Rape and revenge

Film subgenre

Rape and revengeYears active| 1970s–present

|

Location| International; started in Sweden and United States
Major figures| I Spit on Your Grave, Irréversible, The Virgin Spring
Influences| European art cinema, Exploitation film
Influenced| Feminist film, New French Extremity

Rape and revenge, or rape-revenge, is a horror film subgenre characterized by an individual enacting revenge for rape or other sexual acts committed against them or others. Rape and revenge films are also commonly thrillers or vigilante films.

Notable for its graphic depiction of violence, rape, torture, and sexual imagery, rape and revenge films have attracted critical attention and controversy, often gaining a cult following and retrospectively associated with the New French Extremity, underground cinema, and arthouse cinema.[1][2][3][4]

## Themes and characteristics

[edit]

"Rape and revenge" was the pioneer and, so far, most controversial film hybrid-genre of the mid-20th century that focuses on the main protagonist. It has pioneered and is considered controversial for the portrayal of female (main) characters who become anti-hero(s)/vigilante(s) that engage in a vicious plot to eliminate the perpetrator/rapist(s) who have harmed them. There is some debate as to whether or not the revenge must be carried out by the assault victim to be considered part of this genre, or if it may be carried out by their loved ones as well [citation needed].

Each early films rose in prominence in the 1970s and relied heavily on the shock value of brutal rape scenes, followed by the even larger shock of the main character's sadistic revenge.[5]

## History

[edit]

The genre stems from a fascination with revenge in western culture, beginning with the descriptive tragedies of the Greeks and continuing in Elizabethan England (by Thomas Kyd and William Shakespeare). This desire for revenge or to experience revenge has also been the catalyst of many horror films and novels in general, not just those dealing with sexual assault and rape.

The hybrid-genre's most well known and well labeled works are from the latter half of the 20th century, except the 1931's film A Woman Branded, which is about a woman who was raped and contracted venereal disease and seeks revenge on the man who raped her. It is possibly considered as the earliest precursor of the "rape and revenge" subgenre, retrospectively [citation needed].

### The Virgin Spring

[edit]

Main article: The Virgin Spring

In 1960, the term ''rape and revenge" was coined in Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, considered the earliest film and precursor of the subgenre; the film is about a father who seeks vengeance on three herdsmen for the rape and murder of his daughter. This film however is technically a "Rape and Avange" film as it is not the victim herself that does the killings. According to director Ingmar Bergman, inspiration for the film came from the legend of Per Töre, which he read as a student. Per Töre has seven daughters who fall victim to seven rapists. He was also heavily influenced by Japanese cinema, being particularly a fan of Rashomon (1950).[6]

### The Phantom of Soho

[edit]

Main article: The Phantom of Soho

The 1964 Bryan Edgar Wallace "Krimi" The Phantom of Soho was the first movie to have the rape-victim herself become a serial revenge killer. The production company CCC infused this storyline later into the iconography of the Giallo in co-producing the seminal The Bird with the Crystal Plumage that has a similar theme.

The 1973's film Thriller – A Cruel Picture definitively codified the ethics and development of the genre, although the film was permanently banned in the same country.[7]

### Influences and pioneers

[edit]

The Last House on the Left, depicted rape and graphic violence, drew substantial attention and is considered one of the pioneers in the subgenre.

After the following U.S. release of The Virgin Spring, it inspired Wes Craven's debut The Last House on the Left, which is based on both Bergman's film and Swedish ballad "Töres döttrar i Wänge".[8][9] Like the Bergman's film, the plot of The Last House on the Left is carried by the two victim's parents exact vengeance to the criminals. In some cases, the film was more brutal and controversial than the Bergman's film, due to explicit rape and mutilation.

In the United States, it continues to produce several rape and revenge films in the 1970s including Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, Michael Winner's Death Wish, Lamont Johnson's Lipstick, and Meir Zarchi's I Spit on Your Grave; some of them are mainly screened in mainstream theaters, while others were screened independently in underground cinemas as exploitation films.

