Thrillers are a wide genre which often encorporate other subgenres into the narrative. Thrillers are hybrids with a wide range of subgenres; ranging from crime, to western, to comedy. I have chosen to research into subgenres of thriller in order to get a wider, better understanding of it.
Action thriller - Action thrillers generically contain a lot of violence, guns, and explosions. The subgenre often brings a in race against time aspect, and also includes chases which are the obvious action. The subgenre has a key antagonist, with notable action thriller films including : 'James Bond' films and 'The Transporter'.
Conspiracy thriller - The key aspect to conspiracy thrillers is a conflict in which the protagonist encounters an enemy whose true extent is only known by them. Thrillers including 'Three Days of the Condor' and 'JFK' fit well into this genre.
Crime thriller - These films tend to focus on the criminals rather than the authorities, and are made up of action surrounding crimes or failed crime plots, including crimes such as murders, robberies and shootings. Examples include 'The Godfather', 'Reservoir Dogs', and 'The Asphalt Jungle'.
Disaster thriller - This hybrid features a main conflict of some kind of natural disaster, such as an earthquake, volcano eruption or flood. The 1974 film 'Earthquake' is a good example of this genre.
Drama thriller - These tend to be slower paced and involve a much more character development and plot twists than typical thrillers. Some examples are: 'The Illusionist',and 'The Prestige'.
Erotic thriller - Since the 1980s this genre has been on the rise, taking aspects from both genre. One key erotic thrillers is 'Fatal Attraction'.
Horror thriller - These films are based on the theme of fear; for both the characters and the audience. These films tend to be from the point of view of the soon to be victim, making the audience directly feel the fear. Recent examples include the 'Saw' series and '28 Days Later'.
Legal thriller - These involve narratives in which lawyers have to confront their enemies both inside and outside the courtroom in order to let 'good' prevail.
Medical thriller - Films such as 'Awake' are involved in this genre. The protagonist tends to feature as a doctor trying to solve an expanding medical problem.
Political thriller - The film 'Agency' encapsulated this genre, which features plots etc within the government, and the protagonist working with or against these and trying to ensure the stability of the government.
Psychological thriller - Numerous Hitchcock films fit into this genre, as well as films including 'The Talented Mr Ripley'. The conflict between the main characters exists mentally, emotionally and psychologically as opposed to being based around physical feelings.
Spy thriller - These tend to be based around some kind of government agent who is required to fight against threats such as terrorists. The 'Bourne' series is a good example of the genre.
Supernatural thriller - Supernatural thrillers are based around conflict between the protagonist and some form of creature with paranormal force or powers. It encorporates some aspects of basic horrors, but does not focus on the theme of fear. 'Torchwood' is a television series which fitted this genre.
Techno-thriller - Techno-thrillers typically focus on the military, but essentially just technology, which needs to be understood in detail in order to follow the narrative.
After researching these subgenres, my group and I held a discussion in which we chose to focus our thriller on being an action-thriller, as we intend to use signifiers such as chases, guns etc.
(list of thriller genres from www.wikipedia.org)
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