Narrative technique · used in 2 films
Building comedy from a repeated gag or an exaggerated physical bit that recurs and escalates, so the repetition itself becomes the joke.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1955
The villagers keep burying Harry and digging him up again. Each time, the plan changes, usually to keep the body away from the deputy. The repetition builds a rhythm you start to enjoy.
Where to see it: The burial and exhumation. The group buries Harry, digs him up, hides him in a bathtub and finally puts him back where he was found.
Peter Jackson · 1992
The violence escalates until it stops being scary and starts being a stunt show. Body parts fly, limbs keep moving and the blood sprays like a fire hose. One reading is that the film dares you to flinch and then laughs at you for laughing.
Where to see it: Lawn mower massacre: A single machine and a packed room turn into a long run of bloody gags, each one bigger than the last.
Questions