Horror or Thriller?

greglondon · Oct 26, 2006

A friend of mine and I have had this on-and-off but long-running debate about Alien, i.e. the movie starring Sigourney Weaver.

Is it a Horror Movie or is it a Suspense/Thriller?

I say it's a horror plot. Basically, its the small group of teenagers who go into the haunted house and are picked off one-by-one by the evil that lives there.

My friend says its a Suspense/Thriller, because, well, because my friend doesn't know plot from an inkwell. Early on in the debate, I made the mistake of acknowledging the story has a lot of suspense, and this has never been forgotten by my friend-who-forgets-nothing-helpful-but-forgets-they-borrowed-five-dollars. Anyway, I need a good example of a Suspese plot (movie, novel, whatever) that clearly demarcates the fact that Alien is a Horror plot, and is clearly not in the Suspense/Thriller genre.

A lot of money (at least a dollar) has been riding on this for a couple of years now.

Actually, an example of each subgenre would help...

Anthony Ravenscroft · Oct 26, 2006

Hm. Well, having a romance in the plot doesn't make the story a Romance; taking place in 1850s Texas doesn't make it a Western; & having suspenseful moments doesn't make it Suspense. If the propositions as you say, your friend's wrong.

In the "Aliens" series, there's plenty of suspense, sure, but only in the process of Horror conventions that override almost everything else.

MacAllister · Oct 26, 2006

Gads. Total horror. It's a monster movie--a direct descendant of the classic monster movies that made our parents and grandparents shiver.

Good Word · Oct 26, 2006

I'm thinking sort of sci-fi horror, vs. straight horror. Or shlock. Is shlock a sub-category? lol

You're a heavy better, Mr. London, I must say.

greglondon · Oct 27, 2006

<i>I'm thinking sort of sci-fi horror, vs. straight horror. Or shlock.

Alien is schlock? Ouch.

Take thy beak from out of mine heart...

You wound me, madam.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 27, 2006

I tried watching Alien with my son a few months back. Gawd, that hasn't aged well.

He got bored and I ended up turning it off.

But yes, it's a monster movie, sci-fi/horror.

Del · Oct 27, 2006

The genre Horror ,I think, has been diluted. I think horror and see Carry, Night of the Living Dead, Wolfen. Go way back and there was The Mummy, Dracula, The Creature.

Someone mentioned Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the Thirteenth with regard to horror. To me these are SLASHERS. I don't watch them, but I like horror.

Is slasher a genre? Or is it just me? I don't like my horror to be thought of in the same light as slashers.

Good Word · Oct 27, 2006

Alien is schlock? Ouch.

Take thy beak from out of mine heart...

Now, now. Here--have a sock to staunch the flow of blood.

How about riveting shlock?

My husband said, as he was watching me get a c-section, that it reminded him of Alien.

So you can see that the film has permeated our culture.

But I do think of it as sci/fi horror.

Good Word · Oct 27, 2006

And Delarege, maybe slash is a sub-genre of horror?

I guess I never really differentiated the two, just thought of it as a genre with a scale of 1-10 on the gore chart. But there is a difference, obviously.

Del · Oct 27, 2006

Good Word said:
I guess I never really differentiated the two, just thought of it as a genre with a scale of 1-10 on the gore chart. But there is a difference, obviously.

Precisely my concern.

greglondon · Oct 27, 2006

as he was watching me get a c-section, that it reminded him of Alien.

I grew up on a farm and saw all manner of gooey messes.
It wasn't the goo that got me on Alien.
Actually the scene that got me the most was when the
captain was going around in the airducts
(Why, oh why must they make air ducts big enough for
badguys to walk around inside?)
and he's looking for the alien
with a flame thrower,
turns a corner, and
BLAMMO
just a glimpse of the alien before it grabs him.
I jumped out of my skin during that scene.

Horror or Thriller?

greglondon

Planet Wookie techno geek

Anthony Ravenscroft

Scribble, scribble, scribble

MacAllister

'Twas but a dream of thee

Good Word

still crazy after all these years

greglondon

Planet Wookie techno geek

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

Del

Sky isn't falling, ground is rising

Good Word

still crazy after all these years

Good Word

still crazy after all these years

Del

Sky isn't falling, ground is rising

greglondon

Planet Wookie techno geek