1. Alien (1979-1997)
Originally... A masterclass in both the sci-fi and horror genres, Ridley Scott's
Alien is one of the most frightening movies ever made. And essentially it takes elements of both those genres and the slasher movie sub-genre to create an expertly-rendered, quietly terrifying cinematic experience that still leaves a mark today.
So What Changed?Aliens probably marks the most famous franchise genre-shift in movie history - and arguably the most successful. When James Cameron signed on to take on directorial duties for the sequel to
Alien, he decided that things needed to on an entirely different scale, as to not step over the grand legacy of the original. Brilliantly, he made the somewhat risky decision of having Ripley up against an entire army of Xenomorphs in a balls-to-the-walls action flick that he her teaming up with a group of Colonial Marines (who were armed to the teeth with futuristic weapons).
Alien would continue to genre-switch for its next two cinematic endevours: for the third movie, audiences were granted a kind of "prison movie" (as directed by
Se7en's David Fincher) and for the fourth, something that shifted the genre back towards the run 'n' gun action of
Aliens.
Did It Pay Off? Many movie-goers - this writer included - think Cameron made an even better movie with
Aliens as a result of the genre-switch (it's often considered the best sci-fi/action film ever made), though most will agree that the third and fourth movies in the franchise got lost admist their willingness to try new things and delivered fairly unsatisfying entries in the
Alien canon.
Which movie franchises that abandoned their original genres have we missed? Let us know in the comments section below.