Horror and comedy come together on ‘Stan Against Evil.’
What’s the difference between a horror series and a comedy horror series? Sometimes, it’s hard to tell.
Both subgenres depend on gotcha moments designed to elicit screams of either laughter or terror from the audience.
“Stan Against Evil,” which premieres on IFC with backto-back episodes Wednesday, sprang from the mind of comic Dana Gould (“The Simpsons”) and focuses on a flesh-and-blood Homer-esque doofus named Stan Miller ( John C. McGinley, “Scrubs”) who has just been canned as the sheriff of Willard’s Mill, a small New England town. His replacement is Evie Barret ( Janet Varney, “You’re the Worst”).
The town is rather unremarkable, except for the fact that in Colonial times, it burned 172 people as witches, far exceeding Salem’s measly 20 human barbecues. Now the spirits of the unfairly burned are back in town, and they’re out for revenge.
The performances, by McGinley and Varney, are properly overwrought, but Deborah Baker Jr. all but steals the show as Stan’s dim-bulb daughter Denise.
It’s silly fun without breaking any new ground, although the show’s title is unfortunate because it unnecessarily evokes the funnier, bloodier “Ash vs. Evil Dead” on Starz. Sure, there are so few comedy horror films on TV these days that it was probably inevitable for “Stan” to be compared with “Ash.” But it seems silly to go out of your way to invite comparison, unless yours is the better show. “Stan” isn’t, but it’s funny enough.