How would you define a "Thriller"

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
Curious how you all would define the genre/term 'thriller'? Wikipedia has some words to define it. I listened to some of Bill Martell's audio CD on writing thrillers, and his definition. And I received a list of thriller sub-genres from David Warfield who will be teaching a UCLA extension class on crafting the thriller.

Wikipedia says "Thriller is a broad genre of ... film...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genreshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-genre. Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villain." Bill Martell talks about how in thrillers the hero runs from the antagonist until at some point fighting back. David Warfield's list of genres that include thrillers is quite extensive, including action, horror, supernatural, crime, conspiracy, adventure, etc.

Seems the term thriller and what it encompasses is a bit open to interpretation, so I am curious how you all define it. What elements are necessary to consider a story a 'thriller'?
 
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Dancing zombies.

Thrills get the heart going faster. If that's the goal, it's probably action of thriller or both. Thriller if it's also supposed to make you jump.
 
How would you define "Thriller"
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Thriller? I'd define it as: darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand, creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize your neighborhood. And whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down, must stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpse's shell.

But, then again, that's just me (and Vincent)
 
Thrilling thriller is thrilling.

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guy watching tv - drama
guy watching tv killed by serial killer while watching tv - horror
another guy sees serial killer and start running - action
guy runs from serial killer and hides somewhere - thriller
other guy gets butchered by other serial killer - gore
girlfriend of the other guy grieving over other guy - romance
girlfriend of other guy plans on revenge - thriller
girlfriend of other guy buys a gun - revenge(vigilante style)
detective investigating gets himself in the wrong place at the wrong time - thriller
detective butchered by a new serial killer - gore
girlfrien of other guy kills all the invincible bad guys effortlessly - Hollywood
 
if the genre does not take a big percentage of the movie, it is not considered a sub genre.
if a movie had one comedic relief moment or one drama moment, it is not considered a sub genre.
most main genres can only have 1 sub genre, some can have up to 2 sub genre.
 
So that movie with Madonna that was ALL singing, the musical, is that a thriller? I don't know, my date and me walked out of the movie 30 minutes in, I couldn't take it. I said to her "if those polo horses start singing we are out of here". Every damn line was singing. "I need to tie my shoes." "Taxi are you free" "What time is it?" It was ridiculous.

Cassius said:
Dancing zombies.....
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I am rereading Neil Hicks' book today (Writing the Thriller Film--The Terror Within). On page x he says "...the Thriller, whose heretofore innocent, somewhat detached protagonist finds his life in peril while at the same moment he is abruptly cut off from all his usual support systems (which may in fact betray him). Now utterly alone, in act iii he discovers -- or creates - new resources within himself: strengths, aptitudes, and a moral resolve heretofore inconceivable."

Later in his book, Hicks also differentiates Action-Adventures films (which can also 'thrill' but are not Thrillers by the critical/academic definition) from Thrillers in that in Action films the hero runs to the danger, where in Thrillers the hero runs from danger (at least initially); this also fits with what Bill Martell has to say on his audio CD. The thriller also makes use of compressed time, and a closed world (e.g. Jodi Foster, Flightplan) whereas in action/adventure the world is often much more open (Die Hard III, Romancing the Stone, etc); although I would have to say N by NW has a pretty open world which goes against the closed world element. And in a thriller, few people believe the hero, creating social isolation beyond the story world isolation.
~randall
 
Well look at Nick of Time with Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken. It's a pretty solid thriller and sort of in the "real-time" genre (minus the dream sequence). I wouldn't compare it to Hitchcock's Rope, since that was based on a play, but still took place within a single time frame.

Thrillers always seem to have that "ticking clock" element or "tell tale heart" feel to me.
 
A valid question. Two reasons:
1. To gain a better sense of genre definitions from a critical or academic sense to better study storytelling/screenwriting.
2. In October I will be taking a UCLA extension online course 'Crafting the Thriller' taught by David Warfield (Stigmata, etc). I want a good grasp on the genre so the stories ideas I brainstorm now (to pick one to write for the course) will have valid elements of a thriller.

amrrahmy said:
why do you care if it's a thriller, action or whatever. why not make the story dictate the genre.
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thriller is not a genre, it's a sub genre.
it means it's created from the story, not a way to tell the story.

if a movie is categorized as western, does not mean that there is a genre called western or sci-fi, or fantasy.

it's a way to describe the story that you already have, or categorize it, it's not meant to drive the story in any way.
 
I think knowing your genre is very important. Audience's go into a movie showing with an expectation of what they are about to see. If they expect a horror movie and get a long drawn out sappy love story they arent gonna be happy. If they expect a thriller, they are going to want to see a thriller. So once you identify what genre your story is in, you need to write 'to' that genre in order to not let down your audience. Not saying you have to copy beat-by-beat a 'standard' thriller... but you have to do your research, see what most good thrillers have and use that to make your script please the expectations.

If, for example, most thrillers have a sense of urgency and danger to the protagonist, you MUST have a sense of urgency or danger to your protagonist or the audience will not be interested.
 
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