Written by Esther Smith
I have a very firm stance that Toy Story (1995) is an action movie and I’m met with looks, with sighs, with “No, Esther, it’s a children’s movie.” Of course they’re correct, but why can’t it be both? If you look into what an action movie includes: energetic sequences, high stakes, hero vs villain: then Toy Story fits the bill perfectly. It even has a car chase sequence, Buzz and Woody fight enough to make us think Jason Statham is on screen, what more could you ask for?
But from the very strict borders of genre, it sits in the family or even animation box. Personally, I think we need to retire the Die Hard (1988) is actually a Christmas movie argument and campaign for other films that are restricted by just one genre. Do we really need to have a one-word label for each film?
Genre Labels Are Helpful, Actually
Why do we give films a label? Genre labels are incredibly helpful for audiences to glance at and see if it suits their taste, for example I’m not a huge Sci-Fi fanatic and would generally breeze through this section when looking through the Netflix library but had a great time watching Project Hail Mary (2026). Of course anomalies exist and that’s why people have preferred genres but of course they stray away from their usual tastes every now and then (or, at least they should) to explore what else artists have to offer.
Genre labels are also helpful for programmers at film festivals: because why would you play a gory horror film in a children’s block? Or a cheerful romance in a gritty thriller block? When curating films, programmers like to have films that compliment and flow well together and similarly to audiences, a one-word label is helpful to organise the films into different strands before slimming them down in the selection process. See, it’s not all about exclusion!
Music, books, films – they are all sorted into boxes by genre because, well, it’s a good system of organisation; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Artists, however, can deviate from their boxes to explore different genres. In music this is seen as innovative, in books this is seen as elevating your story but isn’t this also just… totally normal?
And then there’s the mismatch of genre labels. For example, the romance genre has a golden rule and it’s the need for a happily ever after. Rules like this help keep the genre in their neatly drawn lines and make sure audiences are not blindsided. Something that very much happened when Wonka (2023) was released and was not marketed as a musical and took audiences by surprise when lo and behold, the film was very much a musical – because it followed the rules of the musical genre.
Could it be happening again? I’m writing this sentence from the past and currently there is a conspiracy theory floating around: Digger (2026) is, actually, a musical. The film has been marketed as a Comedy/Dark Comedy but journalists are looking into the musical theory and others dismiss it entirely. Esther from the present here, the film has since been released and the answer is not a musical! While this is a win for audiences not wanting films to be mismarketed, it does beg the question why the film was shrouded in secrecy enough for a conspiracy theory to run rampant.
But What Is Horror?
Now that we’ve cleared up other genres, let’s dive into a genre that fits the season: Horror is present all year round but it’s in this particular month that people turn to horror films en masse.
We’ve got your obvious horror films: Saw (2004), Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980) are just a handful of the titles that come to mind when you think of the genre and started franchises that grew over the decades. There’s the more obvious, stand-alone films that helped define the genre and are quintessential horror films. Think gore and fear and jumpscares: films that have you hiding behind a blanket and closing your eyes.
So, it’s all about films rated 15+? Absolutely not, there are plenty of contributions to the genre that are family-friendly and while I didn’t recognise it at the time, the genre was thriving for the younger generation. The Goosebumps series written by R. L. Stein has been a staple for children’s horror, but in terms of visual media, Courage The Cowardly Dog was a perfect example of toeing the line of horror while falling in line with broadcasting regulations for that age group. Many years later and I still can’t watch clips of this show at night… I’m nearly 30.
For the slightly older children, they had The Woman In Black (2012), which was rated a 12A for its theatrical release. And if you’re wondering, yes, 15-year-old me was genuinely shaking in the cinema – I think by this point we’ve established that jump-scare horror is probably not comforting for me.
While children’s media usually sits in the happy territory, it’s been quite common for adults to add a dark twist to these stories: Rugrats was actually all in Angelica’s head, Kevin from Home Alone (1990) grew up to be Jigsaw in the Saw series, and Peter Pan murdered children. While these theories are all obviously dark, it goes to show how easy it is to corrupt innocent media, to steal away the happy memories and replace it with something much more sinister.
But the question is how do people turn a piece of media into a horror? Is it all about blood and guts and depravity? Not always, but that can definitely play a part of it. To dig a little deeper on the subject of horror, I came across this wonderful article from Media Studies that lays it all out on the table: “Horror films explore a variety of themes that tap into our deepest fears and anxieties, raise questions regarding our mortality and what lies beyond, and depict the darker aspects of human nature. Some stories explore the psychological impact of trauma, often featuring characters who are struggling with past events or mental illness. Other films feature a vengeful antagonist seeking revenge for perceived wrongs, creating a sense of moral ambiguity and justice.”
While I’m not the biggest fan of horror, I can’t deny the thrill and adrenaline I felt after seeing A Quiet Place (2018) in the cinema and having to leave the packet of crisps alone (much to my disappointment) because in a sold-out theatre, not one person made a noise during the silent moments – something that was carefully determined by the sound design of the film. While the rules laid out in the article above pay close attention to the use of score and sound design in horror, emphasising how it elevates tension, A Quiet Place uses the lack of sound to heighten the fear due to the narrative.
That’s what filmmakers are taught, right? Learn the rules then break them. Knowing why something works creates a foundation of understanding; breaking these rules (correctly) shows creativity and innovation. So, while we think about horror and say it’s about the grotesque, others will say it’s about how your brain will elevate the fear. There is, however, a new approach to horror and it’s all about the cosiness. The sub-genre incorporates horror elements but with "guaranteed happy endings” and may include romance, low-stakes, and humor.
