Horror vs. Thriller Research

Overview:

For this blog post I am comparing the two genres horror and thriller because I feel that I need to know more of a difference. 

Thriller: 

• Thrillers focus on mystery and suspense, they want you on the edge of your seat and they want you immersed in the story trying to solve the mystery with the characters
• Thrillers often feature more complex characters in their stories with many layers
• Pacing is very important in thrillers, often have steady build up of suspense while dropping hints throughout the story to keep viewers engaged
• Settings vary but are usually realistic, emphasizing on tension without using anything supernatural
• Thrillers want you to be tapped into the movie figuring things out and questioning things as they go. The point is to keep you curious
• Thrillers use quick cuts to add tension and to match the pace of narrative
• Thrillers can sometimes change the points of view from antagonist to protagonist to make things feel more unpredictable

A good example of a thriller film is Knives Out 

This film has a really good buildup of suspense, it focuses on finding out who killed a wealthy man. It follows a detective investigating a family. Throughout the story the family is interrogated revealing new information and secrets. You get to piece together the different clues with the detective up until the climax in which there is a big twist. 

This film follows the conventions, building suspense, engaging you in the story, letting you follow along with all the clues, and keeping the anticipation all the way up to the climax.

Horror: 

• Horrors focus on creating fear, shock, and disgust in their viewers. They want you experiencing the fear with the characters
• Horror tugs on the fears that most people generally have, death and the unknown
• They often rely on visual effects to make the bigger impact, this includes costumes and makeup
• Horror often has a slow pacing with very sudden jump scares to keep viewers on their toes, can go from slow to very fast and intense climax
• These films use sudden loud noises and other discomforting sounds like whispers 
• Horror engages in fear rather than making you think
• Horror focus on the point of view of victims

A good example of a horror film is The Conjuring

This film is a great example of the conventions. It follows a family moving in to a seemingly normal house that is actually haunted. It has a bit of a slow pacing with a lot of dialogue at first with the occasional jump scare. It also follows the theme of focusing on fear but using the makeup and costumes to make it even scarier. It reflects how the pacing is slow and then at the climax it completely heightens it and goes all out on the scare factor. 

Citations:

“What’s the Difference between Horror and Thriller?  .” Screencraft, screencraft.org/blog/whats-the-difference-between-horror-and-thriller/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.

EllieB. “Thriller vs. Horror: Understanding the Key Difference between Thriller and Horror Genres.” All In The Diffrence, 14 Oct. 2025, www.allinthedifference.com/difference-between-thriller-and-horror/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Agnetha. “What Is the Difference between Thriller vs Horror?” Greenlight Coverage, 23 July 2024, glcoverage.com/2024/07/23/thriller-vs-horror/?utm_source=chatgpt.com.