Characteristics of thrillers

Thrillers have many clear and notable characteristics:

Thrillers can cause the audience to have a certain mood depending on the film. Thrillers can make the audience feel excited, anxious and feel suspense.

In Crime and Action thrillers common elements may be: ransoms, heists, kidnappings and revenge. An example of a Crime and Action thriller would be Taken (2008)

In Mystery thrillers common elements may be: investigations and detective-based plot lines. An example of a Mystery thriller would be Shutter Island (2010)

In Psychological thrillers common elements may be: plot twists, mind games and psychology obsession. An example of a Psychological thriller would be Black Swan (2010)

In Horror films common elements may be: serial killers, death traps, stalking and horror-of-personality. An example of a horror film would be A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Examples of characters or characteristics in thrillers may be: Stalkers, hitmen, assassins, menaced women, spree killers, sociopaths, secret or undercover agents, police or high speed police chases, insane murderers and terrorists to just name a few.



Locations of thrillers:


Horror films: In horror films the location tends to vary however most of the time the location of the film is isolated so the victim can be shown to have little chance of survival. An example of a location for a horror film location would be a dark, spooky and haunted house.

Crime films: In a crime film the location can also consist of a prison or simply on the streets in a dark place where the criminal would operate. Most crime films are set at certain time of day which would be night-time. This is also because night-time provides more tension as it gives the audience more uncertainty.