In addition to American films, rape and revenge films have been made in the Philippines (e.g.; Lino Brocka's Insiang), Japan (e.g., Takashi Ishii's Freeze Me), Finland,[10] Russia (The Voroshilov Sharpshooter), Argentina (e.g., I'll Never Die Alone; [2008]; original title: No Moriré Sola), and Norway (e.g., The Whore [2009]; original title: Hora).

Several female directors have tried their hand at the genre to subvert its codes including Virginie Despentes' Baise-moi (2000), Coralie Fargeat's Revenge (2017), Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale (2018), and Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman (2020), the latter revitalized the subgenre and garnered multiple awards and nominations.[11]

Some of the films, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Promising Young Woman, are subverted examples of the subgenre where a character was raped and murdered off-screen before the protagonist seeks revenge, although both films lack the use of graphic violence and onscreen rape.[12]

Motifs of the subgenre, meaning that without being claimed as belonging to the genre, sometimes appears as a subplot in films to take up the codes at one point such as Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange, Gaspar Noé's Irréversible, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, Lars von Trier's Dogville, and Paul Verhoeven's Elle.[13][14]

### Explanation of the subgenre

[edit]

Rape and revenge films generally follow three simple rules of the plot as a narrative structure, nearly similar to three-act structure;

1. Rape: The main character / victim is (violently) raped and maybe further abused, tortured or left for dead; the perpetrator(s) sometimes consider the victim dead.
2. Return: There are two optional decisions whereas to survive or not.
* The main character is heavily devastated by the victim's death.
* The main character / victim barely survives, but is still devastated, and may rehabilitate themselves under psychological circumstances.
3. Revenge: The main character (and optionally a third-party) exact vengeance and engage in a plot to eliminate their rapist(s).

In Irréversible, the structure was reversed, with the first part depicting the revenge before tracing back the events which led to that point. Roger Ebert argues that, by using this structure as well as a false revenge, Irréversible cannot be classified as an exploitation film, as no exploitation of the subject matter takes place.[15]

## Notable films

[edit]

* 13 Assassins (2010)[16]
* 22 Female Kottayam
* 6 Guns
* American Mary
* Avenged (2013)[17]
* Bad Reputation (2005)
* Bandit Queen
* Baise-moi
* Big Driver
* The Birth of a Nation (2016)
* Blink Twice
* The Crow (1994)
* Coward of the County
* Daughter of Darkness (1993)
* Death Rides a Horse
* Death Weekend
* Death Wish (1974)[18]
* Death Wish II
* Demented (2010)
* The Devil All the Time
* ¡Dispara!
* Elle
* Extremities
* Eye for an Eye (1996)[18]
* Fear Island
* Freeze Me
* Girls Against Boys
* The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, 2011)
* Gone (2012)
* Grave of the Vampire[19]
* A Gun for Jennifer
* Gun Woman
* Gutterballs
* Hannie Caulder[18]
* Hard Candy
* The Hills Have Eyes (1977, 2006)
* Horns (2013)
* Hora (2009)
* The Horseman
* The House of the Spirits
* I Saw the Devil
* I Spit on Your Grave (1978, 2010)
* I Spit on Your Grave 2
* I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance is Mine
* I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu
* Insiang
* Irréversible (2002)
* Jackson County Jail
* Jungle Warriors
* Jennifer's Body (2009)
* Kill Bill: Volume 1
* Kill the Rapist?
* Kuroneko
* The Ladies Club
* Lady Snowblood
* The Last House on the Left (1972, 2009)
* Last Stop on the Night Train
* Lipstick (1976)
* Liquid Sky (1982)
* Memento (2000)
* Men Can't Be Raped
* MFA
* Mom (2017)
* Ms .45 (1981)
* Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985)
* The Nightingale (2018)
* Nocturnal Animals (2016)
* Otis
* The Phantom of Soho (1964)
* Promising Young Woman (2020)
* Rape of Love
* Red Sonja (1985)
* Return to Sender (2015)
* Revenge (2017)
* Revengers Tragedy
* Rings (2017)
* Riot on Sunset Strip
* Rise: Blood Hunter
* Rob Roy (1995)
* Run! Bitch Run!
* Savage Streets
* Savage Vengeance
* Savages (2012)
* A Serbian Film[20]
* Shutter (2004, 2008)
* Sleepers
* Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
* The Stendhal Syndrome
* The Strange Thing About the Johnsons
* The Stranger (1995)
* Straw Dogs (1971, 2011)
* Sudden Impact (1983)
* Teeth (2007)
* Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
* Thriller – A Cruel Picture (1973)
* Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives
* Titus (1999), a modernized adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus
* Tomcats (1977)
* The Virgin Spring (1960)
* Voroshilov Sharpshooter
* Vulgar
* Wehshi Haseena (2004)
* Wild Things (1998)
* Wild Things 2
* Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough
* Wild Things: Foursome

