Talk:Thriller (genre)

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Contents 1 Suspense 2 Merge 3 Merging Thriller and Thriller fiction 4 Examples --> History 5 Thrillers - types 6 Technothriller? 7 Horror Movie Definition/Silence of the Lambs Issue 8 Characteristics

[edit] Suspense

It is dispicable that there is no differentiation between thriller and suspense films. For movie buffs there is a big difference and being redirected to the thriller page when asking for suspense is an insult to both genres.

[edit] Merge

Is their a need to have this page and Thriller fiction? Whats the difference they both just seem to be two different approaches to the same topic.. its a little confusing. I vote they be merged unless their is a reason not to. Also why is seuxal thriller not mentioned? Is not classed as a *real* thriller? - UnlimitedAccess 16:50, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Merging makes sense. --194.83.200.150 12:02, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Thats stupid, why are there 2 seperate articles anyway?

I agree. These days in publishing, there's such a thing as thriller nonfiction, too. So "Thriller" theoretically should be broken into two subjects --- "thriller nonfiction" and "thriller fiction."

Right now in Wikipedia, "thriller" covers briefly only fiction. Some is redundant with the content in "thriller fiction," as you point out. Some of it disagrees.

It'd be really useful if someone would do thorough articles on Thriller Fiction and Thriller Nonfiction.

That way the "Thriller" article could be a stub directing readers to both thriller nonfiction and thriller fiction.

And yes, I agree that anyone who tackles Thriller Fiction should mention all of the subgenres, which include erotic thrillers. Also romantic thrillers, adventure thrillers, legal thrillers, medical thrillers, spy thrillers, military thrillers, etc etc etc. It will be a real challenge. The definition at International Thriller Writers website might help

[edit] Merging Thriller and Thriller fiction

I am a bit weary of quarrells right now, so I will explain here why I made a major edit. It was suggested by at least three editors that the two articles (Thriller and Thriller fiction) be merged. I placed a {{merge}} tag on both articles in January 2006, and the discussion that followed was scarce, but almost all who had an opinion thought merging was overdue. One editor suggested that thriller be made into a disambiguation page, so as to accomodate "nonfiction thriller", but that can be done with a top links disambiguation. I have now proceeded per WP:BOLD and merged those two articles. I have attempted to leave nothing out, but alas, that was not possible – as I thought some content was errorneous or unnecessary. I also rephrased somewhat so as to make it possible to merge two different articles. It is up to you to reinsert what you believe I have left out .. be bold as well. I would also like to point out that the difference between thriller in literature and thriller in film is entirely perceived, and not an argument against my merging the two articles. And yes, I have too much time on my hands. --Ezeu 13:26, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Examples --> History

Any objections if I recast the "Examples" section as a (brief) "History of the Thriller" that incorporates some of the same material but has a bit more narrative flow to it? I envision something like this (the bullet points being sub-subsections):

• Antecedents (pre-1900): Odyssey, Monte Cristo, King Solomon's Mines, Heart of Darkness
• The Birth of the Thriller (1900-1950s): Erskine Childers, John Buchan, Eric Ambler, Geoffrey Household, Patricia Highsmith
• The Best-Seller Era (late 1950s-early 1980s): Ian Fleming, Alistair MacLean, Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum, Desmond Bagley
• Specialization (mid-1980s-now): proliferation of subgenres . . . Clancy, Harris, Grisham, Crichton, Cornwell(?), etc.

Also: Any objection to similar-but-shorter histories (no subsections) on "The Thriller on Film" and "The Thriller on Television"?

--ABVR 03:24, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Thrillers - types

I am missing the BUSINESS THRILLER as a genre. Examples the Bonfire of the Vanities, Liars Poker. Gregor Vincent —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gregor Witteveen (talk • contribs) 11:04, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Technothriller?

I'm puzzled that Michael Crichton is listed as one of the "fathers" of the technothriller. Technothrillers certainly existed before Clancy popularized them--The Penetrators, Fail-Safe, North Cape, Treefrog, to name a few-- but the genre category is more than just "any thriller that has techhnology in it." Crichton's work is, for the most part, out of the technothriller genre-- his early work was medical thrillers (the Andromeda Strain reads as a medical thriller, as does The Terminal Man) and much of his later work is nearly straight science fiction. So I'm going to delete him from that sentence, unless somebody has a good solid reference. Geoffrey.landis 17:46, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Horror Movie Definition/Silence of the Lambs Issue

Either something is wrong with "The main character(s) . . .are or will soon become the victims themselves and directly feel the fear that comes by attracting the monster's attention," or Silence of the lambs is not a horror movie. IMDB says Crime/Thriller. Google says Psychological Thriller. Wikipedia says Horror thriller and contradicts itself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.80.40.86 (talk) 11:45, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Characteristics

Something is up here. Too many movies are listed that aren't thrillers. Your confusing thriller with horror. The Ring is not a thriller. Halloween is not a thriller. Friday the 13th is not a thriller. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not a thriller. Cabin Fever is not a thriller. The genres are similar, but when was the last time you ever heard someone say "Oh, yeah! Halloween! What a great thriller that was!"?--Plasma Twa 2 (talk) 18:43, 26 February 2008 (UTC)