Thrillers are designed to provide tension and startle audiences, while horrors are aimed at creating intense fear and disgust. Thrillers typically involve crime and include subgenres like mystery, psychological, science, and supernatural thrillers. Horror subgenres are action, body, comedy, psychological, science fiction, and slasher. Both genres commonly feature protagonists facing death or loved ones' death, antagonists with more power, protagonists in difficult decisions, and protagonist-antagonist confrontations. Key characters include protagonists, antagonists, victims, and police/agents. Common techniques involve suspense, twists, scored soundtracks, and good vs. evil narratives.

1. Thriller and Horror

2. Thrillers
 Designed to offer the audience pleasures built around
tensions.
 Aimed to startle, not designed to disgust.
 Typically including crime.

3. Sub- genre’s
Crime thriller:
Focus on criminals to an act of crime. The villain is normally the one who drives the
narrative. It consists of fast pace, fiction, dramatic moments, over emphasis action.
Mystery thrillers:
Detective uncovering a crime that has taken place. Along the way, there are crimes
that must be prevented e.g. terrorism, mass murder, over throwing the government.
Psychological thrillers:
Over laps with horror. Playing games with a person on a mental level. Making them
believe one thing, but then discovering a different meaning.
Science thrillers:
Gadgets and robotic machines are included to create suspense. Manipulating how
humans live. Includes action as well as elements of sci-fi.
Supernatural thrillers:
Were un human things are involved, and trying to enter this world and cause
destruction or try and create peace. Protagonist or villain has the powers.

4. Examples of Thrillers
Film title Sub-genre picture
The game Mystery
Inception Science
The others Supernatural
Usual suspects Crime
Silence of the lambs Mystery
Law abiding citizen Psychological

5. Main themes
 Protagonist faces death or someone else's death. (usually of
the mother or girlfriend/wife)
 Antagonist has more power
 Protagonist is in a hard decision
 Antagonist + protagonist must fight.

6. Characters found in a thriller
 Protagonist mainly men
 Antagonist mainly male
 Alien, ghosts or zombies
 Police, agents, detectives.
 Innocent victims.

7. Codes and conventions
 Suspense
 Red herring
 Cliff hangers
 Villain drives the plot
 Twists
 Scored soundtrack to distress and influence
 Cast
 Damsel in distress
 Good vs. evil
 Genuine thriller
 Multi layered narrative.

8. Horror
 Designed to create an intense feeling of fear and disgust.
 They often are based around hidden fears, nightmares and terror.

9. Sub genre’s
Action horror:
Combines the intrusion of evil, where the protagonist must go around killing the antagonists, that are
mainly supernatural such as zombies, demons, vampires.
Body horror:
Where horror is generated from the human body. Limbs used to create monsters.
Comedy horror:
The horror is almost crossed over my comedy.
Psychological horror:
Relies on the characters emotional instability and at times the tension is built to further the plot.
Horror comes from the reality.
Science fiction horror:
Deals with the paranormal but is not limited to mad scientists were experiments go wrong.
Slasher horror:
Deals with a lot of violence which usually revolves around a psychopathic killer. Contains a lot of
blood and gore.

10. Examples of horror
Film title Sub-genre Picture
Resident Evil Action Horror
Taxidermia Body Horror
Scary movie Comedy horror
Frankenstein Gothic horror
The Omen Psychological horror
Prometheus Science fiction horror
The Texas chainsaw
massacre
Slasher horror

11. Main themes
 The documentary's- where the audience is made to believe the film is real footage and experienced.
 The Mass Incarnate Infestation- where the protagonist is alone, facing all the antagonists.
 The Unknown, Unfolding Terror- where the protagonist believes from the other persons opinion that
there are ‘supernatural forces’, but the audience doesn't’t really see it.
 Creatures from Beyond- super natural creatures involved to scare and drive the narrative.
 The Overwhelming Gore Explosion- where an over use in blood is mainly used to scare the audience.
 The Serial Killfest- one main antagonist searches for its victims and kills them violently.

12. Characters found in a horror
 Female victim
 Non believer
 Protagonist
 Antagonist
 Hysterical character
 Violent character
 Loved up couple
 Zombies
 Vampires
 Witches
 Demons

13. Codes and conventions
Extensive use of Narrative enigmas
 Slow pace of Editing, builds tension. Long takes
 Predictable narrative content
 Clear binary oppositions e.g. good v evil
 Use of low key lighting
 representation of gender: The Female Victim
Extensive use of close up
Young/teenage characters
Point of view shots
Low angle shots