What is the difference between a horror movie and a thriller?
Cinema is full of seemingly redundant categorisations. What, you might ask, is the point of labelling a film a “period drama” when “historical drama” would suffice? That’s to say nothing of the countless sub-categories hidden within genres like science fiction, fantasy and horror.
There’s body horror, analogue horror, techno-horror, slasher, splatterpunk, Giallo – each of which comes with its own specific set of criteria. It’s no wonder the whole thing can feel slightly overwhelming.
That being said, there are times when understanding the difference between easily-confused genres has its benefits. Looking at a film’s genre tells us what we can expect from what we’re about to watch, and in a world where viewing options are endless, it’s important to know
If you don’t like gore but appreciate suspense, for example, you’re probably better off watching a thriller rather than a horror. Of course, it goes much deeper than that. Let’s take a closer look.
Why are horrors and thrillers so easily confused?
The issue with differentiating between a horror and a thriller is that they have a great deal in common. Thrillers, like horrors, frequently rely on mounting tension that is released during especially harrowing moments They also both rely on that “tension and release” dynamic that keeps on on the edge of our seats.
Similarly, both genres often utilise the same three-act structure, with the protagonist often escaping a threat temporarily before having to face it one last time.
It’s also worth noting that horror and thriller films are often scary for the same reasons. Take Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, for example, which isn’t just scary on a supernatural level; it’s scary on a psychological level, offering insight into the dark inner worlds of its central characters.
You also find this in thrillers like Shutter Island, which, rather confusingly, uses many of the same plot devices that made The Cabinet of Dr Caligeri (usually described as a horror film) so unnerving.
So…what’s the difference between horror and thriller?
As we’ve discussed, relying on horror films to keep you horrified and thrillers to keep you guessing is bound to lead to confusion. The simplest way of telling the difference between a thriller and a horror is to look at the key elements of the genre.
While both genres rely on suspense, in a thriller, it’s far more important that the audience can’t tell what’s about to happen next. In contrast, horror directors often make it painfully apparent that a character is about to meet a gruesome end. The expectation rather than the shock of death is what makes a horror a horror.
In horror, the director’s focus is always on scaring the audience as much as possible. As such, the central antagonist is usually far more evil, gruesome and violent than they would be in a thriller. Moreover, horror narratives often feel inevitable and unstoppable. That same sense of inevitability is the death of any good thriller.
The main aim of a thriller is to make the audience feel like a participant in the quest to solve some complex mystery. Horrors, on the other hand, seek to turn their audiences into passive voyeurs. This is perhaps the most important distinction between thrillers and horrors: thriller directors treat their audiences as accomplices, while horror directors treat their audiences as victims.
