After returning from the World Horror Convention in Seattle, I realized the panels I enjoyed most were "Horror & Fantasy" and "Horror & Science Fiction" because it amused me to hear people trying to categorize films. Whether Alien (1979) was science fiction or horror was debated in length. And one audience participant wanted to know why Predator (1987) showed up in the science fiction section, because, she believed, it should be in the horror section. So, what is Independence Day (1996) anyway?

Unable to sit quietly, I entered the debate. The conclusion? Alien is science fiction with horror elements. Predator is science fiction, also with horror elements. And Independence Day is science fiction with elements of action/adventure.

The topic of genres reminded me of when I had to put together a film studies course because I had the opportunity to investigate film categories (or genres), and found that sometimes films aren't so easy to classify because film has many faces.

Alfred Hitchcock said, "Drama is real life with the dull parts removed." It's a story that deals with real life situations and social issues, and most important, it's reality based, with true-to-life multi-dimensional characters. Take Vito Corleone (The Godfather, 1992). Here's a man who put his family before all else. A businessman. A father. A grandfather who laughed and cried. A killer. A multi-dimensional character in a story dealing with real life social issues. Crime. Family. Morality. Drugs (which he refuses to be a part of). Life and Death. Drama means emotion. As I mentioned in my article, "Frames of Reference", close-up angles mean drama. Now here's where the confusion comes. A film like Alien is dramatic! There are certainly serious emotions involved. But is an acid bleeding alien a real life threat? To our knowledge, such creatures don't exist. At least, not that we've discovered . . . yet.

Generally, plots that fall, almost exclusively, into the drama category include romance, crime, westerns, war, and historical fiction, not science fiction, or even horror (I'll explain shortly). Titanic (1997) is a good example of drama as a genre. The fictional romance between Jack and Rose, and the stolen gem, told against the historical background of a real-life sinking ship. Other examples of straight drama? Platoon (1986), Unforgiven (1992), Steel Magnolias (1989), Saving Private Ryan (1998). . . .

So, what happens when these same stories and characters are intentionally humorous and the situations exaggerated? A close relative to drama is Comedy. I always believed that the thing that made something funny was the fact it wasn't happening to me. The interesting thing about comedy is it would probably be horrible if you were involved. Would you want to be sitting at the restaurant table next to the Klump family (The Nutty Professor, 1996) when they begin evacuating their various body cavities? Would you be laughing with your nuts caught in zipper teeth? (Something About Mary, 1998) But notice, no matter how crazy or out of controls things may get, a comedy always ends happily. You must walk out of the theater feeling good because everything worked out in the end. Comedies are feel-good films, although taste varies.

However, sub-categories complicate even comedy. Black Comedy is comedy that deals with unpleasant topics such as death and murder. Think Heathers (1989), Death Becomes Her (1992), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), and the must-see film of 2001, Memento. Parodies imitate the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. Think Spaceballs (1987), Young Frankenstein (1979), Scary Movie (2000). Slapstick is a boisterous form of comedy marked by chases, collisions, and crude practical jokes, usually involving toilet humor. Think Dumb and Dumber (1994), Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994).

About now, some of you Adam Sandler fans may be wondering, what about Big Daddy (1999)? My question is, does this movie have any serious moments? Is there a lesson learned? Does the film try to touch you at any point? If it does, there's a special genre for this, it's called Dramedy, which combines drama with comedy.

Dramedy meets the requirements of drama, but relies heavily on humor to tell the story. I remember seeing trailers for Home Alone (1990), showing Joe Pesci trying to break into the home, clobbered with paint cans and bricks. Looked like slapstick, didn't it? Did you know that the burglary scenes took up less than fifteen minutes of the film? And what was with that old neighbor guy? And his touching scenes with the little boy? Also think Eddie Murphy's Boomerang (1992). Funny? Yes. And poignant? Yes! So, I ask again, was there anything poignant about Big Daddy? Still, in dramedy, the comedy aspect must be exaggerated, BUT dramedy does not have to end happily.

Another, sometimes confusing genre, is Docudrama, the dramatized, recreation of an actual incident or person's life where elements of fiction are often used, chronologies may be rearranged or events exaggerated to fit a story structure. Yes, there was a Jim Morrison, but was his life exactly as portrayed in Oliver Stones' The Doors (1991)? Some people close to Morrison might object. Yes, John Kennedy was assassinated, but was it as explained in Oliver Stone's JFK (1991)? Yes, there was an all-Black company during the Civil War lead by Colonel Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick in Glory, 1989). However, did the Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman characters really exist? No, they were compilations of a variety of real-life figures.