## Reception and legacy

[edit]

The Virgin Spring received polarized reviews from critics, but subject to censorship since its U.S release, and later won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, marked the first rape and revenge film to win an Academy Award.[21] In retrospective years, the film renewed positively and expressed inspiration of several films, described as a relatively auspicious heritage to rape and revenge films.[22]

The subgenre has attracted critical attention and controversy, especially when it is akin to horror cinema – is probably one of the most controversial genres, accused of voyeurism and complacency by its detractors.[1][2][3][4] Much of this critical attention comes from feminist critics examining the complex politics involved in the genre and its impact on cinema more generally. More recently, a broad analysis of the rape-revenge genre and concept was published in Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study, by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. The book argues against a simplistic notion of the term "rape-revenge" and suggests a film-specific approach in order to avoid generalizing films which may "diverge not over the treatment of sexual assault as much as they do in regard to the morality of the revenge act".[23]

Rape and revenge films, like many horror films, cause controversy by making the audience complicit in the violence of the story. Because of this, both old and new films of the genre struggle with the balance of creating a realistic story that forces the audience to confront the horrifying reality, not putting so many horrifying things on the screen as to isolate your audience, and not making light or sexualizing the horrifying topics that do end up in the film.[24] The controversy stems from the fact that films in the genre can often be accused of using the moral of the story as a pretext to justify extremely graphic murder and rape scenes. For example, I Spit on Your Grave, notable for its controversial depiction of extreme graphic violence and depictions of gang rape, sparked controversies with feminists protesting the movie and people accusing the movie of glorifying rape. The Motion Picture Association of America tried to prevent the film's producers from using the R rating. After the association gave the film an R rating, the producer of the film added rape scenes, making it an X-rated movie. Ultimately, an agreement was reached where the film removed any references or explicit shots referring to anal rape and the MPAA restored the original R rating.[25] In an interview with Fangoria, director Meir Zarchi said as a response to the backlash:

> "Frankly, I'm not concerned whether it receives bad press or not. It doesn't touch me one way or the other whatsoever. If you told me that the public does not like it and the critics like it, then there is something very, very bad about that. Who am I reaching? Three-hundred critics around the United States, or 2,000 around the world? It's really the public that counts, the 20 million who have seen the film around the globe."[26]

The remaining films Irréversible, The Last House on the Left, and Thriller – A Cruel Picture continue to spark substantial attention and controversy, with Irréversible notable for nine-minute continuous rape scene and repeatedly bludgeon-to-death scene, prompting widespread outrage among audiences during the film's premiere, including the cast from the film, and film critics stormed out.[27] The anime adaptation of Redo of Healer also attracted controversy for the first two episodes, depicting rape and graphic violence at one point as a plot device, with one review describes the anime:

