What is a Thriller?

What is a thriller?Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information from the viewer is a common element. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliff hangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome

Thrillers in another sense?Ancient epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer's Odyssey and the Mahābhārata use similar narrative techniques as modern thrillers. In the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus makes a perilous voyage home after the Trojan War, battling extraordinary hardships in order to be reunited with his wife Penelope. He has to contend with villains such as the Cyclops, a one-eyed giant, and the Sirens, whose sweet singing lures sailors to their doom. In most cases, Odysseus uses cunning instead of brute force to overcome his adversaries.

Honourable Thriller mentions• The Third Man (1949) Carol Reed• Rear Window (1954) Alfred Hitchcock• The Usual Suspects (1995) Bryan Singer• The Silence Of The Lambs (1990) Jonathan Demme• Reservoir Dogs (1992) Quentin Tarantino• Old Boy (2003) Park Chan-Wook• North By Northwest (1959) Alfred Hitchcock• Se7en (1995) David Fincher• The Departed (2006) Martin Scorsese• Fargo (1996) Joel and Ethan Coen• Shutter Island (2010) Martin Scorsese• Casino Royale (2006) Martin Campbell• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009) Niels Arden Oplev

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Good words to use when thinking about Thrillers

My Ideas• Urban exploration- jungle/forest getting lost • Earthquake- natural disaster/chaos and

destruction• Bank robbery- self explanatory with

kidnappings