1. What is a thriller?
Thriller is a broad genre of film that uses suspense, tension and
excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the
viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-
heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror.
Thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and
fast-paced. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists and
cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is a villain-driven
plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that they must
overcome.

2. Common subgenres of a thriller
- Crime thrillers
- Mystery thrillers
- Psychological thrillers
- Sci-Fi thrillers

3. Thriller Conventions
-There is always a reason why characters do something e.g. searching for top secret information or
trying to cover up a past crime.
-Famous locations – London (Big Ben), America (Statue Of Liberty), Brazil (Rio De Janerio)
-The key to this genre is tension, suspense and excitement. The film must have a brilliant final
sequence, the film has to be like a rollercoaster, thrilling.
-There are usually cliffhangers and red herrings which are pieces of information that deliberately
mislead the audience and possible some of the films characters.
- Twists and turns to keep the audience guessing, entertained and engaged.
There should be a hero and villain in the film
-Thrillers usually focus on non-stop action. There are not scenes where the hero stops to
contemplate his life and such. It's move fast from one bad situation to the next. Plot is king.
-Thriller emphasizes the puzzle aspect of plot, The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be
solved.
- All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen, The
two major themes that underpin the thriller genre are the desire for justice and the morality of
individuals

4. What do we expect from a Thriller?
In thriller movies the audience expect the building up of
tension, this is the key to a thriller film. This adds up the
suspense and makes the audience wonder about what will
happen next which is keeping them engaged and entertained.
It makes the audience ask themselves ‘what would I do in
that situation?’ The audience expects action; this could be
through fighting, killing, shooting, car racing, chasing etc. We
expect to be shocked and entertained, we want to watch the
same thriller movies in the future and still find them
thrilling, the audience want to feel the money they paid for
the thriller movie was worth it.

5. Pulp Fiction (1994) Crime Thriller
There is a lot of strong language – sh**, n*****, mother*****, a**, b****, f***.
Lots of money and drugs involved – injection
Weapons – shot guns – relates to violence and killing
Cars – racing – Boxing- action- fighting -violence
Lots of the characters in the film smoke
Sex – flirting – dancing – robbery – cars crashing -
Tension – man doesn’t realize there is another man in the house loaded
Ironic mix of humor and violence
Blood – on t-shirts, blood pouring from bodies.
John Travolta stars in the film, he is a well-known talented actor so you could say
that big actors star in thriller films to attract the audience.
All of these points link to a thriller as these effect the age rating, the age rating for
most thriller is 15 and for this particular film it was given an 18 certificate.
Plot
Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are two hit men who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen
from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace – This shows the quest/mission
Butch Coolidge is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight – This shows
how there is going to be fighting, action and blood in the film.