it's ridiculous. Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd lean into the absurdity with genuine affection for the material, same energy as Repossessed's commitment to the bit.

But The original is much stronger, and this one feels like a victory lap rather than necessary. Some gags land softer than they should.

Evil Dead II1987

Bruce Campbell fighting deadites with slapstick gore and one-liners. Sam Raimi proves horror-comedy works best when you push past logic into pure mayhem—same DNA as Repossessed.

But Genuinely gruesome in places, and the tone whiplashes between funny and disturbing. Not everyone wants their comedy visceral.

The Return of the Living Dead1985

A zombie comedy that's equally committed to horror logic and punk-rock irreverence. Treats the undead apocalypse like a B-movie party, never winking at the audience.

But Low budget shows everywhere. The humor is anarchic and doesn't always connect, and some find it more obnoxious than fun.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Eating Raoul1982

Both films mine comedy from the collision between polite society and genuine depravity. Nancy Aglet and the Blands are ordinary people saying ordinary things while surrounded by grotesque chaos. The humor comes from treating madness as domestic routine.

A suburban couple discovers they enjoy murdering swingers and selling their bodies to cannibals. Deadpan horror-comedy that plays every insane escalation completely straight, building to horrifying logical conclusions.

But Graphic gore combined with comedy creates genuine cognitive dissonance. It's harder to watch than Repossessed, and some find the satire overstated or the humor buried under darkness.

Gremlins1984

Dark Christmas comedy with real horror moments and genuine laughs. Joe Dante balances cute creatures and genuine carnage while mocking consumer culture and small-town America.

But The tone can feel uneven—shifts from family film to genuinely nasty without warning. Some find the cute stuff saccharine.

An American Werewolf in London1981

The gold standard of horror-comedy. Gruesome practical effects, real scares, and a protagonist's descent into trapped nightmare—all punctuated by absurdist humor and dark wit.

But The funny bits are sandwiched between genuinely disturbing body horror. If you came for laughs, the gore might derail you.

Beetlejuice1988

Tim Burton's cartoon logic applied to a haunted house comedy. Michael Keaton as a grotesque ghost is anarchic joy, and the film never stops moving or surprising you.

But The pacing is relentless and some find it exhausting rather than charming. It's very of its era visually.

Fright Night1985

A vampire comedy that respects both genres. Tom Holland (the actor, not Spider-Man) plays a movie-obsessed teenager fighting a real vampire next door. Genuine scares wrapped in humor.

But Tries to be too many things at once. The tonal shifts work sometimes and feel clumsy other times.

House II: The Second Story1987

Embraces supernatural chaos instead of logic. Dinosaurs, magic, cowboys, and possession all coexist in a house that defies rules. Pure delight if you're on its wavelength.

But Aggressively silly and completely plotless. The randomness reads as lazy if you need coherence in your stories.

Audition2000

Both films weaponize tonal whiplash, but inversely. Repossessed keeps horror-comedy light; Audition uses the comedy as a trap before yanking you into nightmare. Same structural idea, opposite emotional destination.

Takashi Miike's film starts as a romantic comedy about a widower holding auditions for love, then meticulously unswitches into graphic torture horror. The tonal shift is the entire point and it's masterful.

But The second half contains extended, unflinching violence against a person. It's designed to be unwatchable once the tone breaks. Not fun, not cathartic—genuinely distressing.

House1977

Both are exorcism/possession films told as comedy, but Hausu abandons linear narrative entirely. Where Repossessed uses slapstick, Hausu uses surrealism. Same genre DNA, completely different language.

Nobuhiko Obayashi's Japanese haunted house film is pure surrealist cinema—fractured logic, silent comedy, real terror, and impossible visuals that read like someone's anxiety dream in color. Completely unlike anything else.

But The narrative makes no sense by Western logic. It's paced like a music video and edited like someone's consciousness. You're not watching a story, you're inside someone's psychology.