Film Sub-Genres Types
(and Hybrids)





Genre Sub-Sections
Film Genres Overview | Main Film Genres | Film Sub-Genres | Other Major Film Categories | Film Sub-Genres Types (and Hybrids)
Best Pictures - Genre Biases | Summary of Top Films by Genre | Top 100 Films by Genre | AFI's Top 10 Film Genres
All-Time Top-Grossing (Domestic Revenue) Films by Genre Type

Film Sub-Genres Types (and Hybrids): These are some of the most common and identifiable film sub-genres types (and hybrids), categorized by each major genre. Also view various Main Genres, Sub-Genres, or Other Major Film Categories.

If you're interested in the chronological history of film by decade - visit the section on Film History or the multi-part section on Milestones in Film History.




Film Sub-Genres Types (and Hybrids)
Main Film Genres
(represented by icons)
Film Sub-Genres Types (and Hybrids)
(a vast sampling)
Select any of the links below (or click on the graphics), and read about the development and history of the genre or sub-genre, and view chronological lists of selected, representative greatest films for each one (with links to detailed descriptions of individual films).
Action Films





Action or Adventure Comedy
Action/Adventure Drama
Alien Invasion
Animal
Biker
Blaxploitation
Blockbusters
Buddy
Buddy Cops (or Odd Couple)
Caper
Chase Films or Thrillers
Comic-Book Action
Confined Space Action
Conspiracy Thriller (aka Paranoid Thriller)
Cop Action
Costume Adventures
Crime Films
Desert Epics
Disaster or Doomsday - See Greatest Disaster Film Scenes
Epic Adventure Films
Erotic Thrillers
Escape
Espionage
Exploitation (i.e., Nunsploitation, Naziploitation,
Family-oriented Adventure
Fantasy Adventure
Futuristic
Girls With Guns
Guy Films
Heist - Caper Films
Heroic Bloodshed Films
Historical Spectacles
Hong Kong
James Bond Series
Jungle and Safari Epics

Literature/Folklore Adventure Heroes
Martial Arts Action (or Kung-Fu)
Man or Woman-In-Peril
Man vs. Nature
Mountain
Period Action Films
Political Conspiracies, Thrillers
Poliziotteschi (Italian)
Prison
Psychological Thriller
Quest
Races Against Time

Rape and Revenge Films
Road
Romantic Adventures
Sci-Fi Action/Adventure
Samurai
Sea Adventures
Searches/Expeditions for Lost Continents
Serialized films
Space Adventures
Sports - Action
Spy
Straight Action/ Conflict
Super-Heroes
Surfing or Surf Films
Survival
Swashbuckler
Sword and Sorcery (or "Sword and Sandal")
(Action) Suspense-Thrillers
Techno-Thrillers
Treasure Hunts
Undercover
Video Game Movies
War Adventure
Women in Prison

