Lists movies Five Films With Unexpected Genre Shifts One minute you’re watching a crime thriller or historical drama‚ and the next you’re knee-deep in sci fi or horror… By Lorna Wallace | Published on March 28‚ 2024 icon-comment 1 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed The vast majority of films remain the same genre (or the same mix of genres) throughout their entire runtime‚ but every so often a film that seems to be telling one kind of story switches to another part way through. There are‚ of course‚ a few films where this abrupt change is expected from the beginning: Anyone pressing play on James Cameron’s Titanic (1997)‚ for instance‚ has it in the back of their mind that the romance between Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) is going to be rudely interrupted by an iceberg‚ turning the love story into a disaster/survival story. Below I’ve compiled a list of five films which I think brilliantly execute unexpected genre shifts. Some may consider the following discussion of these films to be spoiler-y—I’ll try to avoid major plot points‚ but if you don’t want to know anything about the twists and turns of these films‚ consider yourself warned as I will mention (or at least hint at) the genre switch in each. (The same goes for the trailers below‚ most of which tease or reveal a bit more than you might expect…) From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) I’m kicking this list off with one of the best-known genre shift films: Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn. The film starts off as a tense crime story‚ with brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richie Gecko (Quentin Tarantino‚ who also wrote the screenplay) on the run for robbery and murder. Wanting to cross into Mexico‚ they kidnap a father (Harvey Keitel) who is vacationing with his two teenage children (Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu) and force the family to smuggle them across the border. About halfway through the movie‚ the group make it to the Gecko brothers’ destination: the Titty Twister‚ an isolated strip club in the desert. There’s a palpable feeling that sh*t is going to hit the fan‚ but the form that sh*t takes completely changes the film’s genre. If you’ve managed to avoid the twist of this movie for all these years‚ then here’s your warning to stop reading… It turns out that the Titty Twister is actually home to a group of bloodthirsty vampires who feast on their patrons‚ forcing our unlikely gang to work together to avoid becoming dinner. From this point on the film becomes an enjoyably violent B-movie; it’s pulpy‚ it’s bloody‚ and it’s full of fangs. One Cut of the Dead (2017) I’m a big fan of zombie movies‚ so I was down to watch One Cut of the Dead‚ which was written‚ directed‚ and edited by Shin’ichirô Ueda‚ just based on the zombie aspect; I had no idea going in that the film would be playing around with genre. Although some people think that the zombie genre is nothing but a mindless shambling corpse itself these days‚ I promise that One Cut of the Dead offers a fresh take. The film starts with a single continuous shot that lasts 37 minutes. We follow a group of actors and crew as they attempt to make a low-budget zombie flick‚ which isn’t going so smoothly thanks to the demands of intense director Takayuki Higurashi (Takayuki Hamatsu). But his anger issues are soon eclipsed by the appearance of actual zombies. Desperate for the film to be a hit‚ Higurashi recklessly insists on keeping the camera rolling. That’s all the plot I’m going to reveal‚ because this film really benefits from the element of surprise. Just trust me when I say that it becomes both innovative and funny‚ and while its first section may feel clunky‚ you’ll be rewarded if you stick with it—I even found myself wanting to restart it as soon as the credits rolled! The Prestige (2006) Personally I find Christopher Nolan’s films to be pretty hit or miss‚ but The Prestige is a definite hit in my eyes. Based on the novel by Christopher Priest and set during the Victorian era‚ this period drama film follows the bitter rivalry between two stage magicians‚ aristocratic Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and working-class Alfred Borden (Christian Bale). The animosity between the pair feels raw and real‚ and their various magic tricks are impressive and intriguing. One trick in particular is more intriguing than all the others though‚ that being Borden’s “The Transported Man‚” which sees him seemingly teleport across the stage. Angier is obsessed with finding out how this illusion is done and pulling that string eventually leads him to inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie—a truly brilliant casting choice). The film enters genre-switch territory at this point… and that genre can probably be guessed given the film’s inclusion of a fictionalized version of Tesla. I can understand why the introduction of certain speculative elements might be off-putting to some who’d expected the film to continue as a psychological thriller (especially those unfamiliar with the original novel)—people who dislike The Prestige often cite it as one of their main criticisms‚ along with Angier and Borden’s destructive obsession making them unlikable characters (which I think is the point!). To each their own‚ but I leaned in to all the various twists and loved it. Overlord (2018) Overlord opens with an American paratrooper squad being shot down over France in a scene that is so chaotically brutal that it’s on par with battle scenes from Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Hacksaw Ridge (2016). Four surviving soldiers—played by Wyatt Russell‚ Jovan Adepo‚ John Magaro‚ and Iain De Caestecker—band together to complete their mission to destroy a Nazi-controlled radio tower near Normandy. A good portion of this film plays like a typical World War II movie—there’s the evasion of Nazi forces‚ the infiltration of a base‚ and the befriending of a French villager—but the film eventually winds up in the realm of sci-fi and horror. Our soldiers discover that the Nazis are performing some disturbing scientific experiments—but what exactly those experiments are I’ll leave for you to discover. All you need to know is that their scientific tinkering leads to some gory body horror‚ but it doesn’t feel that scary. Director Julius Averywent on to make The Pope’s Exorcist (2023) after all‚ so the scares tend to lean towards entertaining silliness rather than nightmare fuel. Bone Tomahawk (2015) S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk has a classic Western setup: it’s the late 1800s and the sheriff of a little town called Bright Hope must lead a rescue party into the wilderness after three people are captured by unknown (and allegedly cannibalistic) assailants. For a while the film proceeds like a regular Western—there’s horses and campfires and shootouts‚ oh my! Our classically heroic Sheriff Hunt is played by Kurt Russell‚ who is always a joy to watch (particularly when he’s sporting fun facial hair!)‚ but the posse soon develops an uneasy dynamic. There’s Deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins)‚ who is well-meaning but perhaps a little too old for the mission‚ Arthur O’Dwyer (Patrick Wilson)‚ who has a severely injured leg but insists on coming along because his wife is one of the abductees‚ and John Brooder (Matthew Fox)‚ whose morals might not be quite in the line with the others. Once the film hits its third act‚ things take a turn for the truly horrific. Now‚ it’s fair to say that classic Westerns tend to have a lot of killing in them‚ but it’s not usually can’t-look-at-the-screen grisly. Bone Tomahawk‚ on the hand‚ offers up such gruesomely stomach-churning visuals that it turns into a full-on horror movie. If that sounds like your can of campfire beans‚ enjoy! Have you got any recommendations of films that succeed in pulling off an effective or surprising genre shift? Drop them in the comments below![end-mark] The post Five Films With Unexpected Genre Shifts appeared first on Reactor.

