What is a thriller film

I have been doing some research into what people think a thriller film is. I thought that most people would think that a thriller was the same thing as horror, this is mainly to do with the Michael Jackson song 'Thriller'

Here is what I found:

By definition a thriller film is: 

"...a broad genre of literature, film, gaming and television. It includes numerous, often overlapping sub-genres.
Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains. Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively."

Whilst looking at the book 'Cinema Today' I found that the genre thriller was not defined. I found this very interesting. It seemed that Thrillers fit more definitely into Action or Crime dramas. There was a paragraph about something called 'Neo-Noir' which I felt was todays Thriller.  'Action- noir' was also discussed. I think the two together show that Noir is heavily connected to Thrillers.

Sub-Genres include:

• Action Thriller - Films often involving spies or criminal corporations out to get something. A hero is working against the company to thwart their plans and usually save lots of lives. the real enemy in the films is time, the heroes are always battling against time before something catastrophic happens.

• Legal Thriller - this encompasses political, court room dramas and some detective films. The thrilling element is how the crime was committed and how it is going to be worked out. The audience usually knows all or nothing so the dynamic changes accordingly.

• Horror/supernatural Thriller - These films have some sort of horror element in but are not a complete horror film where everyone dies and the only real mystery is who will die next. A good example of this sub-genre is 'The Ring', there is a real supernatural element but there is also a mystery to pursue.

• Techno/Science fiction Thriller - Films about technology or the future, revolving around how the technology can be used to harm the public. Techno thrillers are often about some sort of virus that will bring down the government and it also includes spy thrillers as a genre. Science fiction thrillers are set in the future, a good example is 'Blade Runner' or 'I,Robot' where robots turning evil feature heavily.

• Medical Thrillers - The mystery is in the illness, the narrative follows doctors trying to figure out what ailment is causing the harm to someone.  This genre is much more popular in Television with such shows as 'House'. A recent example is 'Awake' where a man wakes up mid-surgery and realises he is about to be killed.

Thrillers have their root in Film Noir. Film Noir is characterised by dark shots and a narrative involving crime. Stock characters include the 'femme fatale', a beautiful woman who seduces as a means to a often deadly end. Another stock character is the 'private eye', the detective investigating the crime that the film is based on. Noir films were popular from the 1940's till the late 1950's and took influence from crime novels published circa 1920. Much like Thriller, Film Noir is hard to define as it contains elements of more definite genres. "We'd be oversimplifying things in calling film noir oneiric, strange, erotic, ambivalent, and cruel...." Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton, french film critics, said in their book called 'A Panorama Of American Film Noir, which goes to show even people in the industry have a hard time. The influence of Film Noir can still be seen today, especially in Crime TV dramas such as 'Law and Order' and 'CSI'. Such programs use darkshots and in the case of 'CSI' there is often a blue tinge in the lighting.

My primary research gave me much of the same ideas and connotations about thriller films as my secondary research.

Joshua Pullar

Sources:
Various. (2008). Thrillers. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_film. Last accessed 17 Oct 2008.
Various. (2008). Film Noir. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir. Last accessed 21 Oct 2008.

Cinema Today, Edward Buscombe, Phaidon Press Ltd (Sep 2003), ISBN-13: 978-0714840819

A Panorama Of American Film Noir, Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton, City Lights Books (Dec 2002), ISBN-13: 978-0872864122