So the crux of it is friend A has an almighty DVD collection organised by genre, he recently got the Underworld movies and mentioned adding them to his horror shelves, friend B insists they're not horror movies
This spiralled into a currently 2 day long back and fourth in the group chat about if XYZ movie is horror
So I thought it'd be fun to make a list of every movie they've debated and put it out there to see which side of the fence you fine folks land on
The list at the time of posting -
Van Hellsing
Underworld Movies
Blade Movies
American Psycho
From Dusk Till Dawn
Werewolf: The Beast Among Us
Daybreakers
Silence Of The Lambs
Beetlejuice
Nightmare Before Christmas
Spawn
Constantine
Red Riding Hood
Scooby-Doo
World War Z
Monsters
Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Grey
Season Of The Witch
Vampire Hunter D
Hell boy movies
Werewolf by night
Legion
Coraline
The Menu
I've personally seen a few of these but not all by a long shot
Have at!
I think the question is more for your group chat; if these aren’t horror, then what are they?
I’d agree that calling Van Helsing a horror film is a bit of a stretch, in the same way that Monster Squad is a bit of a stretch…but at the end of the day, a movie with a vampire, a werewolf, a monster…what is it if not a horror movie?
it’s hard to see where else you’d slot stuff like that, categorically speaking….but good news, it also doesn’t matter!
That's part of the fun really, where individual people draw the line and why
And absolutely agree that it doesn't really matter, it's much more of a lightheaded debate than anything serious but it's been an interesting read so I thought I'd pose it here too
Eh, I'm not so sure about the mere existence of a vampire, werewolf, monster = horror (unless you specifically meant for Van Helsing, I don't remember it well). See Twilight for proof.
But you're also right that it ultimately doesn't matter. It's OP's friend's personal DVD collection, they can categorize movies however they feel. People also debate what constitutes a horror vs thriller a lot, and it always ends up being that everybody has a different understanding of the terms.
Movies with a significant amount of vampire or werewolf activity are horror. Often those movies are both horror and action.
So... About twilight 🤣
Horror and family. So is The Ghost Of Frankenstein from 1942, e.g., doesn't scare us but the monsters alone are menacing to kids
How about Teen Wolf or Hotel Transylvania?
family horror
My thoughts below. Obviously very subjective. To be fair I haven't seen a decent chunk of them. The ones that I said nope to I would think of as more Action/Adventure than horror.
Van Helsing - Nope
Underworld Movies - Nope
Blade Movies - Nope
American Psycho - Yep
From Dusk Till Dawn - Yep
Werewolf: The Beast Among Us - Haven't seen
Daybreakers - Haven't seen
Silence Of The Lambs - Yep
Beetlejuice - Nope
Nightmare Before Christmas - Nope
Spawn - Haven't seen
Constantine - Haven't seen
Red Riding Hood - Haven't seen
Scooby-Doo - Nope
World War Z - Yep but it's such garbage compared to the book
Monsters - Haven't seen
Rocky Horror Picture Show - Nope
The Grey - Yep
Season Of The Witch - Haven't seen
Vampire Hunter D - Haven't seen
Hell boy movies - Nope
Werewolf by night - Yep
Legion -Yep
Coraline - Nope
The Menu - Yep
I appreciate the thoroughness, if you've seen it they're currently debating Pitch Black as well lol
lol I think Pitch Black is pretty close, it really straddles that line. One of the few I could see a definite argument for in either direction.
I‘d consider these horror:
American Psycho
From Dusk Till Dawn
Werewolf: The Beast Among Us (not seen, can‘t comment)
Daybreakers
Silence Of The Lambs
World War Z
Monsters (not seen, can‘t comment)
Season Of The Witch (not seen, can‘t comment)
Vampire Hunter D (not seen, can‘t comment)
Werewolf by night (not seen, can‘t comment)
Legion
The Menu
For reference, according to imdb,
Categorized as horror:
Blade, American Psycho, From Dusk Till Dawn, Werewolf: The Beast Among Us, Daybreakers, Silence of the Lambs, Spawn, Constantine, World War Z, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Grey, Vampire Hunter D, Hellboy, Werewolf By Night, Legion, The Menu, Pitch Black
Not categorized as horror:
Van Helsing, Underworld, Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Scooby-Doo, Monsters, Season of the Witch, Coraline
I was a little surprised by The Grey, and I wouldn’t argue with categorizing Coraline as horror with the button-eyed body snatcher element.
Imdb doesn't always have a horror tag added for horror movies. When that happens, that doesn't necessarily mean anyone's claiming it isn't a horror movie.
I've always seen anything with gore as a horror movie. As long as there is some sort of gore or violence in a vampire/werewolf/zombie/ghost/demon movie, then I'd consider them horror as well
The classic Universal monster movies have no gore and they are unquestionably horror. Doesn't seem like a good gauge to me.
American Psycho is maybe the only one I wouldn't call horror.
If it’s intent is to scare you then it is horror. If that isn’t the case then it’s usually a horror/other genre. Beetlejuice for example is a comedy. Coraline is a family movie. Hellboy are action movies. Rocky Horror is a musical. Just because they have monsters and dark themes doesn’t mean it is a horror.
Films can also have multiple genres and sub-genres. Just because a film also fits into another genre, doesn’t mean it isn’t also horror.
OP is looking for the main genre as horror though. Not movies with horror elements or sub genres.
I’d say Coraline’s genre is horror. Just because it’s suitable for families, as you point out, doesn’t negate the fact that it’s primarily a fantasy horror.
Nah. It is mostly fantasy
Kindly stop stroking yourself where we can see you.