During your journey through Dragon’s Dogma 2’s large world‚ you’ll encounter many points of interest. One interesting place is the Hot Springs‚ which allows the player to bathe after a long adventure. But what do the Hot Springs do in Dragon’s Dogma 2? This guide has the answer for you. Do the Hot Springs do anything in Dragon’s Dogma 2? The Hot Springs in Dragon’s Dogma 2 only has one purpose I have discovered so far: to heal your pawn’s scars. As your pawn dies in Dragon’s Dogma 2‚ they will begin to create scars that can get to the point of taking over a large part of the body. The more your pawn dies‚ the more prominent the scars will get. The Hot Springs will remove these scars completely‚ making your pawn look clean and healthy. All you need to do is enter the Hot Springs with your pawn and let them rest there with you. Hang out there for a few minutes‚ and voila! The scars will be removed from your pawn. If you like ...

Did you fail the Shadowed Prayers quest and was unable to save the Empress from being assassinated? There is no need to worry‚ as this guide will explain what you need to do if you fail to save the Empress in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Dragon’s Dogma 2 Shadowed Prayers: What to do if you failed protecting the Empress? If you fail to save the Empress in Dragon’s Dogma 2‚ the Shadowed Prayers quest will show an area marker in the same area but with no objective. The game doesn’t tell you that you can’t continue the quest’s storyline until you meet Menella in Volcanic Island Camp in the Agamen Volcanic Island region. Check the image below for where you need to go. Screenshot: PC Invasion Once you reach this location‚ Menella can be found on the way to the Hot Springs. She will interrupt you with a short cutscene as you walk by if you accidentally miss her‚ so don’t stress too hard about finding her. Below is the exact location of where I found ...

