There will be blood at the movie theater this holiday season, but what about people?

Family and teen-targeted films were coming fast and furious most of the year, dominating the Hollywood box office, and suddenly, Poof! Just in time for the home-for-the-holidays season, the most-hyped movies hitting the theaters are serious, often bloody affairs.

There's a reason for this turnabout. With the traditional run-up to the Oscars and other film industry awards in full swing, films that may be out of step with mass American appetites have bigger prizes on their minds. Just as the cop drama "The Departed'' did last fall, some of the most violent, recently released films are reaping the most critical praise.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association issued "There Will Be Blood" -- about a brutal clash between capitalism and religion in early 20th-century California, starring Daniel Day-Lewis -- its best picture award. On Monday the ultra-violent "No Country For Old Men" got the best picture nod from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Other oft-cited best picture contenders -- "Sweeney Todd," "Charlie Wilson's War," "American Gangster" and "Atonement" -- also explore serious and often violent themes. ("Charlie" might be the easiest-to-swallow movie in the bunch, while "Sweeney" is a musical about cannibalism and vengeful murder.)

Year-end holiday movie offerings are usually a mini version of the summer, with a wide-ranging slate targeting children to hard-core film buffs. But this year, the slate "is a little darker,'' admits Dave Huffman, marketing director for Cleveland Cinemas and Pittsburgh Cinemas.

There are no major films, like a "Harry Potter,'' that have huge name-recognition coming out during the holidays, he said. And the new movies with the biggest stars, such as Will Smith in "I Am Legend'' and Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in "Charlie Wilson's War,'' are more adult-themed entertainment.

Critical acclaim aside, it's feared that the darker, more serious films may end on a weak note a year that had been shaping up as a blockbuster for Hollywood.

It's still expected that domestic box-office sales will hit a record. But it's not so clear that they will top $10 billion, in part because fall releases failed to continue summer's strong momentum, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

Part of the problem is that war-themed films such as "In the Valley of Elah," "The Kingdom," "Lions for Lambs" and "Rendition," all released in the fall, bombed. And some films, also released in the fall, that tried to cash in on easily digestible family fluff -- including the heavily promoted "Bee Movie" -- did not do as well as expected, either.

By contrast, a strong lineup of late spring and summer family fare proved to be the year's biggest money-makers, including "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" and "Transformers," according to analysts at industry researcher Box Office Mojo. Of the top 10 movies so far this year, only "300" was rated R.

"The box office has been weak for a couple months now. The fall was dreadful," said Brandon Gray, Box Office Mojo's president and publisher. "A lot of movies were being released and most of them were dark, serious, ambiguous and generally unappealing."

It's not all grim this Christmas. To hedge their bets the next two weeks, the studios are pushing some mass-appeal popcorn movies along with the awards season gruel, including "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" and the children's fantasy "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep." And recent family-friendly releases that have proven popular, including "Enchanted'' and "This Christmas,'' will still be around.

But Hollywood realizes that even though serious films have not been gaining traction with the American public, there is another obvious goal in mind. " 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' may very well fill theaters, but it is unlikely to win an Oscar," said Michal Strahilevitz, professor of marketing at Golden Gate University.

"Many actors, directors and producers have grown quite passionate about a variety of political issues, including stopping the war in Iraq,'' he said. "So some of the films are being driven by the issues that are important to the creative talent that participates in them."

Moviemakers, Dr. Strahilevitz added, "are not out of touch, they just have secondary goals that go beyond the primary goal of merely selling as many tickets as possible."

There are signs that some in Hollywood are getting hip to the absurdities -- or missed connections with mass audiences -- that creep up during awards season.

No comedic filmmaker is tapping into the American zeitgeist better these days than "Knocked Up" and "30-Year-Old Virgin" director Judd Apatow, who co-wrote "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," coming out Dec. 21.

Satirizing award-winning musical bio-pics such as "Walk the Line" and "Ray," it inherently makes fun of Hollywood Oscar lust while being strictly for adult audiences, with drug use and nudity.

Another of the best-reviewed films of the 2007, which could clean up at awards banquets, is "Ratatouille." While a G-rated cartoon and anything but violent, it is smart and not patronizing to family audiences.

Exhibitors and movie fans alike are always best off when there are choices among good films at the holidays, said Mr. Huffman.

"Theaters are busy whenever there's a variety of movies playing that appeal to a lot of different people," he said. When holiday fare is at its best, it can "skew a little more adult, but cast a wider net and appeal to everybody."