Hybrid Genres

In film, genre refers to the method of film categorisation, based on similarities in the narrative elements from which the films are constructed. There's no fixed boundaries but are often formed by sets of conventions. Many films cross through into multiple genres, by the way they borrow and combine these conventions. This leads to hybrid genres branching off from the more common genres.

Some hybrid genres:

Action & Comedy
Action, comedy films blend comic antics and action where the film stars combine witty comments with daring stunts and explosive plots. This genre became recognised when comedians like Eddie Murphy started taking more film roles in the 80's. These types of films are often buddy films, with the two main characters being mismatched partners, which is where the comedy comes out.

Some Action/Comedy films:



Bad boys / Bad boys "
Hot Fuzz
Rush Hour
Midnight Run




Comedy & Horror
The comedy, horror films are the type of films where the usually scary and tense moments are approached in the way that they become humorous. Some of the horror comedy films use the obvious and stupid cliches. Some are much more subtle, and approach the comedy part much more cleverly. Then another style is to rely on over the top violence and gore.

Some Comedy/Horror films:



Scary Movie
Shaun of the Dead
Haunted mansion
Little shop of horrors
Club dread
Young Frankenstein

Romance & Tragedy Romance movies have always tended to be and still mainly do, end with "they all lived happily ever after". However with all the films ending this way the audience got bored with being able to predict what was going to happen. Therefore film makers started producing films which didn't always have such a happy ending. These films usually had one of the main characters dying or falling in love with someone else.

Some Romance/Tragedy Films:

Cruel Intentions
True Romance
Titanic
Romeo and Juliet
the notebook






Most films now a days are hybrid genres. If a film company stuck strictly to one genre in their movie then the audience would be able to predict the ending quite precisely. Comedy and romance are the main genres that have combined with other ones to make hybrid genres. This is because comedy, humor and wit can come into any situation, and audiences enjoy being made to laugh. It's also the same for romance, it can come into any genre quite naturally. The theorist, Janet Stagier, even goes as far to argues that Hollywood films are never pure genres, as most movies blend the love oriented plot of the romance genre, with all other ones.