Craven and Raimi aren't the only horror/scifi gurus to have made some films outside the genre. See how the others fared: John Carpenter He Made: Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York And, uh: Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) Outcome: Weak box office ($14 m) and lukewarm reviews. Carpenter was successful with Jeff Bridges as the gentle Starman (1984), but mixing the sci-fi story of an invisible Chevy Chase with a romantic comedy only created a substance-lacking fluff movie. Following project: The demented horror film, In The Mouth of Madness (1995) George Lucas He Made: THX-1138, the Star Wars Saga And, uh: American Graffiti (1973) Outcome: Recently selected as one of the AFI's 100 Greatest Films of All Time and grossed $115m. (US box office). Made before the advent of THX-sound or CGI effects. See what Lucas is capable of with the basics -- a funny script, a kick-ass Soundtrack and Harrison Ford in a cowboy hat? Following project: The reverent space opera, Star Wars (1977) David Cronenberg He Made: Scanners, The Fly, Dead Ringers And, uh: M. Butterfly (1993) Outcome: Beautiful looking, but very oblique drama. The problem with it, which Cronenberg might have missed since his mind is so out there, is this: How is an audience going to buy the idea of a man not realising that the woman he's in love with is actually another man... for 18 years?! In order for the film to have any credibility it needed to be strongly grounded in reality, but it skirts every logical question. Following project: Crash (1996). Some saw this movie as Cronenberg's departure from horror and entrance into David Lynch country. Others like myself, disagree. Crash is quite possibly the most hideous, disturbing and horrific movie ever made... James Cameron He Made: The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss And, uh: Titanic Outcome: Titanic is Cameron's first period romance, though all his films are actually love stories. It's also his weakest script! Regardless, it becomes the highest grossing movie ever made and gets him three Oscars for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Editing. Following project: Currently mulling over 3 sci-fi stories: T3, Spiderman, or an epic about Mars.

There is no doubt that Wes Craven and Sam Raimi are a couple of the most original innovators of horror movies. In fact, the poor guys are so skillful that they've been pigeon-holed into doing the same damn thing all the time, never to be given the chance to learn anything else. In this business, once you show how good you are at something, you're stuck with it for the rest of your days. So, to look at the situation from a sympathetic standpoint -- it will always be an upwards battle for them to break away from the limitations of the horror genre.

Raimi must lobby hard to be considered for broader-scale films like For Love of the Game. Such was the case with his last project, A Simple Plan which gave him a small lick of what a non-genre movies tastes like. Although A Simple Plan was very dark, it was a completely character-oriented thriller. This tone-switch finally film gave him the cache he needed to be chosen to direct a baseball love story. Billy Bob Thornton (Oscar-nominated for his performance in A Simple Plan) believes he knows why Raimi has such an arduous time getting signed to projects. Thornton recently told Entertainment Weekly that studio heads are just worried of what he'll do. "They're afraid that suddenly the whole baseball team will turn into zombies and their eyes will fall out. They're afraid he's going to do something offbeat -- which it could probably stand."

The obstacles are the same for Wes Craven. In order him to helm Music of the Heart, he put a stipulation in his three picture contract with Miramax. It dictated that if his two horror films, Scream and Scream 2 became hits, for his third, he would be allowed to helm a film of his choosing. Craven's movie stood among other so-called 'artsy' film galas, such as Sam Mendes' American Beauty, Woody Allen's The Sweet and Lowdown and Istvan Szabo's Sunshine at this September's Toronto International Film Festival. Before Music of the Heart began to roll, Craven reassured the audience that "at no time will any hearts be physically leaving the body."

Both men clearly want to leave their comfort zone. Why?

Much to the dismay of many splatter-movie loving teenaged boys out there, Raimi and Craven are setting aside the fun-loving misogynists in them. Quite honestly, I think I can confidently state that there's just no entertainment value to be gained in seeing a woman being raped -- by a single man, by a group of men, by a tree, or otherwise. These two men, who used to victimize females in their early horror movies, are trying to show a softer, gentler side. They're becoming sensitive middle-aged men, and I mean that in the nicest way.

Successful results?

For Love of the Game: A breakdown of the 'love' story. Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) is a baseball player for the Detroit Tigers and Jane (Kelly Preston) is a fashion journalist in New York City. They have a unique relationship. Whenever he has a game against the Yankees (about every 3 months), the two of them get together for quality bonding time, followed by hot monkey sex. When he's on the road anywhere else, they have no commitments towards one another. Hmmm... sounds a little more ideal for Billy than for Jane. Poor Jane is a single mom with a teenage daughter and is being driven to neurosis by this fucked up set-up. This starts to develop an unhealthy complex. She comes to her senses though and leaves him since the punk won't commit. Of course, Billy comes crawling back crying like a baby. For some reason, she accepts the selfish bastard with open arms, and on top of that, he uses an overly sentimental speech that we heard before in Jerry Maguire. In the end, still a very male-oriented POV.

Music of the Heart: A breakdown of the 'strong woman'. We begin with a frazzled Roberta Guaspari Dimitras (Meryl Streep). She began playing the violin too late to make a career out of it and she couldn't teach because of her [evil] husband's career in the Navy. When her husband leaves her with their two young sons, she shacks up with Brian (Aidan Quinn) who suggests she start teaching violin in elementary schools. Now that she's able to do what she always wanted to do turns her into a Superwoman. She is portrayed as being quite bitchy and vicious when things don't go her way, but through her tough persistence she gets what she wants. By the end, her classes are famous, her kids get into med school and Roberta has rediscovered her self-worth. Despite excessive doses of sap, it is a deserved success story. Very much a chick flick.