This volume offers a concise evaluation of film genre, discussing genre theory and sample analyses of genre films, from the western, science fiction and the musical through to horror, comedy and the thriller. It introduces the topic in an accessible way to entry-level undergraduates, and includes sections on the first principles of studying and understanding 'the idea of genre', genre and popular culture, the narrative and stylistic conventions of specific genres and the relations of genres to culture and history, race, gender, sexuality, class and national identity, and the complex relations between genre and authorship.