MovieChat Forums > Thrillers/Suspense > Difference between horror or thriller.

Difference between horror or thriller.

posted 17 years ago by NorthernIrishBabe
6 replies | jump to latest

Im just wondering how do you classify a movie a horror or decide for thriller?

IMO horrors are movies which just kill for the sake of killing and thrillers get you thinking more about the plot.

I think most films made after the mid-90's are having to put more suspense in their movies are most would be classed thrillers and not horrors, whereas' nightmare on elm street, chucky etc are horrors.

One of the reasons why I ask is because Saw is classified by most as a horror, but it gets you thinking and isnt as gory as it could be and I find it hard to distuinish (sp) if it is a horror or a thriller.

Most are easy to decide but.....Are supernatural movies horrors or thrillers? IMO they are horrors because you know who the 'killer' is and it usually cannot be stopped which is more scary, but most people survive and very few people die so to some does that make it more a thriller?

I may seem dum on here but I am an A student. So go suck on it.

18/f/Belfast

[–] Akzidenz_Grotesk 17 years ago

Many movies today mix genres together, so yes, it does get confusing at times. Any movie where people undergo extreme terror or witness horrible things could be a horror movie, except when it's based on real-life horror like Natural Born Killers, Salvador, or other movies about war and tragedies.

Also, a horror movie could have little or no blood or killing. The horror could be mostly psychlogical.

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[–] ddavis-21 17 years ago

If the movie is more mental, that classifies it as a thriller.

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[–] Maxelle 14 years ago

I'd say this is the best definition. But I'd say if it is something that is debated alot it should be classified as both. (I personally think all horrors should have the thriller tag but not all thrillers should have horror tag, you know what I mean?)

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[–] Maxelle 14 years ago

I'd say people in horrors react more realistically then. I doubt more than 1 in 8 people would be brave when in the face of danger. A lot of people would be to terrified to fight back.

I'd say that you are wrong with the meaningless death. Since when was any death more meaningful then the other?

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[–] Maxelle 14 years ago

All death is meaningless. Even the death of a little insect or a person who committed millions of atrocities. I'm not saying one person is better than the other. But all death is meaningless.

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[–] Maxelle 14 years ago

No it isn't a horror because it is mindless killing. Their is always point to killing. What is funny though is that Lector and Bates (I haven't seen there respective movies but am going off of here say) just kill for the fun of it yet they are labeled thrillers. Yet Friday the 13th has Mrs. Vorhees kill camp counselors because they let her Jason drown. What seems to be the one with a motive and a point. Of course killing without motive is much more terrifying because you know they are capable of anything if they have no boundaries.

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