> "Redo of Healer may well be the most notorious and divisive anime series this season, in this case it earned a reputation for using revenge rape as a key recurring story element in the original material".[28]

Despite this, the anime gained higher than average percentage of female viewers and novelist Rui Tsukiyo expressed their surprise on Twitter.[29]

Rape

Types

* Acquaintance rape
* Campus rape
* Child sexual abuse
* Corrective rape
* LGBT victims
* Cybersex trafficking
* Drug-facilitated rape
* Date rape
* Gang rape
* Genocidal rape
* Gray rape
* Live streaming rape
* Marital rape
* Prison rape
* Rape chant
* Serial rape
* Sexual abuse
* Sexual assault
* Statutory rape
* Unacknowledged rape
* Rape by deception

Effects and motivations

* Effects and aftermath
* Factors involved
* Pregnancy from rape
* Rape crisis movement
* Rape trauma syndrome
* Causes
* Post-assault treatment of sexual assault victims
* Weinstein effect
* Secondary victimisation
* Sociobiological theories
* Rape culture

By country

* Afghanistan
* Belgium
* China
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Egypt
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* India
* Pakistan
* Papua New Guinea
* Philippines
* Saudi Arabia
* South Africa
* Sweden
* United Kingdom
* United States

During conflicts

* Armenian genocide
* World War II
* Eastern Front
* Italian campaign
* Imperial Japan
* Occupation of Germany / Japan / Poland / Manchuria
* Liberation of France / Serbia
* Kashmir conflict
* Algerian War
* Vietnam War
* Sri Lankan civil war
* Bangladesh Liberation War
* Sierra Leone Civil War
* Bosnian War
* Rwandan genocide
* Congo Wars
* Darfur genocide
* ISIL
* Syrian civil war
* Tigray war
* Russian invasion of Ukraine
* Gaza war
* By Palestinians
* By Israel

Laws

* Marital rape laws by country
* Marry-your-rapist law
* Rape shield law
* False accusation of rape
* Rape investigation
* Rape kit
* Sexual consent in law
* In Islamic law

Related articles

* Anti-rape movement
* Bodily integrity
* Date rape drug
* Sexual violence statistics
* History of rape
* Military sexual trauma
* Preventive measures
* Rape by gender
* Rape of males
* Anti-rape device
* Rape crisis centre
* Rape myth
* Rape pornography
* Rape and revenge films
* Rape fantasy
* Rape schedule
* Rape statistics
* Rape threat
* Sex and the law
* Sex trafficking
* Sexual harassment
* Sexual predator
* Sexual trauma therapy
* Sexual violence

Portals
Law portal

* v
* t
* e

## See also

[edit]

* B-movie
* Captivity narrative
* New Hollywood
* Vulgar auteurism
* American independent cinema
* Extreme cinema
* Midnight film
* Psychological fiction (drama, horror, thriller)
* Revenge tragedy
* Splatter film
* Social thriller
* Video nasty
* #MeToo movement