Wyrmslife Crystals aren’t just important items for a main quest‚ but they can be used to trade items and unlock equipment enhancements from The Dragonforged. But how can you easily farm Wyrmslife Crystals in Dragon’s Dogma 2? Dragon’s Dogma 2: How to farm Wyrmslife Crystals Wyrmslife Crystals are rare materials that come from draconic creatures. But since these types of creatures don’t show up often in this game‚ how can you get this material? You can farm Wyrmslife Crystals in Dragon’s Dogma 2 by hiring a Forager Pawn and searching for the “Dragon Scale” material on your map. Screenshot: PC Invasion Forager Pawns can detect materials and name them on your map. Since I have a Pawn with the Forager Specialization‚ I found spots with the Dragon Scale material. If there’s a Dragon Scale‚ there’s a Dragon. Sometimes it’s not always a Dragon‚ but a Drake or Lesser Dragon. To make things easier for you‚ I found as many s...

If you frequently play mobile games‚ you’re probably unfazed by introductory offers. That said‚ Rowan in AFK Journey is an enticing deal‚ especially if you’re coming from AFK Arena. If you’re undecided‚ let me try to answer the question: Should you buy Rowan in AFK Journey? What is the special offer to get Rowan in AFK Journey? As a new player‚ you can get Rowan with your first purchase of any item in the shop. The cheapest pack in the store is roughly a dollar (20 Dragon Stones)‚ so you can get this high-rarity hero at a reasonably low cost. Everyone has a different opinion on how much is worth spending on a mobile game. Some are happy spending hundreds every month‚ and some won’t spend anything at all. There’s no ‘right’ amount to spend‚ although based on the previous title‚ it’s unlikely that deals like this will be commonplace. Is Rowan good in AFK Journey? Screenshot: PC Invasion Rowan is one of the best support her...

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game of consequences and choices. What you decide or fail to do will lock you into a line of events. Well‚ unless you exploit death to receive the benefits of both lines of events. You can get double rewards in Dragon’s Dogma 2 if you don’t mind doing the unthinkable YouTuber Elvis The Alien shared a hilarious clip of his Dragon’s Dogma 2 gameplay where he stumbled into both endings for the notorious Prey for the Pack quest. the weirdest thing ever happened to me in Dragon's Dogma 2 pic.twitter.com/sYDOLArv3U— Elvis The Alien (@ElvisTheAlienTV) March 28‚ 2024 Upon managing to successfully save Rodge‚ his impatience made him think to carry Rodge all the way to Checkpoint Rest Town. Funnily enough‚ Rodge did not appreciate this‚ and began fighting him when he struggled free. His Pawns immediately jumped to the defence of their master. Despite his best attempts to defuse the situation‚ one of his Pawns slaughtered th...