I thought it interesting when I said, in my film course, that Titanic was historical fiction. Some students, knowing the Titanic was real, actually believed Jack and Rose were real people. No wonder college professors around the world went nuts when students began quoting Oliver Stone's JFK when referring to the assassination of the president. Other docudramas? Tombstone (1993) and Goodfellas (1990). Remember, docudrama must make the actual person or event the center of the story. Just because a real event (like Private Ryan's Normandy invasion) or a real person (John Lennon and John Kennedy in Forrest Gump; 1994) is in the background, doesn't make it a true story.

If you want the truth, watch a Documentary, which is informational, nonfiction. Sometimes, especially in wild life documentaries, it might be staged or recreated to simulate reality. I don't think the filmmakers have the time to wait for nature to takes its course. So, expect film shot at other times or at other locations to be edited in for continuity or to make a statement. Still, even when staged, what they are saying is true. Moreover, documentaries don't usually fit a story structure. Also, for the sake of my film studies course, I listed Performance -- live, on-stage performance of music or stand-up, without a story line, as it's own genre. Think Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), You So Crazy (1994), Original Kings of Comedy (2000), and of course, any live concert footage.

One of my favorite debates is the difference between Thriller and Horror. (I debated this issue on a panel at the World Horror Convention in Phoenix.) Here's the way I taught it: In a thriller, intense feelings of fear dominate the film or characters, BUT the story is reality based -- it can actually happen. In horror, intense feelings of fear also dominate the film or characters, BUT the story is fantasy based -- it cannot happen and is usually explained by the supernatural.

Therefore, Silence of the Lambs (1991) is a thriller, because it can happen. There are no supernatural elements. There can be a neighbor in the garage next door making a coat from female skins. It is horrible, dreadful, terrifying! On the other hand, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is horror. Freddy comes from dreams. He is supernatural! Yes, I can also make a glove with razor blades on the fingers, but I can't invade your dreams. Some films, like Friday the 13th (1980), started as thriller, but once Jason started coming back from the grave, it becomes supernatural and turned into horror. Don't forget, in the first film, it was Jason's mother killing the counselors, not a supernatural entity.

Another characteristic that horror and thriller seem to share is "isolation of the victim." The victims can be isolated in a cabin (Evil Dead, 1987; or Misery, 1990), on a boat (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason takes Manhattan, 1989; or Dead Calm, 1989), on an island (The Island of Dr. Moreau, 1997; or The Beach, 2000), isolated from society (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956; or I Know What You Did Last Summer, 1997), or on a space station (Hellraiser: Bloodline, 1996; or 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

One of my favorite genres is Splat-stick -- horror with elements of comedy, where, instead of hitting someone in the head with a pie, you hit them in the head with a chainsaw. Read my Evil Dead article for some classic examples. And rent Return of the Living Dead (1985), for a great spoof of the George Romero zombie films. (Also, watch for my article on George Romero called Romero, Romero, where forth art thou, Romero? - Coming Soon to Chiaroscuro!)

Another interesting pair of genres to discuss together is fantasy and science fiction. For an explanation, I turned to The Twilight Zones' Rod Serling, who said, "Fantasy is the impossible made probable." Fantasy can't be true according to our laws of nature, and yes, it often involves magic. Whereas, according to Serling, "Science Fiction is the improbable made possible." It might be true under certain circumstances because the story usually stays within the laws of nature, and often involves advanced technology for its explanations.

According to Serling's explanation, Jurassic Park (1993) is science fiction because it involves cloning, which, we know, is theoretically possible. Anything involving alien life must be science fiction since it is theoretically possible. I know of a wasp that lays its eggs inside a caterpillar, which acts as a host. When the larvae grow, they eat there way out of the caterpillar. Remind you of anything? Yes, the aliens in Aliens (1986) were insect-like. Improbable, but possible. Also, to put to rest the question raised at the World Horror Convention in Seattle, Predator belongs in the science fiction section, because aliens are improbable but possible. Yes, the characters were isolated, and it was horrific, but science fiction dominates as the genre.

Superman (1978)? Science Fiction. Don't his powers come from him being an alien? Star Wars (1977)? Science Fiction. Isn't the force within the laws of nature for that universe? The Wizard of Oz (1939)? Fantasy. Dancing, talking scarecrows, tin men, and lions are impossible, according to our laws of nature. The only explanation must be magical, as with flying horses, dragons, witches, and carpets. Think Willow (1988), Legend (1985), Lord of the Rings (2001). Whereas flying in a space ship is explained with technology, far-fetched or not. I know some of you hard sci-fi fans will go to your graves insisting Star Trek (1979) is fantasy, but IBM already has a "not-quite" universal translator, and holographic entertainment is less than a light year away.