Comedy Films
Absurd
Action Comedies
Anarchic Comedies
Animals
Black Comedies (Dark Humor)
British Humor
Buddy
Classic Comedies
Clown
Comedy Thrillers
Comic Criminals
Coming of Age
Conceptual
Crime/Caper Comedies
'Dumb' Comedies
Fairy Tale
Family Comedies
Farce
Fish-out-of-water Comedies
Gross-out Comedies
Horror Comedies
Lampoon
Mafia Comedies
"Meet-Cute" Screwball or Romantic Comedies
Military Comedies
Mock-umentary (Fake Documentary)
Musical Comedies
Parenthood Comedies
Parody
Political Comedies
Populist
Pre-Teen Comedies
Re-Marriage Comedies
Road
Romantic Comedies (or "Rom-Coms")
Satire
School Days
Screwball Comedies
Sex Comedies
Shakespearean
Slacker
Slapstick
Social-Class Comedies
Sophisticated Comedies
Spoofs
Sports Comedies
Stand-Up
Stoner Comedies
Supernatural Comedies
Teen Sexploitation Comedies
Urban Comedies
War Comedies
Western Comedies
Zombie Comedies
Crime - Gangster Films
'Bad Girl' Movies
Blaxploitation
Buddy Cop
Caper Stories
Cops & Robbers
Courtroom Drama
Crime Comedy or Drama
Detective/Mysteries
Espionage
Femme Fatales
Film Noir
Gangs
Gangster
Hard-boiled Detective
Heist
Hood Films
Juvenile Delinquency
Law and Order (or Legal)
Lovers on the Run Road Films
Mafia, Organized Crime, Mob Films
Mysteries
Neo-Noir
Outlaw Biker Films
Police/Detective
Post-Noir
Procedurals
Prison
Private-Eye
Serial Killer
Suspense-Thrillers
Trial Films
True Crime
Vice Films
Victim
Who-dun-its
Women's Prison Films
Cult Films
Any genre or sub-genre may be considered a "Cult Film"  
Drama Films
Adaptations, Based upon True Stories
Addiction and/or Alcoholism
Adventure Drama
Adult
African-American
Americana
Autobiographies/Biographies
Biopics (Biographical)
British Empire
Buddy Film
"Chick" Flicks or "Guy-Cry" Films
Childhood Dramas
Christmas Films
Coming-of-Age
Costume Dramas
Courtroom Dramas
Crime Dramas
Dance
Diary Films
Disease/Disability
Disaster
Docu-dramas
Ensemble
Erotic Drama
Espionage
Ethnic Family Saga
Euro-Spy Films
"Fallen" Women
Fantasy Drama
Feminist
Film a Clef
Gay and Lesbian
Generation Gap
Hagiographies (Religious Figures)
Heavenly Drama
High School
Holiday Film
Holocaust
Hood Films
Inspirational
Investigative Reporting
Legal/Courtroom
Life Story
Literary Adaptation
Love
Marital Drama
Medical
Melodramas ("Women's Pictures," Tearjerkers, or "Weepies")
Message Movie
Musical Drama
Newspaper
Nostalgia
Odd Couple
Period Film
Police Drama
POW Drama
Presidential Politics or Political Dramas
Prison Drama
Propaganda
Prostitution
Psychological Drama
Race Relations, Inter-racial Themes
Religious
Resistance
Reunion
Road Movie
Romantic Dramas
Rural Drama
Sexual/Erotic (Steamy Romantic Dramas)
Shakespearean
Showbiz Dramas
Slice of Life
Soap Opera
Social Problem Film, Social Commentaries
Small-town Life
Sports Dramas or Biopics
Supernatural drama
Teen (or Youth) Films
Tragedy
True Crime Drama
Urban Drama
War-Military Dramas
Women's Friendship
Youth Culture
Epics - Historical
Adventure Epics
Alternate History (What if...?)
Biblical
British Empire
Costume Epics
Dark Ages
Greek Myth
Hagiographies
Historical or Biographical Epics (Biopics)
Indian History
Literary Adaptation
Medieval (Dark Ages)
'Period Pictures'
Religious
Roman Empire
Romantic Epic
Sword and Sandal
War or Westerns (Epic)
Horror Films
B-Movie Horror
Cannibalism or Cannibal Films
Classic Horror
Costume Horror
Creature Features
Demons or Demonic Possession
Dracula
Erotic
"Found Footage"
Frankenstein, other Mad Scientists
Ghosts
Giallo (European, Italian specifically)
Gore
Gothic
Haunted House, other Hauntings
Halloween
Horror Comedy (Humorous)
H.P. Lovecraftian
Macabre
Man-Made Horrors
Monsters
Natural Horror
Occult
Older-Woman-In-Peril Films ('Psycho-Biddy', aka 'Hag Horror' or 'Hagsploitation')
Paranormal
Post-Apocalyptic (or Apocalyptic) Horror
Psychic Powers
Psychological Horror
Reincarnation
Sadistic Horror
Satanic Stories
Sci-Fi Horror
Serial Killers
Sex Horror
Slashers or "Splatter" Films
Supernatural Horror
Survival Horror
Teen Terror ("Teen Screams")
Terror
Vampires
Witchcraft
Wolves, Werewolves
Zombies
Musical - Dance Films
Animated
Backstage Musicals
Ballet
Beach Party Films
Musical Biographies
Broadway Show Musicals
Comedy Musicals
Concert Films
Dance Films
Dramatic Musicals
Fairy-tale Musicals
Fantasy Musical
Film-Opera
Folk Musicals
Hip-Hop Films
Operettas
Rock-umentary
Romantic Musicals
Show-Biz Comedy
Stage Musicals
Western Musicals
Sci Fi Films
Action or Adventure Sci-Fi
Alien Invasion
Aliens, Extra-Terrestrial Encounters, Space Invaders
Anime
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Atomic Age
Classic Sci-Fi
Creature Films
Disaster - See also Greatest Disaster Film Scenes
Dystopic or Dystopia
End of World (Apocalyptic)
Exploration
Fairy Tales
Fantasy Films
50's Sci-Fi
"First Contact"
Futuristic (or Future Noir) or Visionary
Galactic Empire
Lost Worlds
Mad Scientists
Militaristic
Monsters and Mutants
Mythic Fables or Mythology
Natural Horror
Near Future
Other Dimensions
Outer Space
Parallel (or Alternate) Universe
Post-Apocalyptic (or Apocalyptic)
Pre-historic
Psychological Sci-Fi
Pulp
Punk Sci-Fi (i.e., Steam Punk, Nano Punk, Atom Punk, Cyber Punk, etc.)
Religious or Theological
Robots, Cyborgs and Androids
Sci-Fi Comedies
Sci-Fi Graphic Novels
Sci-Fi Horror
Sci-Fi Thrillers
Space Opera
Space or Sci-Fi Westerns
Speculative
Star Trek
Super-Hero Films (e.g., Superman and Others)
Supernatural
Tech-Noir
Time or Space Travel
Virtual Reality
War Films
Action Combat
Aerial Combat, Aviation
Afghanistan-Iraq Conflict
Anti-War
Civil War
Combat
Escape
Gulf War
Historical
Korean War
Military
Military Training and Operations
Military Comedy
Prisoner of War (POW)/Escape
Propaganda
Resistance
Revolutionary War
War-Spy
Submarine
Vietnam War
War Adventure
War Dramas
War Epic
War Romance
World War I
World War II
Westerns Films
Animal
B-Western
Biographies
Cattle Drive
Cavalry
Comedy Westerns
Epic Westerns
Euro-Westerns
Frontier
Gunfighters
Historical
Hybrid Westerns (with horror, noir, road movie, martial arts, etc.)
Indian War or Indian Westerns
'Issue' Westerns
Marshal Westerns
Military
Modern (or Contemporary) Western
Musical Western
Outlaws
Post-Apocalyptic Westerns
Psychological Westerns
Revenge Westerns
Revisionist
Road-Trail Journeys
Romantic Westerns
Science-Fiction Westerns
Shoot-outs
"Singing Cowboy" Westerns
Space Westerns
'Spaghetti' Westerns
Spoof Westerns
Traditional



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