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Clover, Carol J. (1992). Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00620-2.
2. ^ a b Creed, B. (1993). The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-05259-9.
3. ^ a b King, Claire Sisco (2003). "Review of "Thelma & Louise" by Marita Sturken and of "The New Avengers: Feminism, Femininity, and the Rape-Revenge Cycle" by Jacinda Read". Retrieved October 6, 2007.
4. ^ a b Read, Jacinda (2000). The New Avengers: Feminism, Femininity, and the Rape-Revenge Cycle. Manchester, UK and New York: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-5905-4.
5. ^ Austin, Isobella (2021-02-19). "'Rape-revenge' films are changing: they now focus on the women, instead of their dads". The Conversation. Retrieved 2023-08-10.
6. ^ Gado, Frank (1986). The Passion of Ingmar Bergman. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 241\. ISBN 0822305860.
7. ^ Trädgårdsmästaren – Kommentar at the Swedish Film Institute (in Swedish)
8. ^ "Wes Craven: the mainstream horror maestro inspired by Ingmar Bergman". The Guardian. 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
9. ^ "The Bergman Film That Inspired Wes Craven". The Criterion Collection. 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022.
10. ^ Makela, Anna. "Political rape, private revenge. The story of sexual violence in Finnish Film and Television". Archived from the original on September 7, 2004. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
11. ^ Machado, Carmen Maria (2021-01-29). "How "Promising Young Woman" Refigures the Rape-Revenge Movie". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
12. ^ McEntee, Joy (2021-10-15). "Vigilantism and the Law in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"". Film Criticism. 45 (1). doi:10.3998/fc.977. ISSN 2471-4364.
13. ^ Tobias, Scott (2023-02-08). "Punishing rape-revenge drama Irréversible has been recut – but why?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
14. ^ Brooks, Xan (2016-05-21). "Elle review: Paul Verhoeven's brazen rape revenge comedy is a dangerous delight". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
15. ^ Ebert, Roger (2003-03-14). "Irreversible". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
16. ^ "13 Assassins (2010) - Takashi Miike - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
17. ^ "Savaged (2013) - Michael S. Ojeda - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
18. ^ a b c Schubart, Rikke (2007). Super Bitches and Action Babes. McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers. pp. 83–104\. ISBN 9780786429240.
19. ^ "Grave of the Vampire (1972) - John Hayes | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
20. ^ https://www.allmovie.com/movie/a-serbian-film-am14938
21. ^ "The 33rd Academy Awards (1961) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
22. ^ Heller-Nicholas 2011, p. 22.
23. ^ Heller-Nicholas, Alexandr (2011). Rape-Revenge Film: A Critical Study. New York: McFarland. p. 230\. ISBN 978-0-7864-4961-3. Archived from the original on 2013-03-19.
24. ^ Henry, Claire (2014). Revisionist Rape-Revenge: Redefining a Film Genre. New York, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
25. ^ "'I Spit on Your Grave' Opposed on R Rating". The New York Times. February 1, 1984. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
26. ^ Frentzen, Jeffrey (October 31, 1984). "I Spit on Your Grave". Fangoria. No. 39\. pp. 14–18. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
27. ^ Palmer, Tim (2006). "Style and Sensation in the Contemporary French Cinema of the Body". Journal of Film and Video. 58 (3): 22–32, p.27. ISSN 0742-4671. JSTOR 20688527.
28. ^ "The Winter 2021 Preview Guide - Redo of Healer". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
29. ^ "Redo of Healer Female Viewership Is Higher Than Average". Anime Corner. 2021-03-25. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-09.

* v
* t
* e

Exploitation film

* Blaxploitation
* Bruceploitation
* Cannibal
* Eurospy
* Euro War / Macaroni Combat
* Giallo
* Hippie
* Martial arts
* Mexploitation
* Mockbuster
* Mondo
* Nazi exploitation
* Nunsploitation
* Outlaw biker
* Ozploitation
* Poliziotteschi
* Pornochanchada
* Rape and revenge
* Rumberas film
* Sexploitation
* Sharksploitation
* Slasher
* Spaghetti Western
* Splatter
* Sword-and-sandal
* Turksploitation
* Vansploitation
* Women in prison

