What makes a good thriller?

Tools    





Registered User
story, lightning, costumes, character, location....?



Thrills.
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



John J Rambo's Avatar
Killing's As Easy As Breathing...
suspense!
__________________
"War is in your blood..."



RIP www.moviejustice.com 2002-2010
I would say the story and characters must be grounded in reality or at least reality minus the premise that we are to buy into. However if a lead character magically gets out of each situation then we know the next time they'll just escape again, so it isn't very thrilling.

That goes along with a real danger to the lead characters. Of course there must be strong direction as well and many other things.
__________________
"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below

http://www.movieforums.com/community...ad.php?t=26201



Surprise!



sound effects and good costumes..



Terrifying story, great Sound effects, horrifying characters and the perfect time of creating surprises!!!... I think that's it hehehe



Terrifying story, great Sound effects, horrifying characters and the perfect time of creating surprises!!!... I think that's it hehehe
I disagree that surprises and shocks make a good thriller. Thriller's main device is suspense. If you are shocked, that means you weren't actually anticipating anything to happen, and that's not exciting. I'm not saying movies whose main tool is shock or surprise can't be good or entertaining, but such movies are not thrillers.



Lost in never never land
A good thriller needs to set up its jumps without stating obviously that there is going to be a jump. Too often in thrillers the location, camera work, music, lighting, all set up these jump moments in a movie, and while you might still flinch the first time that you see it, it really doesn't do what it is supposed to.
__________________
"As I was walking up the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away."
-From Identity



As Hitch himself explained in the great book Hitchcock/Truffaut, generating suspense is about a kind of audience participation...

ALFRED HITCHCOCK: There is a distinct difference between "suspense" and "surprise", and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I'll explain what I mean.

We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let us suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, 'Boom!' There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table, and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware that the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the décor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions this same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene.

The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: 'You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There's a bomb underneath you and it's about to explode!'

In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second case we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.



Registered User
unpredictable twists and the characters



A good thriller leaves a lasting impression of fright and chill that you will always feel every time you remember watching the film.



A system of cells interlinked
unpredictable twists and the characters


Read the Hitchcock excerpt, please...
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



for me sounds and great acting, the effects will just follow



Same here., sound has a big part for a thriller movie.,



They say that life is full of surprises...So for me "What makes a good thriller?" .... It is the surprise...+ good and convincing sounds....