Mystery Film - Genre Blends: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical

Genre Blends: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical

By the 1970s and 1980s, detective and mystery stories began to appear in other genres, sometimes as the framing device for a horror, fantasy or science fiction film or placed in an earlier, nontraditional time period.

• Hec Ramsey, a 1972-74 television series starred Richard Boone as a Sherlock Holmes-type detective in the Old West at the turn of the 19th to 20th century.

• The science fiction films Soylent Green (1973), Outland (1981), Minority Report (2002), and I, Robot (2004) all involve futuristic police detectives solving a murder that leads to a larger conspiracy.

• Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Return from Witch Mountain (1978) and Race to Witch Mountain (2009), created by Alexander Key and produced by The Walt Disney Company are about two children from another world searching for their origins.

• The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), supernatural detective story about a man who solves his own murder from a previous life.

• Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) is a Giallo-inspired murder mystery thriller that involves the paranormal.

• Looker (1981), a science fiction murder mystery film involving futuristic computer technology.

• Blade Runner (1982), a neo-noir science fiction classic set in the future. This comes closest to capturing the spirit of Raymond Chandler's Marlowe with Harrison Ford's sardonic, voice-over narration.

• The Name of the Rose (1986), from the Umberto Eco novel, features a 13th century Sherlock Holmsian monk. The medieval era Brother Cadfael series of television mysteries also took the form of historical fiction.

• Angel Heart (1987), set in 1948, begins as a retro detective yarn but soon becomes a supernatural horror shocker. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), and the cult TV series of which this is a prequel, also blends murder-mystery forensic work with supernatural horror.

• Alien Nation (film) (1988), a murder-mystery police procedural in a science fiction setting. A race of stranded aliens must co-exist with humans on Earth in the near future. The story uses aliens to explore the issues of xenophobia, exploitation, and racism.

• Faceless (1988) is a gory Jess Franco private-eye horror-mystery.

• Cast a Deadly Spell (1991) is a cable film with gumshoe Harry P. Lovecraft (a reference to horror/fantasy author H. P. Lovecraft) set in a fantasy version of 1948 Los Angeles where sorcery and voodoo abound. This was followed by Witch Hunt in 1994, a mock fantasy/mystery set in 1953. Private eye Lovecraft (Dennis Hopper) uncovers witchcraft and murder in Hollywood.

• Lord of Illusions (1995), Clive Barker story of supernatural horror with New York P.I. Harry D'Amour, who has an affinity for the occult.

• Sleepy Hollow (1999), set in 1799, this features a constable who uses Holmsian scientific methods and forensic science to solve a series of murders in this horror-fantasy film from Tim Burton.

• The Harry Potter films (2001–2011) are fantasy stories that contain many mysteries concerning the main characters, especially in the first three entries: The Philosopher's Stone (2001), The Chamber of Secrets (2002) and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).

• The Reckoning (2003), a murder-mystery set in medieval England.

• Someone Behind You (2007), is a South Korean supernatural thriller/murder mystery based on a comic book.

• Yesterday Was a Lie (2008), neo-noir black-and-white detective mystery combines science fantasy and film noir.