Lost Movie Genres That Vanished Before Their Prime

Hollywood's landscape has always been dominated by familiar territory: comedies, dramas, action flicks, and superhero blockbusters. But scattered throughout cinema history are the forgotten subcategories that captured specific cultural moments before vanishing entirely.

Think about the trippy, drug-fueled films of the late 1960s with their swirling colors and rock soundtracks. Or the gore-heavy splatter movies that Herschell Gordon Lewis created in the '60s, which eventually spawned the slasher craze featuring masked killers stalking victims with sharp weapons.

Not every movie category survives the test of time. Folk horror peaked in the '70s and never recovered. Beach party movies perfectly captured teenage culture in the '50s and '60s, but you can only watch Frankie Avalon so many times before the formula gets stale.

Motorcycle Mayhem Movies

Kenneth Anger's controversial study of queer biker culture, Scorpio Rising, featured a character watching Marlon Brando in The Wild One like he was worshipping a leather-jacketed god. While Brando's movie became the gold standard for outlaw biker cinema, Anger's work showed how crucial this subculture was to 1960s American rebellion.

That decade produced other classics like Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider and the psychedelic The Girl on the Motorcycle. Exploitation filmmakers jumped on the trend too, creating everything from the all-female She-Devils on Wheels to Britain's supernatural take, Psychomania.

These movies could take many shapes, whether celebrating the raw sexuality of grease and leather or using motorcycle freedom to challenge authority and corporate control. Since the '70s, biker films have become rare. Audiences prefer high-speed car chases now. What we need are more low-budget movies filled with screaming motorcycle engines and fierce anti-establishment attitudes.

Quality Teen Cinema

Adults have always dismissed teen movies, but a well-crafted film about adolescence can be life-changing for young viewers. We're talking about thoughtful comedies that don't smell like lazy streaming service garbage.

The '80s gave us flawed but memorable entries like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and the brilliant satire Heathers. The '90s and 2000s delivered genuine classics like Clueless and Mean Girls.

Sure, plenty of cheesy teen movies existed, but the best ones lasted. Now we're stuck with The Kissing Booth, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, and Tall Girl. While recent attempts like Bottoms have tried recapturing the genre's provocative, cliché-free glory days, expecting another Clueless feels like wishful thinking.

Italian Murder Mysteries

Mixing murder mystery, early slasher violence, sexual exploitation, and stunning visual style, giallo films defined Italian cinema in the 1960s and '70s. The country became a horror breeding ground, and this specific brand of suspenseful, seductive, fake-blood-soaked scary movie was led by masters like Mario Bava and Dario Argento.

Usually bathed in neon colors and paired with exciting jazz scores, movies like Blood and Black Lace and Deep Red influenced everything from Halloween to Last Night in Soho. But the actual genre is basically dead.

Giallo arrived at a unique moment in horror history, before slashers became mainstream and while exploitation cinema was booming. It filled a niche that soon disappeared. Slashers and sexually charged thrillers gained popularity in later years, making giallo feel like a time capsule. By the late '80s, no noteworthy giallos were being made. If only we could bring back that specific look of confused, bell-bottomed English-speaking protagonists fighting for their lives.

Sexually Charged Suspense

You might argue it's good that erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, and Body Double disappeared, since many seemed cheesy. But when you examine why the genre lost popularity and what replaced it, you might reconsider.

In the '80s and '90s, audiences were drawn to tense sexual encounters with high stakes. The genre died tragically when easily accessible online pornography made erotic thrillers less exciting. Today's rising conservatism makes it hard to imagine a proper erotic movie succeeding mainstream, with people getting upset over something as mild as Saltburn.

A well-acted, genuinely enticing erotic thriller can be excellent viewing (nothing like 365 Days, obviously). Sadly, the genre isn't what it used to be. You're lucky to stumble across a genuinely good one these days.