Photo Credit (FreePiks)

Feeling like having a good laugh? You could always see a big-budget comedy that everyone has seen a million times, or you could look a little closer and discover something amusing that has been overlooked by the film industry. Unfortunately, for every well-known movie like Anchorman or Airplane—both of which are fantastic—there is another amusing comedy that never received the general recognition it merited. Continue reading to find some of the funniest comedies you’ve never watched if you want to try something a little less well-known than classics like Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day.

The 1985 film After Hours

Most people think of Martin Scorsese when they think of gritty thrillers about assassins who drive taxis, gangsters, and boxers. However, Scorsese occasionally loves to switch things up with something a little different, such as a rock documentary (The Last Waltz), a romance (The Age of Innocence), or a children’s film (Hugo). Scorsese’s strange picture After Hours, released in 1985, is among the most bizarre comedies ever produced by a mainstream studio.

After Hours, which is primarily set at night, follows Paul Hackett, a word processor (played by Griffin Dunne, the zombie from An American Werewolf in London), as he makes his way through the crazy world of Manhattan. Following a disastrous date, Hackett finds himself in a bizarre Wizard of Oz environment where he is unable to get a ride home and is surrounded by punks, criminals, and vigilantes that prowl the Big Apple at night. He meets a number of unbalanced individuals along the road, all of whom are portrayed by well-known actors like Catherine O’Hara, Terri Garr, Tommy Chong, and Cheech Marin. However, because they have all gone completely insane, these people are unable to assist Hackett in escaping the nightmare that is New York City. Rather, they attempt to shave him, entice him, or confine him within papier-mâché. There are no rules and everyone you encounter is stark and ravingly insane, so it all unfolds like a strangely humorous fever dream or some long-lost Lewis Carroll tale.

In 1987, Withnail and I

Not all comedy is about making others laugh; often, scathing remarks and witty jokes are a wonderful method to cover up a lot of pain. Withnail and I, a gloomy British comedy that smells of booze, marijuana, and desperation, is a perfect example.

This semi-autobiographical picture, which was written and directed by Bruce Robinson, follows two struggling performers, Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and the title character “I” (Paul McGann), as they down shot after shot of whisky, sherry, and even lighter fluid. The character played by McGann believes they need a rural vacation to clear their heads, but doing so requires making a bargain with Withnail’s Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths, from Harry Potter), which could backfire later.

In addition to Ralph Brown being the world’s most agitated drug dealer, Withnail and I features outstanding performances from its three main players. Along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it is also among the most quotable films ever produced in England. The Pythons’ medieval epic was surpassed by Withnail, which ranked seventh on Time Out London’s list of the 100 greatest comedies.

Withnail and I, however, is a film about battling addiction and being stuck in life with nowhere to go but down, despite Richard Griffiths’ sly charm and Richard E. Grant’s outrageous antics. When Withnail recite Shakespeare to a zoo full of wolves, it will punch you in the face with existential dread. It’s truly one of the saddest comedies ever put to film, and you’ll giggle as our protagonists argue over how to butcher a chicken.

The Brothers Bloom (2008)

The Brothers Bloom is never mentioned when discussing Rian Johnson’s films, most likely because the rest of his body of work—Brick, Looper, and The Last Jedi—overshadows this 2008 comedy. The Brothers Bloom is a fun adventure that is full of double crosses, confidence scams, and a lot of nitroglycerin, so it’s a shame.

The Brothers Bloom, which is set in a world that would have seemed very familiar to Wes Anderson, centers on two brothers who have been robbing people of their money since they were young: Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). Bloom is Stephen’s leading man, the actor who sells the story, and Stephen is the mastermind, the one who plans and executes the scam. The brothers have become the best flimflam artists alive with the help of their nearly silent, pistol-wielding helper, Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi). However, they are now trying to cash out with one more trick.

Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz), their mark, is an eccentric heiress who spends her time “collecting hobbies.” She is shy and lonely, but she’s pretty skilled at juggling chainsaws, throwing karate kicks, and playing the banjo. She falls for the stiff Bloom right away. Sadly, he’s beginning to feel the same way about her, which adds a lot of complexity to the work. Even worse, a person from the brothers’ past is pursuing them, and Bloom quickly begins to worry that Stephen might be conspiring to defraud him.

