As Kimberly Jackson talks about in Technology, Monstrosity, and Reproduction in Twenty-First Century Horror, genres are are being created over and over again, which leads to genre exhaustion,and  as a result genre hybrids emerge. When the audience is aware of conventions and tropes it becomes fun to play around and defy audience expectations.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011) had abilities that meant you were aware you were watching a horror movie; you knew what was going to happen yet you were still scared when it happened. ‘simultaneously asserting and denying the genre structure and knowledge’ (Jackson 2013, p.12).

You were able to be removed from the situation and see humour but then return to the scene and forget comedy sequence that just happened and sit on the edge of your seat again. Drew Goddard did this in such a succinct and smooth way that you were aware what was happening but still enjoying the film. The Cabin in The Woods (2011) ‘utilizes his in-between space to create and preserve layers of mediation and to comment on the horror genre’ (Jackson 2013, p.21).

I think that genre hybridity is a positive thing for film, it means we can test the limits and as film makers, draw on a range of conventions and visual styles which makes creating content exciting. The trouble is when studying genre theory you aren’t able to talk about genres as their own.

References:

Jackson, Kimberly (2013). Metahorror and simulation in the Scream series and The Cabin in the Woods. In Technology, Monstrosity, and Reproduction in Twenty-First Century Horror, pp. 11-30.