Thriller (genre)

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The Da Vinci Code (2006) is currently the highest grossing thriller worldwide[1] with the five runner-ups being, Angels & Demons (2009) (its sequel), Se7en (1995), Hannibal (2002), Basic Instinct (1992) and Fatal Attraction (1986),[2] respectively.

Thrillers are a genre of literature, film, video gaming and television programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements.[3] The primary subgenre is psychological thrillers. After the assassination of President Kennedy, political thriller and paranoid thriller films became very popular. The brightest examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.[4]

Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods such as; a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, suspense, excitement, tension, terror. Literary devices such as red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively. The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although each subgenre has its own characteristics and methods.[5]


"Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest stories in the Western world and is regarded as an early prototype of the thriller."[7] A thriller is villain-driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles that the hero must overcome.[7]


An atmosphere of creepy menace and sudden violence, crime and murder characterise thrillers. They mostly are adrenaline rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. Thrillers often present the world and society as dark, corrupt and dangerous. Characters in thrillers include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder.[8]

A genuine, standalone thriller is a film that provide thrills and keeps the audience cliff-hanging at the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the character(s) is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in a dangerous or potentially deadly situation.[9]

Thrillers mostly take place in ordinary suburbs/cities. Though sometimes, they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or the high seas. The heroes in most thrillers are frequently ordinary citizens unaccustomed to danger. However, more common in crime thrillers, they may also be "hard men" accustomed to danger, like police officers and detectives. While such heroes have traditionally been men, women lead characters have become increasingly common.


In recent years, thrillers have been slightly influenced by the horror genre; they have more gore/sadistic violence, brutality, terror, and body counts.[10] Recent thrillers which took this route include Eden Lake, The Last House on the Left, P2, Untraceable and Funny Games




James Patterson, June 2006, "Introduction," Thriller[11]



The thriller genre can include the following sub-genres,[13] which may include elements of other genres:

Although most thrillers are formed in some combination of the above, there are some however that are formed with other genres, which commonly are the horror genre, spy genre (i.e. espionage), science fiction, action and the adventure genre.[40]


Fiction and literature[edit]


"The Three Apples", a tale in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), is the earliest known murder mystery[41] and suspense thriller with multiple plot twists[42] and detective fiction elements.[43] In this tale, a fisherman discovers a heavy locked chest along the Tigris river and he sells it to the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, who then has the chest broken open only to find inside it the dead body of a young woman who was cut into pieces. Harun orders his vizier, Ja'far ibn Yahya, to solve the crime and find the murderer within three days. This whodunit mystery may be considered an archetype for detective fiction.[41][44]



Notable contributors to the thriller genre[edit]







Other examples include, Dexter, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The 4400, Medium, Numb3rs, The Twilight Zone and The X-Files.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "The Da Vinci Code (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  2. ^ "Thriller - Serial Killer Movies at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  3. ^ "Genre: Thriller". Retrieved 2010-06-22. 
  4. ^ "Download Full Thriller Genre Movies". Retrieved 2010-06-22. 
  6. ^ The readers' advisory guide to genre ... - Google Books. 2001-06. ISBN 9780838908037. Retrieved 2010-06-27. 
  8. ^ "Thriller and Suspense Films". Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  9. ^ "Thriller and Suspense Films". Retrieved 2010-06-22. 
  10. ^ "Explore Genre: Thriller". AllMovie. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
  14. ^ "Edge of Darkness (2010) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  15. ^ "JFK (1991) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  16. ^ "Seven (1995) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  17. ^ "Mindhunters (2005) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2005-05-13. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  18. ^ "Copycat (1995) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  19. ^ "The Asphalt Jungle (1950) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 1950-06-08. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  20. ^ "The Score (2001) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2001-07-13. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  21. ^ "Entrapment (1999) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  22. ^ "Reservoir Dogs (1992) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  23. ^ "Basic Instinct (1992) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 1992-03-20. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  24. ^ "The Juror (1996) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  25. ^ "The Interpreter (2005) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2005-04-22. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  26. ^ "Proof of Life (2000) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2000-12-08. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  27. ^ "Psychological Thriller : Top rated". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  28. ^ "Don't Say a Word (2001) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2001-09-28. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  29. ^ "Red Eye (2005) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2005-08-19. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  30. ^ "The River Wild (1994) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  31. ^ "Nick of Time (1995) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  32. ^ "P2 (2007) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  33. ^ "Panic Room (2002) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2002-03-29. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  34. ^ "Frailty (2002) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2002-04-12. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  35. ^ "Funny Games (2007) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2008-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  36. ^ "Fallen (1998) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  37. ^ "In Dreams (1999) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 1999-01-15. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  38. ^ "The Skeleton Key (2005) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2005-08-12. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  39. ^ "The Gift (2000) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. 2000-12-20. Retrieved 2014-03-02. 
  40. ^ "Subgenres of Thrillers". Retrieved 2010-06-22. 
  43. ^ Pinault, pages 91 & 93.
  44. ^ Pinault, pages 86–91.

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