Thriller Genre Research

The Thriller Genre

The thriller genre combines suspense, tension and excitement to create its prototype and basis as a thriller. Thrillers are renowned to stimulate the viewers mood by giving them a high level of anticipation, uncertainty, fear, surprise and anxiety. Thrillers are commonly quite fast paced and adrenaline pumping. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock, who helped shape the modern thrillers of today, along with Fritz Lang - with the Lodger (1926) and M. (1931)

Thrillers aim to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and to keep them attentive throughout the course of the film. In most thrillers, the protagonist is set against a problem such as an escape, mission or mystery. The tension often builds throughout the film to reach an increasingly stressful climax. Thrillers provide the sudden rush of emotion, excitement, suspense that drive the narrative. The objective of a thriller is to deliver a story with sustained tension, surprise and a constant threat throughout. Thus keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. Thrillers tend to be fast-moving, psychological, threatening and mysterious.
 

Sub Genres Include

• Conspiracy thriller - In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes.
• Crime thriller - This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double crosses.
• Disaster thriller - In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc, or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster.
• Erotic thriller-  A type of thriller that has an emphasis on eroticism and where a sexual relationship plays an important role in the plot. It has become popular since the 1980s and the rise of VCR market penetration
• Legal thriller - In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives.
• Medical thriller - In which the hero/heroine are medical doctors/personnel working to solve an expanding medical problem. e.g Contagion.
• Mystery thriller - Suspense films where characters attempt solving, or involved in, a mystery.
• Political thriller - In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
• Religious thriller - In which the plot is closely connected to religious objects, institutions and questions.
• Psychological thriller - In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. e.g Shutter Island/ Inception.