There’s surely more room for genre comedies like Ghostbusters, but the gaps in between releases in that genre can almost be measured in decades, and it has to be said that many of them aren’t particularly good: for every Spaceballs there’s a The Creature Wasn’t Nice (obscure reference − look it up), and for every Princess Bride there’s a Your Highness. Luckily, we sometimes get a few good ones in a row, such as Zombieland, Shaun Of The Dead, and Tucker And Dale Vs Evil. Suburban Gothic delivers a great mix of supernatural horror and comedy, and if you like Bates’ brand of storytelling, with its frank dialogues and memorable lines, you’ll definitely enjoy Suburban Gothic. The style is a mash-up of teen comedy, horror, supernatural and Saturday-morning cartoons. Watching Matthew Gray Gubler working with Kate Dennings and Ray Wise here, and you can’t help but think of this movie as Constantine meets Supernatural meets Scooby-Doo. Bates balances all those elements, and although it could feel like a hodgepodge of loosely related influences, he actually manages to make it work. The premise is nothing new: a college-graduate, Raymond (Gubler) who can’t find a job moves, back in with his parents after being evicted from his apartment, and faces a supernatural threat with the help of Goth barmaid, Becca (Dennings). In interviews, both Wise and Bates mentioned the importance of improvisation during shooting, and you can’t help but wonder which lines were spontaneous creations of the cast, and how many scenes ended up on the editing room’s floor. A deleted scene or blooper reel might end up being even more entertaining than the actual movie, once the movie makes it to DVD. Gubler is convincing in his role, sporting an Edward Scissorhands-like hairdo and a look akin to a dejected Jim Carey – he looks suitably awkward for a grown child coming back home to live with his parents. The movie gets a little slow about halfway through, and you don’t really know where it will go from there. Luckily, the easy humour carries it through to the next plot twist. It would be easy to compare this movie to more mainstream horror comedies, but Suburban Gothic really stands on its own. We’ve had a full serving of gore with Excision, and a potent dose of supernatural comedy with Suburban Gothic. We’re curious to see what the filmmaker comes up with next. Suburban Gothic’s UK release date has yet to be announced. We’ll be sure to pass one along when it becomes available. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.