In its almost half-century of existence, Saturday Night Live has parodied everything. Most notable has been their hazing of politicians and current events. They have also succeeded in making fun of commercials and superhero and rom-com films. What the show doesn’t get as much credit for is how it can take scary films and dissect them, finding the hilarious amidst the horror. It’s a part of their long history that should be more recognized. After all, they’ve been doing it to great success since the beginning. Here are 10 times when SNL created spoofs that brilliantly parodied the horror genre.

RELATED: Where Did All the 'SNL' Movies Go?!

"Landshark" (Season 1)

In 1975, Jaws became the first of what we now think of as the summer blockbuster. That same year also saw the debut of SNL. The freshman show let everyone know how clever and hip they were with this parody. The skit cuts back and forth, first with goofy murder scenes, where someone like Gilda Radner is at home and hears a knock at the door, followed by the mild voice of Chevy Chase saying that he’s the plumber, all the while with the thrilling score of the approaching Great White playing in the background. When the victim opens their door, Landshark, a goofy-looking giant puppet attacks. Following this, we get a spoof on the characters of Brody (Dan Aykroyd) and Hooper (John Belushi with an excellent Richard Dreyfuss impersonation). The skit ends with Candice Bergen whacking a poor Jehovah’s Witness member (Garrett Morris) on the head after expecting Land Shark when she opens the door.

"The Exorcist 2" (Season 1)

Almost as popular as Jaws in the mid-1970s was 1973’s The Exorcist. Here, Richard Pryor as a priest shows up at a home, where a mother (Jane Curtin) answers the doors as Tubular Bells plays from the film’s soundtrack. Pryor runs through every emotion with ease. At first, he’s scared. When asked where his faith is, he replies, “It’s in the car, I’m gonna go get it.” When he goes upstairs and meets the possessed girl (Laraine Newman), he and another priest (Thalmus Rasulala) begin chanting for her hovering bed to drop to the floor in the cadence of “The power of Christ compels you.” The bed drops right on Pryor, who chants over and over, “The bed is on my foot,” causing the studio audience to erupt with laughter. The segment ends with the demon girl taking it too far by verbally attacking the priest’s mother, who then begins to choke her. This sketch is another reminder that Richard Pryor was one of comedy’s greats.

"Wes Anderson Horror Trailer" (Season 39)

In the late 90s and into the 2000s, Wes Anderson was a groundbreaking filmmaker thanks to his quirky style of storytelling with films like Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Twenty years later, the criticism among some was that Anderson had become a parody of himself, with each film repeating the exact same offbeat techniques. This skit explored that by giving us a trailer for a made-up horror film from Anderson with the perfect title of “The Midnight Coterie of Sinister Intruders.” Instead of creepy trailer music, we get a Paul Simon song, with guest host Edward Norton playing Owen Wilson, Noel Wells as Gwenyth Paltrow, and Kate McKinnon as Tilda Swinton. The plot is a home invasion story akin to The Strangers, but with the masked villains carrying around an old record player and falcons, while sending handwritten letters that ask, “Dear Homeowners: Can we kill you? - The Murderers.” The color palette, camera shots, and mannerisms are spot on, making for a skit that actually might be an interesting movie.

"Walking Dead Chappelle’s Show" (Season 42)

In the 2010s, before it overstayed its welcome, The Walking Dead was the big water cooler show, especially when it came to the Season 7 premiere and who would die at the hands of the dastardly Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). When Dave Chappelle guest hosted the Season 42 premiere, he took on the role of Negan in the infamous scene where the cast is in a circle on their knees, waiting to see who will be chosen. Instead of Walking Dead characters, however, it’s characters from The Chappelle Show who await their fate. Tyrone Biggums, Lil John, Silky Johnston, and Clayton Bigsby are all there. Crackhead Tyrone gets knocked off, but instead of dying, he gives a rousing speech about coming together, as this was just after Trump was elected President.

"Kellywise" (Season 43)

This was the era where Donald Trump took up all of the national oxygen. Everything was about him and his equally bonkers staff, including his senior counselor Kellyanne Conway. In 2017, IT was dominating movie theaters, and to SNL, the only thing scarier than a killer clown was America’s administration. The immensely talented Kate McKinnon plays Kellywise, a spin on Conway and Pennywise, who hides in a sewer outside of CNN’s studios. It’s there she meets Anderson Cooper (Alex Moffat) in a yellow raincoat. Kellywise promises to give Anderson some irresistibly outrageous quotes if he’ll just come closer. We learn that Rachel Maddow (Cecily Strong) is already down there with her. Kellywise turns into Hillary Clinton and attacks Cooper. While funny, it’s also a clever way of showing how the media and the Trump administration fed off of each other, all with some top-notch movie-quality effects.