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As if we needed any more evidence of the wonder of dogs‚ new research is showing that some service pups may be able to add a new skill to their resumes. As well as those that sniff out serious conditions like cancer and Parkinson’s disease‚ some proficient pooches may be able to detect symptoms such as oncoming flashbacks in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).PTSD is an often debilitating mental health condition that arises after exposure to a traumatic event‚ such as violence witnessed during military service. People with PTSD can re-experience their trauma over and over again in the form of flashbacks‚ nightmares‚ or distressing sensations‚ which can make daily life difficult to manage. There’s a wealth of anecdotal evidence from people with PTSD that the companionship of a service dog can be life-changing – but it’s only comparatively recently that research has begun to explore this scientifically. Dogs can be trained to learn when their handlers are experiencing difficult symptoms and to interrupt them‚ but scientists behind a recent paper wondered whether this could be taken to the next level. Could dogs be trained‚ not just to assist people during episodes‚ but to predict when an episode might happen?The multidisciplinary research team suspected the key could lie in the profile of scent compounds (called volatile organic compounds or VOCs) that all of us emit in our sweat and other secretions. VOC profiles differ according to age‚ genetic factors‚ and other variables like stress. Since dogs’ impressive noses seem to be able to sniff out these changes‚ could they also be able to smell the stress that precedes the onset of PTSD symptoms like flashbacks?Twenty-six people volunteered to take part in an experiment‚ of whom all had experienced trauma‚ and 54 percent met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. They wore disposable face masks to collect two breath samples‚ one while they were in a calm environment and another while they were being asked to recall their trauma.Then it was time to bring in the dogs. Of the 25 pet dogs who were trialed‚ only two extremely good girls made the grade; Ivy‚ a 5-6-year-old Red Golden Retriever; and Callie‚ a 3-4-year-old German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix.Ivy hard at work detecting scents.Image credit: Kiiroja et al‚ Frontiers in Allergy 2024 (CC BY 4.0)“Both Ivy and Callie found this work inherently motivating‚” explained first author Laura Kiiroja in a statement. “Their limitless appetite for delicious treats was also an asset. In fact‚ it was much harder to convince them to take a break than to commence work. Callie in particular made sure there was no dilly-dallying.”Having only two dogs was fine for the purposes of this proof-of-concept study‚ which was just to try and figure out if using dogs to detect VOCs related to PTSD symptoms was even possible. Over a period of four months for Ivy and five months for Callie‚ during which they worked for 13 and 17 days respectively‚ the dogs were trained to detect and signal the presence of VOCs associated with stress. They managed 90 percent accuracy in choosing between a stress and a non-stress sample. When presented with samples one at a time‚ they both detected the stress samples with a high level of accuracy: 74 percent for Ivy and 81 percent for Callie.Callie signals to her handler that the sample is stress-negative.Image credit: Kiiroja et al‚ Frontiers in Allergy 2024 (CC BY 4.0)“Although both dogs performed at very high accuracy‚ they seemed to have a slightly different idea of what they considered a 'stressed' breath sample‚” Kiiroja said. “We speculated that Ivy was attuned to sympathetic-adreno-medullar axis hormones (like adrenaline) and Callie was oriented to the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis hormones (like cortisol). This is important knowledge for training service dogs‚ as alerting to early-onset PTSD symptoms requires sensitivity to sympathetic-adreno-medullar axis hormones.”With this proof-of-concept in the bag‚ the team plans further research to confirm which hormones are involved‚ and to try out the test with larger sample sizes. It's still a way off‚ but in the future‚ these protocols could be embedded into the training for PTSD service dogs‚ enhancing their already considerable abilities.We just hope Callie and Ivy got extra treats after that performance!The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Allergy. 

News of Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon's (SLIM) demise are greatly exaggerated. SLIM landed on the Moon in late January‚ demonstrating high precision landing on another world – unfortunately‚ it landed a little wonky which complicated the whole operation. Still‚ the tech was clearly strong enough to survive the dramatic drop in temperature experienced during the unforgiving lunar night – not once but twice!When SLIM landed on January 19‚ its compromised position meant that it couldn’t use its solar panels to power up. While the position was unfortunate‚ at least SLIM was leaning in the right direction. As the Moon rotated around the Earth‚ the Sun began shining on the inclined surface where the solar panels were‚ providing needed juice.In late February‚ the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) reported that SLIM managed to survive its first lunar night. And now they report that the sturdy slanted lander has done it again – although its future is still uncertain.“Last night‚ we received a response from #SLIM‚ confirming that the spacecraft made it through the lunar night for the second time! Since the sun was still high and the equipment was still hot‚ we only took some shots of the usual scenery with the navigation camera‚” JAXA reported on the SLIM Twitter account.“According to the acquired data‚ some temperature sensors and unused battery cells are starting to malfunction‚ but the majority of functions that survived the first lunar night was maintained even after the second lunar night!”  IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.All good things come in threes‚ so we can hope that SLIM will survive for a third night‚ but whether it does or not‚ it has far exceeded expectations. SLIM stands for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon. Its goal was to demonstrate that it is possible to land on another world with incredible precision. The objective was to soft-land within just 100 meters (330 feet) of a specific target area. Based on the current dataset‚ it appears to have landed just 55 meters (180 feet) from the target area.This lunar night might have spared SLIM but it claimed Odysseus‚ which also landed on its side. This is not a new fad that all the cool lunar landers are doing. It just shows how difficult it is to soft-land even on a place as close as the Moon. Odysseus was the first US lander in 50 years to land on the Moon and the first private lander to not crash-land on the lunar surface. Its owner‚ Intuitive Machines‚ confirmed that it did not wake up a few days ago.