* v
* t
* e

Film genres

By style|

* Action
* Heroic bloodshed
* Hong Kong action
* Adventure
* Art
* Biographical
* Comedy
* Action
* Black
* Commedia all'italiana
* Sexy
* Dramedy
* Gross out
* Horror
* Parody
* Mo lei tau
* Remarriage
* Romantic
* Sex
* Screwball
* Silent
* Slapstick
* Cyberpunk
* Japanese
* Documentary
* Animated
* City symphony
* Docudrama
* Mockumentary
* Mondo
* Pseudo
* Semi
* Travel
* Video essay
* Drama
* Calligrafismo
* Dramedy
* Historical
* Legal
* Erotic
* Commedia sexy all'italiana
* Pink
* Sexploitation
* Thriller
* Educational
* Social guidance
* Epic
* Sword-and-sandal
* Experimental
* Exploitation
* see Exploitation film template
* Fantasy
* Comedy
* Contemporary
* Fantastique
* High
* Historical
* Magic realism
* Science
* Film noir
* Neo-noir
* Pulp noir
* Tech noir
* Gothic
* Romance
* Southern
* Space
* Suburban
* Urban
* Horror
* Arthouse
* Black
* Body
* Cannibal
* Chinese horror
* Christmas horror
* Comedy
* Eco
* Fantastique
* Found footage
* German underground
* Ghost
* Giallo
* List of films
* Holiday
* Japanese horror
* Korean horror
* Lovecraftian
* Melodrama
* Korean
* Natural
* New French Extremity
* Psycho-biddy
* Psychological
* Science fiction
* Slasher
* Splatter
* Satanic
* Maximalist film
* Minimalist film
* Mumblecore
* Musical
* Arthouse
* Backstage
* Jukebox
* Musicarello
* Operetta
* Sceneggiata
* Mystery
* Detective
* Occult detective
* Whodunit
* Giallo
* Crossover
* Pornographic
* Hardcore pornography
* Softcore pornography
* (Malayalam)
* Propaganda
* Reality
* Romantic
* Comedy
* Bromantic
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Paranormal
* Thriller
* Science fiction
* Art
* Comedy
* Fantastique
* Fantasy
* Gothic
* Horror
* Military
* New Wave
* Space opera
* Steampunk
* Tokusatsu
* Western
* Slice of life
* Slow cinema
* Survival
* Thriller
* Comedy
* Erotic
* Financial
* Giallo
* Legal
* New French Extremity
* Political
* Psychological
* Romantic
* Techno
* Transgressive
* Cinema of Transgression
* Extreme cinema
* New French Extremity
* Trick

By theme|

* Animals
* Beach party
* Body swap
* Buddy
* Buddy cop
* Female
* Cabrito
* Cannibal
* Chicano
* Colonial
* Coming-of-age
* Concert
* Crime
* Detective
* Gangster
* Gentleman thief
* Gokudō
* Gong'an
* Heist
* Heroic bloodshed
* Hood
* Mafia
* Mafia comedy
* Mumbai underworld
* Poliziotteschi
* Yakuza
* Dance
* Disaster
* Apocalyptic
* Drug
* Psychedelic
* Stoner
* Dystopian
* Ecchi
* Ethnographic
* Exploitation
* Blaxploitation
* Mexploitation
* Turksploitation
* Extraterrestrial
* Food and drink
* Gendai-geki
* Ghost
* Goona-goona epic
* Gothic
* Romance
* Space
* Suburban
* Girls with guns
* Harem
* Hentai
* Lolicon
* Shotacon
* Tentacle erotica
* Homeland
* Isekai
* Jidaigeki
* Samurai
* Kaitō
* LGBTQ
* Yaoi
* Yuri
* Luchador
* Magical girl
* Martial arts
* Bruceploitation
* Chopsocky
* Gun fu
* Kung fu
* Ninja
* Wuxia
* Mecha
* Anime
* Monster
* Giant monster
* Kaiju
* Mummy
* Vampire
* Zombie
* Zombie comedy
* Mountain
* Mouth of Garbage
* Muslim social
* Nature
* Environmental issues
* Opera
* Outlaw biker
* Ozploitation
* Partisan film
* Prison
* Women
* Race
* Rape and revenge
* Road
* Rubble
* Rumberas
* Sexploitation
* Bavarian porn
* Commedia sexy all'italiana
* Mexican sex comedy
* Nazi exploitation
* Pornochanchada
* Nunsploitation
* Sex report
* Shoshimin-eiga
* Slavery
* Slice of life
* Snuff
* South Seas
* Sports
* Spy
* Eurospy
* Superhero
* Surfing
* Swashbuckler
* Sword-and-sandal
* Sword and sorcery
* Travel
* imaginary voyage
* Trial
* Vigilante
* War
* Anti-war
* Euro War
* Submarine
* Western
* Acid
* Contemporary Western
* Dacoit Western
* Fantasy
* Florida
* Horror
* Meat pie
* Northern
* Ostern
* Revisionist
* Science fiction
* Singing cowboy
* Space
* Spaghetti
* Weird Western
* Zapata Western

