This document discusses the various sub-genres and conventions of thriller films. It identifies the main sub-genres as action thriller, conspiracy thriller, crime thriller, legal thriller, political thriller, psychological thriller, and supernatural thriller. It provides examples for each sub-genre. The document also outlines some key conventions of thriller films, noting they involve preventing crimes or disasters, jeopardy, and violent confrontations between the hero and villain.

1. Research Into Thriller Films
What Are The Conventions & Sub-
genres Of A Thriller Film?

2. Action Thriller
o In which the hero/heroine confronts dangerous adversaries, obstacles, or situations which
he/she must conquer, normally in a violent or suspenseful manner.
o Examples include ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ ‘Taken’ ‘The Bourne Trilogy’

3. Conspiracy Thriller
o In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent
only she/he recognizes.
o Examples include: ‘Awake’ ‘Snake Eyes’

4. Crime Thriller
o This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful
account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminals
rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasise action over psychological aspects.
Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts,
heists and double crosses. This includes, ‘Silence of the lambs’ ‘oceans eleven’

5. Legal Thriller
o In which the lawyer-heroes/heroines confront enemies outside, as well as inside, the
courtroom and are in danger of losing not only their cases but their lives. Examples include:
‘Time to Kill’ ‘Primal fear’ ‘Fracture’

6. Political Thriller
o In which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him.
Some examples include: ‘Notorious’ ‘The Ghost Writer’

7. Psychological Thriller
o In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is
mental and emotional, rather than physical. Characters, either by accident or their own
curiousness, are dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared to
resolve. Characters are not reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish
enemies, but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with
a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. The
suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying
upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely
trying to demolish the other's mental state. Examples include: ‘Panic Room’ ‘Phone
Booth’‘Psycho’

8. Supernatural Thriller
o In which the film brings in an otherworldly element mixed with tension, suspense and plot
twists. Sometimes the hero and/or villain has some psychic ability. Examples include: ‘The
dead zone’ ‘The Skeleton Key’

9. Conventions of a Thriller
o Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their
plots. In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime
that has already happened. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that
must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of
governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements. While a
mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved; a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats
the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others. In thrillers influenced by film noir
and tragedy, the compromised hero is often killed in the process.

10. Convention of a Thriller
o In recent years, when thrillers have been increasingly influenced by horror or psychological-
horror exposure in pop culture, an ominous or monstrous element has become common to
heighten tension. The monster could be anything, even an inferior physical force made
superior only by their intellect ( as in the Saw movies), a supernatural entity
(Dracula, Christine books, The Amityville Horror, Ringu films), aliens (H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu
mythos books), serial killers (Stepfather, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films), or even
microbes or chemical agents (Cabin Fever, Richard Matheson's The Last Man On Earth). Some
authors have made their mark by incorporating all of these elements (Richard Laymon, F. Paul
Wilson) throughout their bibliographies.

11. Conventions of a Thriller
o Similar distinctions separate the thriller from other overlapping genres:
adventure, spy, legal, war, maritime fiction, and so on. Thrillers are defined not by their
subject matter but by their approach to it. Many thrillers involve spies and espionage, but not
all spy stories are thrillers. The spy novels of John LeCarre, for example, explicitly and
intentionally reject the conventions of the thriller. Conversely, many thrillers cross over to
genres that traditionally have had few or no thriller elements. Alistair MacLean, Hammond
Innes, and Brian Callison are best known for their thrillers, but are also accomplished writers
of man-against-nature sea stories. Thrillers may be defined by the primary mood that they
exhibit: excitement. In short, if it thrills, it is a thriller.