Just from that little snippet my eyebrows are raised – does this not break the rules of the genre? It’s horror lite, and some would argue not even horror. While challenging the genre is to be expected in some ways, wouldn’t something like cosy horror damage the reputation that has been built over the years? While cosy horror is still in its infancy, it’s unclear if this will shape how horror films will be made in the future.
The Lines On Horror Are A Little Blurry…
Briefly going back to my Toy Story example, some may argue that the film has action elements but it is not an action film itself; we can use this same line of thinking for other films and TV shows, where horror elements are prominent but the film lies within a different genre.
The best example of this is Se7en (1995) where the film sits in the thriller genre (sub-genres being crime and mystery), but horror is still heavily present in the film as the plot gives the audience plenty of moments to be spooked, scared, and grossed out. It captures the same eerie feeling you’d get during a classic horror but with a psychological twist.
Now, silly me, I thought finding the distinction between horror, thriller, and all the other genres would be easy-peasy. The more I research, the blurrier the lines become: there are additional standards, soft rules that are not written in a guidebook but rather taken from previous media.
I was just about to open up about my preference to psychological horror when my research started spiraling: from discovering the meaning of “Terror”, to reading different examples of horror sub-genres, to finding a forum scattered with opinions that clash, to Googling “what is the difference between” filling in the blanks with all these new words I’ve found along my travels.
And with each search, I become more confused. Genres so often overlap but at what point do they just completely merge? Se7en has been defined as a thriller but it has the gore and blood of a horror, it has the anticipation and dread of a terror. To me, this would qualify it to sit in horror: does it tick all the boxes? No, but close enough – and if psychological horror and terror are heavily associated with horror, it’s good enough for me.
Just like the new addition of cosy horror, it’s clear there’s a whole lot of space within the genre to explore. It’s common enough for films to share two genres, sometimes more, and this allows for a bigger audience reach. In my research I didn’t find much evidence of horror purists; those who have a strict set of rules for horror and push away anything that’s not that. In some ways, it’s quite refreshing – it’s incredibly easy to create a divide, an us vs them argument, in life and to see horror fans having an open mind to new ideas and films shows they truly welcome any and all people to the genre with open arms.
Horror: The Bite-Size Version!
In relation to short film, horror continues to thrive. Festival Formula’s very own Katie explored the submissions statistics from various film festivals and found that 7.5% of submissions were films in the horror genre. Compared to drama, that number is obviously significantly lower, but these figures mainly come from traditional festivals.
Genre film festivals are when things get interesting, these are festivals that instead of showing a variety of films in different genres and formats they mainly focus on specific genres or styles. You’ve got the big stars, the ones where everyone knows their names: Sitges Film Festival and Fantasia Film Festival, but by digging a little deeper than a Google search, you’ll see there’s other standout festivals:
FilmQuest: A behemoth of a festival where thrills and chills are the main focus but with many other films sitting in the comedy and fantasy category along with music videos, there is something for everyone at the festival. (And their highly-detailed emails giving filmmakers all the information they need is a personal highlight of my inbox each year – IYKYK)
Grimmfest: A longstanding Manchester genre film festival with BIFA qualifying status.They believe that “genre cinema is for everyone, and we actively champion work from emerging filmmakers and underrepresented voices, ensuring a wide range of perspectives are represented on screen.”
Wench Film Festival: India’s first and only international film festival dedicated to horror and closely related genres, they note that “These genres allow artists to explore caste trauma, gender violence, ecological collapse, surveillance, mental health, and more—without the constraints often placed on realism or documentary storytelling.”
Final Girls Berlin Film Festival: This festival only showcases horror films made by women and non-binary filmmakers, helping to champion voices by “carving out space for new and undiscovered positions of power for women in horror, not only in front of but also behind the camera.”
If I had an unlimited amount of pages, I would love to dive into many more but trust me: they are out there. Genre film festivals are in abundance, showing us there is most definitely an audience for the creepy, spooky, and gory films; filmmakers love creating them, audiences love watching them… it seems to be a perfect match for the twisted and disturbed.
Horror By Any Other Name Would Smell As Gory
I definitely don’t think I’m unique in my rant when it comes to the meaning of genre, I’m sure many other people have expressed their opinions when someone says their favourite film borders another genre – it’s this comment on Reddit that took me by surprise: “Genre is a marketing tool. Call it what you want.”
When advertising, short and snappy is key; which is why one-word genres are helpful at first glance, to see what you like. But with academics and filmmakers challenging the status-quo, taking slices of traits from each genre and blending them together can and will contradict the original rules set out many years ago. Instead, we begin to see a Frankenstein’s Monster of a genre list when we look deeper, and we find that there are sub-genres that we’ve never encountered before.
And that is the ultimate freedom of filmmaking: merging styles and genres together to create something new and while genre can help you find the right audiences and festivals, it’s a marketing tool and does not wholly represent the film.
Slashers, creature features, even cosy horror all fall under the same umbrella: if we were to think of each film having a venn diagram, you’ll see how each sub-genre closely aligns with another genre circle showing us that films do often overlap. So, if you have a film that falls under comedy, horror, drama, and thriller – don’t fret too much about that one-word label, because there’s going to be an audience out there that will welcome it with open arms.