By movement
or period|

* Absolute
* American eccentric cinema
* Australian New Wave
* Auteur films
* Berlin School
* Bourekas
* Brighton School
* British New Wave
* Kitchen sink realism
* Budapest school
* Calligrafismo
* Cannibal boom
* Cinéma du look
* Cinema Novo
* Cinema of Transgression
* Cinéma pur
* Commedia all'italiana
* Czechoslovak New Wave
* Documentary Film Movement
* Dogme 95
* Erra Cinema
* European art cinema
* Film d'art
* Film gris
* Free Cinema
* French New Wave
* German Expressionist
* German underground horror
* Nigerian Golden Age
* Grupo Cine Liberación
* Heimatfilm
* Hollywood on the Tiber
* Hong Kong New Wave
* Indiewood
* Iranian New Wave
* Italian futurist
* Italian neorealist
* Japanese New Wave
* Kammerspielfilm
* L.A. Rebellion
* Lettrist
* Modernist film
* Mumblecore
* Neorealist
* New French Extremity
* New German
* New generation
* New Hollywood
* New Nollywood
* New Objectivity
* New Queer
* No wave
* Nuevo Cine Mexicano
* Pan-Indian film
* Parallel cinema
* Persian Film
* Poetic realist
* Polish Film School
* Poliziotteschi
* The Prague film school
* Prussian film
* Pure Film Movement
* Remodernist
* Romanian New Wave
* Slow cinema
* Spaghetti Western
* Socialist realist
* Social realist
* Kitchen sink realism
* Soviet parallel
* Structural
* Surrealist
* Sword-and-sandal
* Telefoni Bianchi
* Third Cinema
* Toronto New Wave
* Vulgar auteurism
* Yugoslav Black Wave

By demographic|

* Adult
* Black
* Children and family
* Anime
* Men
* Seinen
* Stag
* Teen
* Shōnen
* Shōjo
* Women
* Chick flick
* Josei

By format,
technique,
approach,
or production|

* 3D
* Actuality
* Animation
* Anime
* Art
* Cartoon
* Computer
* Stop-motion
* Traditional
* Anthology
* Art
* B movie
* Behind-the-scenes
* Black-and-white
* Blockbuster
* Cinéma vérité
* Classical Hollywood cinema
* Collage
* Color
* Compilation
* Composite
* Computer screen
* Cult
* midnight movie
* Database cinema
* Docufiction
* Ethnofiction
* Experimental
* Abstract
* Feature
* Featurette
* Film à clef
* Film-poem
* Found footage
* Hyperlink cinema
* Independent
* Guerrilla filmmaking
* List of American independent films
* Interstitial art
* Live action
* animation
* Low-budget
* Major film studios
* Masala
* Maximalist film
* Message picture
* Meta-film
* Minimalist film
* Mockbuster
* Modernist film
* Musical short
* Mythopoeia
* Neorealist
* No-budget
* One-shot
* Paracinema
* Participatory
* Poetry
* Postmodernist
* Reverse motion
* Satire
* Sceneggiata
* Semidocumentary
* Serial
* Shinpa
* Short
* Silent
* Slow cinema
* Socialist realist
* Sound
* Underground
* Video nasty
* Vulgar auteurism
* Z movie

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template