Do you consider 1987 PREDATOR a horror movie

[Riv86672]

This stems from a conversation I had today as to whether or not PREDATOR was a horror movie. I’m undecided but admit it played well as one, w. the isolation, the mystery creature, the mounting tension and fear, etc. It just happened the characters were well armed and the final girl was Arnold.

IMDB categorizes the movie as “Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi”, while Rotten Tomatoes goes w. “Action & Adventure, Horror”, so there seems to be some wiggle room.

I’m just interested in your opinions, though, out of curiosity.

[caj]

A few years ago I had a nephew in the military and he was overseas. I was trying to think of something to send him to read so I made a list of my 50 favorite scary movies.

The list had the year it came out plus a small paragraph about the plot. He not only loved it but he said all his buddies loved it too.

Predator ranked at #10 on my list. So yeah I consider it a horror film.

[Kirby101]

No, I consider it a monster movie.

[Riv86672]

A few years ago I had a nephew in the military and he was overseas. I was trying to think of something to send him to read so I made a list of my 50 favorite scary movies.

The list had the year it came out plus a small paragraph about the plot. He not only loved it but he said all his buddies loved it too.

Predator ranked at #10 on my list. So yeah I consider it a horror film.

Cool, ty for the great reply!

A list like yours would’ve come in handy during my own deployments...

[Totoro Man]

gotta agree with Kirby101 on this one. it's a pretty straight-forward monster movie when you break down the plot points and how the narrative flows.

I would sooner call "First Blood" a horror movie than the first "Predator" movie.

but at LEAST the first film in both of these franchises actually worked... although I have to admit I liked Danny Glover in Predator 2 even if I thought the film itself was mediocre.

[Otto Gruenwald]

It's a slasher, but instead of the victims being teenagers they're action heroes.

[tg1982]

I just consider it a sci-fi action movie (a great one), along the lines of the Terminator franchise. Or Starship Troopers.

[batnbreakfast]

I consider Predator 1987 a very good movie but really a mix of genres. The first half is almost only an 80s macho action fest but the movie is also self aware. The creature design is brilliant and listening to the audio commentary and how the original plan was we are very lucky with what Stan Winston designed. Buying Predator is worth it. I've watched my copy a lot

[godisawesome]

I consider Predator 1987 a very good movie but really a mix of genres. The first half is almost only an 80s macho action fest but the movie is also self aware. The creature design is brilliant and listening to the audio commentary and how the original plan was we are very lucky with what Stan Winston designed. Buying Predator is worth it. I've watched my copy a lot

It’s one of those genre-busting films that’s hard to classify as simply one thing, because it works so well as a lot of things. It mixes action movie deliciousness with horror, mystery, sci-fi, and survival in equal measure.

It’s a bit like The Prestige (mystery, sci-fi, period piece, and psychological horror) or Indiana Jones (action/adventure, horror, and comedy) in that respect. They belong on multiple lists because they so successfully capture the tone and tenor of different genres at different times, and slip between them gracefully.

[DanMad1977]

Genre mix.

Like Terminator- Action-sci-fi
Or Alien: Horror-Sci-fi

[BigLbo]

if i walked into a video rental store(god i miss those) looking for predator i'd look in the action section 1st.

[MRP]

I'd go with monster movie (or creature feature) as well. Many but not all monster movies are also horror movies and share some common elements, and many, but not all horror movies are monster movies. They're two things that would have a lot of overlap in a Venn diagram, but they aren't the same.

For example. Predator, Alien and Terminator are all monster movies. Alien is also a horror movie (and a sci-fi movie), Predator has some elements of a horror movie, but isn't quite a full blown horror movie, and Terminator only has a few vestigial elements of a horror movie but isn't one at all.

-M

[kingaliencracker]

Sci-Fi > Action > Horror.

That's kind of how I see Predator. The plot of mercenaries going to a remote jungle under CIA orders only to be hunted by a predatory alien isn't grounded or relatable enough for me personally to qualify stronger as a horror film. I feel that true horror films have to have a sense of "I can see myself in this situation" for the viewer to really qualify as a horror-first movie.

[Frobisher]

It’s a slasher/action hybrid. It follows all slasher tropes except that the last girl is actually a last guy with a neck like a tree trunk, and they level the whole jungle with automatic weapons instead of checking the creepy house with a flashlight.

[ChrisIII]

It's definetly got quite a few disturbing kills, even compared to some slasher movies. The fate of Hopper and his team, for example, is particularly horrific; and we graphically see what happens with Billy.

The sequels actually seemed to decrease a lot of the gore of the first one.