Who says movies have to stick to a specific genre? While movies are often categorized into certain genres (comedy, adventure, romance, etc.), many actually bridge gaps and contain elements of multiple genres. Action comedies and romantic comedies abound, as do things like gross-out romantic movies.
However, those are quite popular. Some movies go all out and combine genres that seemingly don't make a lot of sense together but somehow find a way to make them work. These may not sound fun or engaging on paper, but they often come together through the art of good writing and filmmaking. These genre mash-ups are anything but ordinary.
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Edgar Wright is famous for combining genres, but Hot Fuzz may prove his most inventive. Directed by Wright and co-written by Wright and Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz is a bizarre combination of comedy, buddy cop action, slasher, and cult horror. The story concerns a police officer investigating mysterious deaths in a small English town, only to discover that it's part of a cultish conspiracy run by a secret neighborhood watch alliance. It's intentionally ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Like Edgar Wright, the Coen brothers are also masters of the genre mash-up. Perhaps their greatest accomplishment, at least in terms of originality, is O Brother, Where Art Thou? Serving as part prison tale, road epic, buddy comedy, and musical, this movie actually serves as a modern re-telling of Homer's The Odyssey, set during the Great Depression South. It takes a lot of guts to update Homer with a buddy comedy road musical, but the Coen brothers are nothing if not adventurous.
Back To The Future (1985)
Released in 1985, Back to the Future took the world by storm thanks to its sheer sense of fun. The movie contained multiple elements of a wide variety of movie genres, ensuring that there was something to enjoy for everyone. There were heavy elements of science fiction and time travel (obviously), high school romance and drama, buddy comedy humor, and even warm nostalgia owing to its unique '50s setting. If anything, it was a high school comedy period piece with elements of action and science fiction, and no other movie could match its imagination.
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
As the hilarious and unique title suggests, Cowboys & Aliens contains a genre mash-up that many may have thought impossible - Western and science fiction. While not one of Jon Favreau's more popular movies, Cowboys & Aliens is nevertheless a richly inventive film concerning an alien invasion in late 19th century New Mexico.
It's not often that Westerns are paired with other genres, and it's even rarer (if not downright unheard of) to pair it with hard science fiction. But that's what makes Jon Favreau such a unique and commendable filmmaker.
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
On the subject of unique Western mash-ups, Bone Tomahawk is perhaps the greatest horror Western ever produced. Directed by S. Craig Zahler and starring a wonderful cast of A-listers, Bone Tomahawk sees a small group of men rescuing one of their wives from a violent band of savage cannibals. Most of the movie concerns the trip through the Western landscape, but the final twenty minutes are filled with some of the most grotesque and realistic violence ever put to screen.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
Science fiction romances are of an incredibly rare breed, which makes Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind such a unique treat. Starring Jim Carrey as Joel and Kate Winslet as Clementine, Eternal Sunshine concerns an ex-couple erasing their memories of each other. However, Joel begins to regret the decision midway through his procedure and begins fighting back to regain control of his memories. It's heavily steeped in science fiction, but it's also incredibly sweet and romantic. It shouldn't have worked, but it certainly does.
Kill Bill (2004)
Quentin Tarantino is one of the most inventive directors of our time, and while he's crafted some truly unique movies throughout his long career, Kill Bill may be the most unique of them all. Kill Bill combines countless genres into one, including modern Western, hokey samurai B-movie, straightforward crime drama, and even elements of anime.
It was a major diversion from his more grounded crime movies of old, and it launched the "wackier" tone that his later movies would inhabit.
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix is now a classic that is firmly ingrained in the collective pop-culture consciousness, but it was unlike anything anyone had seen back in 1999. It is largely a piece of science fiction, as it concerns machine entities that harvest humans and plug them into a dream world so they can steal their body's energy. However, the movie deftly blends in elements of kung fu and straightforward action, resulting in some of the most imaginative action sequences ever put to film.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
While From Dusk Till Dawn was directed by Robert Rodriguez, it was written by Quentin Tarantino. And like Kill Bill, it contains a thrilling blend of disparate genres. It begins as a straightforward crime film before introducing elements of both Western and road trip films. However, things famously go off the wall when vampires are introduced, and the movie goes full horror-action. Whatever it is, From Dusk Till Dawn is pure entertainment.
Blade Runner (1982)
Before Blade Runner, mainstream science fiction films were typically portrayed as bright, imaginative, and "fun" movies for children. Blade Runner totally subverted those tropes, portraying its technology-heavy future as a dystopian hellscape. It uniquely blended heavy elements of science fiction with classic film noir of old, creating a spectacular hybrid of hardboiled detective fiction and imaginative sci-fi. It's movies like this that prove Ridley Scott is a remarkable director.