Christian Metz Model of Genre Development

Christian Metz, in his book Language And Cinema (1974) explored the development of genre film and suggested that each genre passes through four phases of existence. The four phases being;

Christian Metz

Experimental

This term refers to the phase of early films which explored and experimented with the different genres. For example, and Experimental Thriller film would be the film M (1931) as it is one of the first Thriller films. An example of an Experimental Horror film would be Nosferatu (1922).

Classic

This refers to the phase of films which established the narrative conventions within a certain genre of films in its most successful and defining period. For example, a Classic Horror film would be Dracula (1931) and a Classic Rom-Com would be Annie Hall (1977).

Parody

This refers to the films that have mimicked and mocked the genres in some sort of comical way. For example, Scary Movie (2000) is a Parody of a lot of popular Horror Films and Date Movie (2006) is a Parody of popular Rom-Coms.

Deconstruction

This refers to films that have taken the generic elements of the genre and amalgamated them into varying sub-genres. For example, Seven (1995), Saw (2004) and Scream (1996) all could be considered Horror films due to certain elements. Seven and Saw however both incorporate traits of a psychological thriller, Scream on the other hand incorporates some elements of a Parody film and also elements of a slasher film - which is a sub genre of Horror. An example of a Deconstruction Rom-Com would be a Shaun of the Dead (2004) as this film incorporates the Horror film trait of Zombies.