"What is a thriller?"

In the lesson we were introduced to the concept of the "Thriller" genre.
The Thriller genre is difficult to define because so many of the emotions and reactions that come from Thrillers are part of the whole experience of film. It is a meta-genre. The thriller relies on Intricacy of plot to create fear, apprehension and suspense in the hearts and minds of the audience. It plays our most basic worries by drawing on the most infantile and therefore repressed thoughts. These thoughts can be voyeuristic, sexual or violence.

The thriller achieves this by raising questions or enigma codes in the mind of the audience. Most thrillers have universal themes at their core- the struggles over love, death or money. It is this struggle that often enthralls the spectator. It is also done through a sense of delay. When something does happen, there is a sense of relief from that tension. In many ways the thriller genre is sadomasochistic- the audience enjoys watching the director cause pain and suffering to the characters. Our Pleasure is derived from their Discomfort. The audience also experiences a sense of ambivalence. They feel a sense of identification and sympathy with the hero's (or victims) vunerability.