The Brothers Bloom, which is narrated by the legendary Ricky Jay, may be a little too strange for some viewers, but if you don’t mind the fantasy tone, Ruffalo, Brody, and Weisz are a lot of fun to watch. It also does a fantastic job of having you question whether you’re really being played or whether you’re in on the game, as every excellent scam film does.

(2010) Four Lions

Four Lions is a British comedy about jihad that is arguably the most contentious movie on our list. Yes, exactly. The topic of the comedy is terrorism. The most startling aspect is that it’s a scathing parody that deftly balances the lines between “disturbing” and “hilarious,” complete with ostrich costumes, sheep that blow up, and freedom warriors who are unable to fire down a drone.

The film, which was directed by Chris Morris, centers on five British Muslims who wish to overthrow the West, but their aspirations for martyrdom are thwarted by the fact that they are all dimwits. Omar (Riz Ahmed from Nightcrawler, Rogue One, and The Night Of), a family man who adores The Lion King yet aspires to topple English society, is the group’s leader. The dimwitted Waj (Kayvan Nova), mentally ill Barry (Nigel Lindsay), submissive Faisal (Adeel Akhtar), and Tupac enthusiast Hassan (Arsher Ali) have all helped him in his endeavors.

The group experiences setback after setback as they attempt to organize a suicide attack. Not even a suitable goal can be agreed upon by these guys. Desperate to prove himself, Barry, a white convert who is furious, intends to blow up a mosque in order to incite the moderate Muslims to rebel against the government. Faisal wants to develop an army of birds that can carry bombs. According to Waj, blowing up the internet would be fun. Additionally, they use internet puffin avatars to convey private messages when they’re not scheming in a run-down flat.

Naturally, the British government is also not exempt from this. A couple of snipers spend too much time arguing over the distinctions between a bear and a wookiee, while Benedict Cumberbatch appears as the worst hostage negotiator in the world. However, you should be aware that Four Lions finally takes a pretty dark turn if you’re hoping for a straight-up yukfest. Although it’s foolish to believe that you can blow your way into heaven, it doesn’t make you any less dangerous—after all, this is a film about terrorism.

MacGruber (2010)

Drawing inspiration from the Saturday Night Live routine, MacGruber discovers Will Forte saving America, sporting a mullet, and inventing strange new uses for celery sticks. This parody of action movies from the 1980s has gained a cult following over the years, despite the film’s initial negative reviews. As a fan himself, Christopher Nolan told Business Insider that he had been “howling uncontrollably” throughout some of the moments.

When the villain Dieter Von Cunth (played brilliantly by Val Kilmer) gets his filthy hands on a nuclear bomb, the film begins. The US government enlists MacGruber (Forte), a former Navy SEAL-Army Ranger-Green Beret who can (sort of) turn a tennis ball into a bomb in an effort to stop Armageddon. But for MacGruber, this operation is personal because Cunth killed his wife (Maya Rudolph). With a soundtrack consisting of corny ’80s tunes, our hero sets out to exact revenge with the aid of Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) and musician Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig).

Of course, if MacGruber wasn’t a crazy person concerned with finding some random guy who made fun of his car (KFBR392, KFBR392, KFBR392), the mission would probably go much more smoothly. However, MacGruber isn’t your typical special agent, and when he’s not being spooky in cemeteries, he’s tearing necks and making Patrick Swayze look like a slacker. To put it another way, we have a film that is, in every manner, filthy, gory, and dumb. It’s the traditional MacGruber.

Evil vs. Tucker and Dale (2010)

If there is one lesson to be learned from the horror genre, it is that a hillbilly cannot be trusted. At least on TV, these rustic bumpkins appear to be always searching for preppy kids to eat them up. The Deliverance concept is reversed in Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, which makes the college student a psychotic monster and transforms the typically evil mountain men into endearing lugs.

This Canadian-American film, which was directed by Eli Craig, centers on two good-ol’ boys named—you got it—Dale (Tyler Labine) and Tucker (Alan Tudyk). At Tucker’s new vacation house, a run-down cottage filled in filth, spiderwebs, and animal bones, these guys only want to drink beer and catch fish. However, after they save a drowning college girl (Katrina Bowden), things take a very violent turn.

The girl’s city-slicker companions, already alarmed by some terrifying campfire tales, believe the hillbillies have abducted her. They unite behind an enthusiastic jerk (Jesse Moss) and make war on the two rednecks. Regretfully, these children are quite inept. To the dismay and perplexity of the bewildered hillbillies who merely wished to enjoy a pleasant weekend in the woods, they always end up unintentionally murdering themselves in gruesomely graphic ways when they attempt to attack Tucker and Dale.

