Between lean comedy horrors and satisfying continuations of animated TV shows, these incredible movies could be watched in one lunch break.
While movies are seemingly getting longer and longer, it has been revealed that Thor: Love and Thunder has the shortest runtime for an MCU movie in four years. Short runtimes tend to be cause for concern, as they often have scenes cut out for not working as well as expected.
However, other movies work much better with shorter runtimes and go by the logic that it’s better to leave audiences wanting more than to have them wanting less. Between lean comedy horrors and satisfying continuations of animated TV shows, these incredible movies could be watched in one lunch break.
Horror comedies tend to be short, as there are only so many ways killing zombies can be entertaining and funny. Along with the Evil Dead series, at 88 minutes, Zombieland is another horror comedy that leaves audiences in stitches and doesn’t outstay its welcome. Artweb1986 simply notes, “Zombieland was a very enjoyable movie under 90 mins. Great Bill Murray part too.”
The Redditor is referring to the scene in which the gang stumbles upon Bill Murray’s house, and they find the seasoned actor dressed as a zombie so he blends in. The sequence has one of the funniest lines, as Murray is asked if he has any regrets as he’s about to die, and the actor responds, “Garfield, maybe.”
While the common joke about mature animated shows is that whatever the premise of the episode is, The Simpsons did it first, South Park beat the yellow family to having a theatrically released movie. And, against all odds, it was as funny as the long-running series, felt like it had the production value of a blockbuster movie, and set an impossibly high benchmark for movie continuations of animated series to come.
Barandor thinks that South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a massive achievement, especially considering it’s just 81 minutes. The Redditor posits, “81 minutes long and still manages to make a cohesive story and fill it with 15 songs I can still sing today.”
What We Do in the Shadows largely went under the radar when it was first released. But after writer-director-actor Taiki Waititi’s brand grew exponentially thanks to the success of Thor: Ragnarok, the 2014 movie got the acclaim and popularity it deserved, even if it was a little delayed.
Brookefinancial sings the film’s praises, noting, “The mockumentary about vampires made by Taika Waititi, this is one of the funniest.” While so many mockumentaries have come and gone, the 2014 86-minute comedy is one of the most unique, as it follows a group of vampires who live together and carry out day-to-day chores and bicker about housework. The film became such a hit that a spin-off TV series is now four seasons in, and it’s arguably better than the movie.
Cloverfield took everyone by surprise when it was first released, and that’s mostly thanks to a creative and original marketing campaign, which largely kept the movie’s alien invasion premise a secret. Word of mouth did wonders for the film, and it left a lasting impression on viewers. Chaosmasterr puts it best, explaining, “I’ve seen this so many times because of how short it is. I think it’s actually an hour and 11 mins without credits. Just one fun rollercoaster ride of a movie. Short but sweet.”
Two standalone sequels have expanded the Cloverfield world, but 2018’s The Cloverfield Paradox is the opposite of the original movie in just about every way. The sci-fi horror is an hour and 42 minutes, and while that isn’t exactly long, it feels much longer due to its convoluted premise, and the last adjective viewers would use to describe the film is “fun.”
Army of Darkness is the third movie in the Evil Dead trilogy, but unlike its two present-day woods-based predecessors, the 1992 film is set in medieval times. NeoNoirWerewolf notes, “Army of Darkness is barely 80 minutes, less without credits, and it is glorious.”
Every film in the Evil Dead series is less than 90 minutes, and while there’s only so much that can be done with a cabin-in-the-woods horror movie, Army of Darkness could have been a sprawling historical horror epic. Instead, director Sam Raimi unapologetically leaves the audience wanting much, much more. The filmmaker is the master of making lean, exciting movies, as not only are the Evil Dead movies short, but his recent directorial effort, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, is the shortest MCU movie in years.
Not only is Phone Booth such a short movie, but it takes place in just one location too. Stu Shepard is terrorized in a phone booth, and he is told that if he hangs up he’ll be shot dead. But NeoNoirWerewolf makes the observation that “It works so well because of the real-time unfolding; makes it seem longer than it is.”
Phone Booth clocks in at just 81 minutes, and it’s a perfect film that doesn’t need to be a minute longer. The suspense and mystery unfold perfectly, it has the best pacing, and it’s one of the best movies set in a single location.
Many would probably turn their noses up at Batman: Mask of the Phantasm without even giving it a second glance, as it’s a continuation of the Sunday morning cartoon Batman: The Animated Series. However, it had a theatrical release, is considered the best Batman movie by many fans (particularly 90s kids who grew up watching the influential cartoon,) and was even inspired by Citizen Kane.
Metfan722 thinks Mask of the Phantasm is one of the best movies under 90 minutes too. The 1993 movie has a runtime of 76 minutes, and in that time it manages to tell an original origin story of Batman, and it introduces one of the best Batman villains who hasn’t been utilized in a live-action movie yet. Not to mention that it has the most explosive (quite literally) ending of any Batman movie.
The 1986 release is a coming-of-age movie unlike any other, as four teenagers travel out of town in search of a dead body that’s rumored to have been ditched in the woods. Unodostrays explains that though it’s only 89 minutes, it feels a lot longer, noting, “Seems like growing up, Stand By Me was always on TBS/TNT, and I too assumed it was at least a 2hr movie.”
Given how much is stuffed into the movie, whether it’s the kid’s bickering or vignettes like the one of David “Lard-Ass” Hogan, it’s hard to believe that the classic is so short. However, it was always interspersed with commercials when viewers watched it going up.
In the midst of the found-footage trend that quickly grew tiresome, as it was forced into every movie, one stood out from the rest for its originality and flipping a genre on its head. Chronicle is a found-footage superhero movie that follows a group of teenagers who get superpowers.
The found footage concept is perfectly fitting for the narrative, as it follows the teenagers being exactly that, as they use their powers to pull pranks on each other and aimlessly fly around. The movie is only 89 minutes long, and Betzold calls it, “One of my favorites.” But though it’s short and leaves audiences wanting more, fans could be getting exactly what they want, as Chronicle 2 is currently in development with a female lead.
Run Lola Run is the only foreign movie shorter than 90 minutes mentioned by Redditors, but it managed to find a large overseas audience when it was released in 1998 and managed to become a cult classic. As ScreamingChicken notes, the action thriller is just 81 minutes, but the runtime doesn’t keep it from being wildly imaginative.
The film runs at a break-neck pace, as Lola must collect 100,000 Deutschmarks in just 20 minutes to keep her boyfriend from being murdered by a mob boss. The sequence repeats three times with minor changes drastically affecting the way events play out, and it beats The Butterfly Effect at its own game.
Currently residing in Madrid, Stephen Barker has been a staff writer at Screen Rant since 2020. Since graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University with a bachelor’s degree in Film, Television, and Cultural Studies in 2014, he has written for numerous movie and music websites. Stephen has been obsessed with movies since he first watched Jurassic Park on VHS, and with a deep interest in screenwriting, he loves 70s character-driven movies. But he’s just as much of a defender of Batman & Robin, The Fast and the Furious, and Small Soldiers. Visit Stephen‚Äôs personal blog, Quaranste, where he writes about guilty pleasure movies, his latest musical discoveries, and how he stays creative during global pandemics, or contact him directly: [email protected]
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