What I would expect in a Thriller

Thriller films have a lot of very specific factors that you would relate to a Thriller when you saw.
In a Thriller I would expect to see binary opposites that are more grusome or evil than you would see them in genres such as romantic comedy or children's film.

The joker, for example conforms exactly with the image you would relate with the "villain" in a thriller film; this is because of his creepy and extremely odd ways which is in obserdly amazing detale down to his manorisms. I would expect a character like this to be involved with a thriller film because it is obviously the "bad" character that creates the problem and thriller films are always very tense and obviously solving a problem, whether it is saving some ones life or running away from something. The fact that "The Joker" is displayed as a character that is extremely frightening in appearance is however not always what I would expect from a Thriller film; there is a fine line between a thriller and a horror and in a thrillor I would just expect the "villain" to behave badly but in a horror I would generally expect the "villains" physical appearance to be frightening also.
In a thriller film, just like any other film, I would expect there to be a counterbalance to the "villain". However, this would not always have to be the "hero". Although in many thriller films such as The Dark Knight there is some one that "saves the day", not all thriller films do contain this aspect.

In the thriller Phone Booth, for example, Collin Farrel's character who is obviously supposed to forfil the role of "the good person" he is more of a victim to the "villains" evil as opposed to a hero that saves the day.

The location of a Thriller can obviously vary as it is a very vast genre, however, I personally would associate a Thriller with a bleak setting that would show the audience the severity of the situation. However, this is obviously not a necessity as in films such as Speed you witness the location to be extremely normal. However, it is a very clever factor to include a certain point of normality to a Thriller film as it helps the audience to relate to the storyline and therefor becomes much more exciting and tense.

In a thriller film I personally do not invision many props when I think of them; perhaps weapons or forms of travel or a specific prop that will follow with the story line such as the telephone booth in Phone Booth. I think this because I generally think that when you watch a Thriller film there is very little to distract the audience from the storyline as a result of the story being often complex or difficult to follow. Costumes however are often a big feature of Thriller films. A brilliant example is the costume and makeup Heath Ledger wears when he plays The Joker in The Dark Knight; this all adds to how frightening he is. However, a lesser example is the straight-jacket woarn by the main character in Hannabal Silence Of The Lambs.

The music used in Thriller films is generally used when setting and between scenes and obviously when important events are occuring. The music used generally builds tension and keeps the audience involved because it tells them when the exciting parts are going to happen. in this clip of The Shining the music used to build tension is extremely subtle, so subtle infact that you barely notice it being there. However, it really helps to set the scene and definately adds to the tense atmosphere, it also makes everything seem more eary and deperate.