Horrors Vs Thrillers - What's the difference ?

As part of my research of the 'Thriller' genre I decided to make a habit of watching Thrillers to understand the conventions better. A film I was really interested in watching was 'The Shining' as I found its opening very interesting and it left me wondering what the film was about.

Before I watched the film I decided to find out what the narrative of the movie actually was, then I read that the film is not actually a Thriller but a Horror.


The Shining is a Psychological-Horror

This made me interested in what the difference between a Thriller and a Horror actually was, so I decided to blog about the similarities and differences I found.

How they scare the audience 

Horrors: In order for the audience to be satisfied with a Horror, a various amount of blood must be shed through a variety of creative techniques to shock and frighten the audience. The main aim of a Horror is too scare the audience as much as possible, as that is the very reason the audience are watching the film, to be scared. Sometimes the genre gets slandered for this fact as critics feel that some Horror movies don't take time to build characters and story lines and instead just rush into killing off characters in the most horrific way possible.

Thrillers: On the other hand Thrillers are most likely to be less violent overall, they scare the audience in a more subtle but effective way. Thrillers movies don't have to incorporate as much death in their films and the way characters die don't have to be as horrific, whereas most times this is demanded from Horrors. In a way Thrillers have to build characters as the audience is most likely looking for a well developed storyline.
                                                                                                   Someone being pushed down the stairs and dying as a result is a acceptable way to kill a character in a Thriller, but a much more violent technique would be expected of a Horror.

The Supernatural 

Horrors: Horror films have a history of using the supernatural to scare the audience, ghosts, demons, killer bunnies, zombies and anything that can stir up fear in the viewer are deemed appropriate in Horrors.

(the clip is an example of the supernatural being used to frighten the audience in a thriller (the shining)

Thrillers: Unless the film is branded a 'supernatural-thriller', it is not common to find the supernatural used to scare the audience in thriller films. Instead they tend to deal with real life situations and scenarios such as, plane crashes, stalkers, or hostages.

It is important to note that a Horror film can be much like a Thriller film and vice versa. Some horrors can have very developed story lines like most Thrillers do. For example The Shining is psychological-horror about a man who moves into a hotel with his family in order to focus on a writing project he is outgoing. He starts to become frustrated about his unsuccessful writing project and having violent outbursts. Eventually he becomes possessed by a spiritual force in the hotel that he was forewarned about before he moved in. What makes this movie a Horror is the incorporation of supernatural beings and the violent killings in the film.

My overall summary of the difference between thrillers and horrors is that in a Thriller the main aim is too stir up tension and suspense whereas is in a horror it too frighten the audience and elicit fear and disgust (though killing.)

However many films can cross both genres.