"A Kanye Place" (Season 43)

In 2018, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place was a surprise hit due to its well-executed premise. Just as with now, Kanye West was in the news for all the wrong reasons. This skit, with guest host Donald Glover, combined the two phenomenons. Here, Glover, along with Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, and Kenan Thompson, is walking through a cornfield at night when Glover sees on his phone that Kanye is tweeting about his support for Trump. They try to keep their outrage to a whisper, but can’t contain themselves. Kenan yells out when he sees that Kanye has a signed Trump hat, which results in him being snatched by the monsters. As the conversation and frustration over Kanye deepens, one by one the cast yells out, only to be taken. The point of the sketch is summed up in this part of the conversation: “Why are we even talking about this?” Bryant whispers. Glover replies, “Because it’s out there.”

"Chad Horror Movie" (Season 44)

One of Pete Davidson’s recurring SNL characters was Chad, a simple and very stupid man oblivious to everything. No matter what’s happening, his response always seems to be a nonchalant “okay” or “cool.” In this Scream spoof, guest host John Mulaney is the creepy caller who wants Chad to play a game. “Oh, no, thanks,” Chad says, hanging up the phone. The villain calls back, but no matter what he does, Chad is too dumb to pick up on it. When the killer says he’s going to slit his throat, Chad just giggles at the word “slit.” When he wants Chad to turn on the outside patio lights, Chad can’t find the right switch. Disemboweled pizza man at the door? Chad only thinks it’s cool that he got pizza. When the killer gets in and reveals his identity and the revenge motive for his crimes, Chad says, “Oh, nice to meet you” and "my bad.” Even as the killer slips on a piece of discarded pizza and accidentally stabs himself to death, Chad can only say, “Okay.” Complete stupidity has defeated the bad guy.

"The Looker" (Season 48)

Last year, Netflix’s The Watcher was a streaming hit that then quickly disappeared, but not before SNL could have their fun with it. The series was about a family in a new home who starts receiving threatening letters. Guest host Amy Schumer plays the mom in the spoof. The family is receiving sinister letters, but they’re all very specific about the mom’s habits. They detail how she stuffs her face with pickles and pizza and whatever she can find in the fridge late at night. The letter writer has watched her pleasuring herself to The Property Brothers and struggling to go to the bathroom. The more embarrassing it gets, the more Schumer insists that it’s all made up. When it’s shown that someone has downloaded every episode of The Property Brothers and only watched five minutes of them, Schumer says, “So this weirdo snuck into the house and messed with our TV? Now I’m weirded out, officially.” As the family decides to go to a hotel, Schumer volunteers to stay behind, but of course, it’s so she can watch The Property Brothers all alone. To the Looker, she calls out, “If you’re watching, it’s the property I’m into, not the brothers.”

"Horror Movie Trailer" (Season 48)

One of the criticisms of SNL is that they’re too liberal. They’ll spend so much time making fun of Donald Trump and other Republicans, but go easy on the left. While there might be some truth to that, it’s not found here, in this faux trailer that came out around the 2022 midterm elections. Here, anxious Democrats fret over the idea of Joe Biden running for reelection in 2024, complete with a dark atmosphere and eerie voiceovers that say, “You trusted him once. Can you trust him again?” “I don’t know!” Mikey Day yells in fear. They freak out over Biden’s age and gas prices. Chloe Fineman tries to rally her friends with his accomplishments but a near hysterical Day says, “But he fell off his bike once!” For a moment there’s a relief that he might not actually run, but then they’re more scared about who will instead. Kamala? Cory Booker? Mayor Pete? Bernie? Every option makes them panic, especially when Hillary’s name is brought up. Finally, they give up and settle again on Biden, because, as the creepy voiceover says, “Sometimes your best option is the one you fear the most.”

"M3GAN 2.0" (Season 48)

M3GAN has been the early horror hit of 2023. The film about an A.I. doll running amok has been both a critical and crowd favorite. When Aubrey Plaza guest hosted SNL recently, it was a perfect opportunity to spoof the film with a possible sequel that looks at how M3GAN’s campiness, attitude, and style have made her a gay icon to some. Chloe Fineman and Plaza play two versions of the doll for M3GAN 2.0, which “promises to be more gay.” They hang out a gay nightclub, egging the men on before threatening to attack. It’s then that Allison Williams shows up in a cameo to warn everyone, but instead, Bowen Yang says, “Oh my God, aren’t you from the show Girls?” After a raunchy exchange, a flattered Williams forgets about the threat and decides to party. “This one’s for the gays,” the voiceover guy says at the end.