7 first movies in their genre

"Halloween"

Drama, thriller, horror | 3.82 out of 5 MyShows | 1978

Michael Myers, who committed the murder of his sister on Halloween night, spent 15 years in a mental institution. After escaping from there, he returns to his hometown to wreak havoc again on All Saints' Eve.

Genre: branded slasher

In these movies, the maniac usually has a memorable name, a unique killing style, and is often linked to a specific place or event. "Halloween" was not the first slasher movie. Bob Clark's "Black Christmas" overtook it by several years, not to mention 1960's "Psycho". However, it was this movie that managed to become the exemplary picture of the genre. Even film critics, who were often hard on horror genre, recognized "Halloween" as a benchmark.

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"Groundhog Day"

Romance, fantasy, comedy, frama | 4.34 out of 5 MyShows | 1993

TV host Phil Connors comes to a small town in Pennsylvania every year for Groundhog Day, but this time things don't go according to plan: time loops and he experiences the same February 2 over and over again. Trapped, Phil decides to use the endless day to his advantage, because now his future is predictable. Eventually he realizes that the simplest wish, to see February 3, will be out of reach.

Genre: time loop movie

When "Groundhog Day" was released in February 1993, it was a smash hit. It is one of the few examples of a truly genre-first movie that not only became popular, but also earned the title of classic.

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"Airplane!"

Drama, thriller, horror | 3.98 out of 5 MyShows | 1980

Robert Hayes plays a former military pilot who finds himself aboard an airplane when the entire crew is incapacitated by food poisoning. Together with a stewardess, he has to take control and save the passengers. However, chaos, absurd challenges and a series of incredible adventures await them ahead.

Genre: parody

In the 1970s, Mel Brooks directed several popular genre parodies: "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein", and "Silent Movie". However, he did "Airplane!" differently: everything was played completely straight, as if the absurd things happening were perfectly normal. The actors were instructed to act as if they weren't in a comedy. And it was a novelty in the genre.

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"Night of the Living Dead"

Thriller, horror | 3.56 out of 5 MyShows | 1968

Barbra and her brother Johnny arrive at a secluded cemetery where they suddenly encounter the reanimated dead. Barbra finds shelter in an abandoned house where Ben, the Coopers and their daughter Karen, and lovers Tom and Judy are already hiding. Only later they learn that the cause of the terrible epidemic — radioactive radiation, brought from Venus by a NASA spaceship.

Genre: zombie horror

Zombies have appeared on screens and in books for decades, often as creatures controlled by some voodoo practitioner. But director George Romero had the idea to reimagine them as ordinary people who died and were brought back to life while acting independently. "Night of the Living Dead" literally wrote the rules that almost all subsequent zombie movies have followed. Zombies eating human flesh? That's Romero's invention. So are zombies wandering around places they're familiar with. On top of these and other factors, the movie introduced the idea that zombies can be more than just horror villains: they can be symbols. The movie is filled with politically charged themes. Released in the late '60s, when America was being torn apart by Vietnam, Romero used its neither living nor dead antagonists as an allegory for the confusion felt by many in the country. Each subsequent zombie movie and TV show has relied to some degree on the ideological precedents set by the director.

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"48 Hrs."

Thriller, action, comedy, drama, crime | 3.59 out of 5 MyShows | 1982

Nick Nolte plays a tough detective hunting two criminals who killed a cop. But he can't do it without the help of a slick but carefree crook serving time for stealing half a million dollars. The forced partners hardly get along: one of them wants revenge, the other dreams of getting the money back and getting a hot chick.

Genre: action-comedy about 'mismatched' partners

Such duets have appeared almost from the very inception of cinematography. Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello are, of course, household names. Action movies with buddies were nothing new, either. Paul Newman and Robert Redford became icons thanks to the 1969 movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Walter Hill's "48 Hrs.", released in 1982, was a little different. He combined a comedy about mismatched friends with an action movie in a way no one had ever done before.

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"Pulp Fiction"

Thriller, crime | 4.54 out of 5 MyShows | 1994

Gangsters Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield discuss philosophical issues between showdowns and collecting debts for crime boss Marsellus Wallace. In the first story, Vincent spends the evening with his wife Mia. In the second, Marsellus bribes boxer Butch Coolidge to lose a fight. In the third, Vincent and Jules find themselves in a bad situation due to an accident.

Genre: chaotic crime comedy with no clear chronology

Hollywood has always made crime movies, but in 1994, Quentin Tarantino flipped the genre with "Pulp Fiction". He added trademark dialog and unconventional storytelling, making the characters come alive: hitmen discussed fast food and comic books between kills.

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"The Blair Witch Project"

Detective, horror | 3.34 out of 5 MyShows | 1999

In October 1994, three student filmmakers traveled to the woods of Maryland to make a documentary about a local legend, The Blair Witch. According to legend, for centuries she has tormented and killed those who dared to cross the borders of her domain. There was talk of a curse, ritual sacrifices, ominous symbols, and unexplained phenomena. Armed with a 16-millimeter camera, the students went deep into the Black Hills forest — and disappeared. A year later, their footage was found. The footage was the only evidence of the nightmare that played out in these dark wilds.

Genre: the faux-found-footage movie

"The Blair Witch Project" was not the first movie in the found-footage genre: "Cannibal Holocaust" came out 19 years before it. But this particular picture came along at just the right time, using available handheld video cameras and first-person filming to create a real-life effect. The ad campaign convinced many that the movie was a true documentary.

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