Horror and Thiller Films

As shown in our pitch, we are yet to decide whether our short film will be of the horror genre or a thriller. Horror and Thriller films are not the same. However they can be fairly similar in the audience that goes to watch them, their certification and their intentions.


What is the difference between a horror and a thriller film?


Thriller is a genre used in films which enables the audience to experience many different emotions through the use of suspense and anticipation. In a thriller, the audience are likely to experience feelings of suspense, excitement, worry, surprise etc. In these films violence is likely to be shown however, not a lot of blood and gory scenes will be included in great detail. Instead of this, they tend to require the audience to think outside the box and pick up on key elements or clues to work out an explanation for an event.  Thrillers also tend to be realistic in their narratives as the antagonist may be a criminal who has escaped prison, a kidnapper, a murder etc.


A horror film is different. These films target audiences who wish to be on the edge of their seat, frightened and fear the unknown. Horror films involve many violent scenes with a lot of blood and gore. They also tend be less realistic as the characters who play the antagonist are normally make believe and do not exist , such as a zombie, and the audience believes that it could never happen.


Both genres intensions are to scare audiences. However, they are scary in different ways as a thriller is more suspenseful whereas a horror generally scares the audience with the appearance or the antagonist.