Crossword Genius

Linking sci-fi movie up with horror movie (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tethering

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'linking sci-fi' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'movie up with horror movie' is the wordplay.
'movie' becomes 'ET'.
'up' says the letters should be written backwards (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'horror movie' becomes 'thering' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'et' in reverse letter order is 'te'.
'te'+'thering'='TETHERING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tethering that I've seen before include "Securing" , "Restricting, in a way" , "Tying up an animal" , "fixing in position" .)

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