It’s interesting to note that Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a heartwarming black comedy in between all the machetes and chainsaws. Although several people are impaled, the two main characters in this little-known movie provide incredibly endearing performances. Even a brief warning on the perils of bias is included in the film. At one point, someone also ends up in a wood chipper. Big points for that, then.

Everyone wants some! (2016)

Richard Linklater is the director of Everybody Wants Some! claims to be the “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused, but Linklater finds it to be a funnier successor to Boyhood. There isn’t much of a plot in this 1980 film, which follows a bunch of collegiate baseball players in the days leading up to the start of classes. The connections between a group of jocks—competitive men who spend their days drinking beer, fighting, and bonding over ball games—instead take center stage in the movie.

Everyone wants some, just like Dazed! has a large cast of hayseeds, alpha men, weirdos, and stoners. Thankfully, our guide is the cool-headed Jake (Blake Jenner), a freshman pitcher learning how to navigate a home full of irascible ballplayers while attempting to court a theater major (Zoey Deutch). These athletes are always coming up with new methods to get wasted, get banged, and make every activity into a competition while they’re not training for the next season. But in spite of the antics, everyone wants some! doesn’t seem to be a copy of Porky’s. It takes the time to analyze the mechanics of masculinity and is far more intelligent than that. More significantly, it most likely has the best on-screen performance of a Sugarhill Gang song you’ll ever witness.

(2016) Hunt for the Wilderpeople

For a long time, one of comedy’s best-kept secrets has been Taika Waititi. In addition to two Flight of the Conchords episodes, the New Zealand native delivered us amazing gems like Boy and What We Do in the Shadows before agreeing to helm Thor: Ragnarok. With Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a tale of two outcasts escaping from ninjas, dire wolves, and child welfare, the man truly outdid himself.

A disturbed child named Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is sent to live with his new foster parents, a boisterous “Aunt” Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and a grumpy “Uncle” Hector (Sam Neill), at the beginning of the film, which is based on the novel Wild Pork and Watercress. For the first time in his life, Ricky is given a loving home by Bella, despite the fact that he is a handful who frequently spits, breaks things, and kicks things.

But when Bella unexpectedly dies, things take a terrible turn. Ricky flees into the woods to live in the bush because he fears social services will try to take him back, but Hector finds him. Sadly, a gung-ho welfare worker (Rachel House) believes Ricky has been abducted when the two vanish into the forest, and the two “wilderpeople” soon find themselves on the run with the New Zealand government pursuing them.

Rachel House is excellent as the social worker who believes she is the main character of an American police drama, and Sam Neill is at the top of his game as the irate old bushman. However, Julian Dennison is the actual standout performer in this film, completely embracing the part of the overweight, would-be gangster selected by the skuxx life. Aside from its stunning visuals, Waititi skillfully alternates between heart-stopping humor and heartbreaking melancholy. To put it briefly, this is a magnificent film.

(2016) The Nice Guys

The worst investigator in the world is Ryan Gosling’s character, Holland March. He is an alcoholic private investigator who has no difficulty defrauding customers of their hard-earned money. Russell Crowe’s character Jackson Healy isn’t any better either. Healy is a beer-bellied bruiser who will break anyone’s nose for a few dollars. You can’t judge a book by its unethical cover, though. These villains are secretly L.A.’s finest heroes, just waiting for an opportunity to save the smog-filled day.

When the two team up to look into the disappearance of Amelia Kuttner (Margaret Qualley), a girl that everyone wants dead for an unexplained reason, they finally have their chance. However, as they investigate the case, they are pulled further and more into a world populated by hired guns, auto corporations, porn stars, and killer bees. Luckily for these clumsy misfits, they have Holland’s 13-year-old daughter (Angourie Rice) on their side. She’s out there doing the real work while the investigators are busy falling down hills and dropping bodies at dinner parties.

One of the greatest buddy comedy in recent memory, The Nice Guys was written and directed by Shane Black (the man behind Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Lethal Weapon). Gosling and Crowe bounce off one another like drunken, bloody Laurel and Hardy. Gosling and Crowe create the ideal comedy duo, whether they’re engaging in gunfights, questioning witnesses, or talking about close calls with Richard Nixon. In fact, we wouldn’t mind seeing these actors work together again in the future. Guys, that would be really pleasant.