definition and target audience of a thriller

A thriller is a genre of a film which builds up suspense, tension and fear for the viewers. However this can be put into sub-genres such as 'action thrillers' e.g. Snakes on a Plane and 2 Fast 2 Furious.  Psychological thrillers such as The Resident and The Orphan. revenge thrillers like Taken, Political thrillers like the Enemy of the State. Crime thrillers like Leon. Supernatural thrillers like Jurassic park and pure suspense thrillers such as Jaws.
Thrillers are usually aimed teens over the age of 15 (because most have a 15 certification) and also a more mature older audience. This is because the movies contain violence, adult themes, complex plots and psychologically complex characters that younger audiences either wouldn't understand or might find too disturbing.

Sub genres include:

• Crime - a suspenseful film often with shoot-outs, robberies and chases (e.g. Fast and the Furious)
• Action- commonly based around a hero and villain with a race against time (e.g. the Die Hard series).
• Psychological- conflict between two characters that usually have mental or emotional problems that they are not prepared for (e.g. the resident).
• Revenge- these are usually fast paced films that hold a lot of suspense and tension (e.g. taken).
• Political- usually a movie based around some sort of government plot (e.g. enemy the state).
• Supernatural- out of the ordinary movie in which unnatural things take place (e.g. jurrasitc park).
• Suspense- usually holds mystery and tension (e.g. Jaws).