Thriller genres/subgenres

Thriller films

A 'Thriller' is a broad spectrum of either literature, film, or television used to describe a production that enables the audience/reader to feel certain emotions, all be it fear, exhilaration, excitement or confusion. Thriller films in particular are known for giving audiences heightened feelings of suspense, seeing as they incorporate qualities of ambiguity and often terror.  

Horror

Horror films possess unsettling qualities, and aim to horrify the reader, which explains the allocated name. They often unlock an audiences deepest fears, and creates self-conflict and paranoia within an individual. Horrors can range from being grotesquely gory, to hauntingly spiritual, all genres of which generally achieve the desired effect amongst the audience.

Sci-fi Thriller

Sci-fi movies are created on a basis of

speculative fiction, based on traditional human depictions of phenomena. The reason these films possess such a successful thrilling quality, is down to the fact that the audience can never really comprehend the content. Due to the fact they're never based on 'true' events, means that no one can really determine whether the content of these fictional films can eventually become non-fictional content.

Crime Thriller

Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalises crimes. Crime Thrillers traditionally include: detection, criminals, and their motives. Crime films are generically ambiguous, leaving the audience questioning motives and which characters are in the right and which are in the wrong. An example of a particularly ambiguous, mind boggling film would be David Hitchcock's - 'The Departed'.

Action Thriller

'Action' is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists end up in a series of challenges that typically include violence, extended fighting, physical feats, and frantic chases. These particular films usually consist of heavy machinery, all be it cars or guns, and tends to appeal to male audiences more so than  female audiences. Action films are usually full of suspense, and encourage audiences to lunge to the edge of their seats.

Psychological Thriller

This specific sub-genre, is one that puts an audience under just as much stress as the protagonist characters always seem to be under. It emphasises the unstable psychological states of the characters and enables the audience to connect with them and enables them to understand their stresses... to a certain extent. Although horror films can offer a sense of gore and terror, psychological thrillers can promote a much deeper, psychological, reaction.