Another important point in the genre discussion is that most genres are rarely, if ever, found in a pure form, meaning they combine with other genres. For example, a Musical can be any genre in which dialogue is sung. The Doors has music, but dialogue is not sung. Grease (1978) is a musical-romantic-comedy. Wizard of Oz is a classic (I'll get to this shortly, musical (sings dialogue), fantasy (talking scarecrow), adventure (I'll get to this.), children/family oriented (still to come) film.

What makes it Children/Family Oriented? The story teaches a lesson or social moral. "There's no place like home." In fact, in this genre, someone in the film will come right out and say what the moral or lesson is (for the children in the audience). There are no subtle lessons, as there might be in a film for an older, or adult audience. Understand this idea of "telling the moral" in a children/family oriented film, and you'll understand why I didn't like Spike Lee's Clockers (1995). Throughout the film, different characters are constantly saying, "Don't use drugs! Don't play around with guns!" Duh, who did he think was in the audience. It was rated R. Children/family oriented films are usually Rated G, where children need to be told what the film was about. Yes, Disney films seem to have cornered the market on this one.

Action/adventure gets its own listing for me. This film story relies heavily on high energy, a hero's challenging, almost impossible, exploits, which usually involves a chase. Think: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Die Hard Films ('88,'90,'95), Star Wars, or anything with Arnold Schwarzenegger (which explains why Jingle All the Way (1996) and Junior (1994) flopped). Yes, many films, especially popular science fiction, have action/adventure as a sub-genre.

For me, Animation/Anime is any genre that is totally animated. There are no live actors. Therefore, Disney's Tarzan (1999) is animation, along with fantasy, adventure, and children/family oriented. Or 1992's Aladdin (animated, musical, fantasy, adventure, children/family oriented). However, films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) would be fantasy-comedy since going to Toon Town to visit cartoon people defies our laws of nature, unless of course you live in Los Angeles.

Another interesting genre to question is the classic. Classic films are not only in black and white. Any film from any genre that is one of a kind, or a first of a kind that withstands the test of time and is usually an award winner can become a classic. We all know the standard classic films: Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Casablanca (1942), Gone with the Wind (1939), but there can also be genre classics like Evil Dead, Heathers, and Aliens. I recall someone saying (or did I read it?) that twenty years was the test of time. I will also add that classics can be watched again and again, which eliminates Titanic from my list, even though it made tons of money (not a criteria).

Then there are Cult films: films from any genre with a devoted following. Think Star Wars or Star Trek, where fans actually dress as characters. Yes, that includes The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Some lesser known cult films, and some would say, classics, are Heathers, Plan Nine From Outer Space (1958), and Pink Floyd's The Wall (1982); the kind of film a theater can show any night at midnight and still get an audience.

Not as widely known is Camp. This is any film, from any genre that is appreciated for its triteness or humor although the film was not necessarily meant to be either. This film is so bad it's good! Think Plan Nine From Outer Space (or anything by Ed Wood Jr.), Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988), Reefer Madness (1938), and probably, anything by John Waters.

I look at Foreign films as any film originally intended for a foreign audience, thus, it is usually subtitled in English. Foreign films tend to be more character oriented as opposed to let's say, action/adventure, which at one time was exclusively an American genre.

Of course, I can't leave out Pornography: films with sexually explicit behavior intended to arouse sexual excitement. Actual sex acts must be taking place, although story lines are questionable. "What?" says the delivery boy, "You can't pay for these groceries? Well, let's see what we can do about that." It amazed me how many of my film students thought real sex was taking place in R Rated films. Sorry, folks, that's why it's called acting. If you want the real thing, do it, or watch porn. However, even porn has divisions. Some cable stations (Cinemax and Showtime) have simulated sex. Yes, they are naked and sweating, but penetration does not take place. Some adults-only stations (Spice, Hot Network, Playboy) have real sex, penetration, but no visual male climax. Hard Core porno (Adult Video Rentals) is the only version I know of that finishes with an eruption that comes off the screen. Don't get me started.

The thing to remember is that most films combine or overlap genres. So the question isn't whether Alien or Predator is science fiction of horror, the question is which genres are included and to what extent. It's no surprise that some of the most popular films touch more than one genre, thus touching more than one audience. And be aware how films are marketed using different scenes to appeal to the different genre tastes, because you might go to the theater to see action/adventure and end up watching a romantic/comedy. Not that there's anything wrong with Chick Flicks. Wait, is that another genre?