Action
Action
Conspiracy
Crime
Disaster
Drama
Eco
Erotic
Legal
Medical
Political
Psychological
Spy
Techno
= 11
=1
=4
=5
=3
=1
=8
=1
=1
=0
=2
=5
=1
Conspiracy
Crime
Disaster
Drama
Eco
Erotic
Legal
Medical
Political
Psychological
Spy
Techno
This pie chart shows the results from our quick interviews we carried out. We walked around
our school and asked a range of ages what they thought was the best thriller genre and
what interests them the most. We found (and as you can see from the pie chart) that the
most popular thriller genre was Action; we came up with the reason that this may have
been because it was either the first on the list and saved people from reading the rest of the
list if they couldn’t be bothered. Also Action thrillers are probably the most popular because
they are advertised the most and most films are categorised under Action thrillers, so are
well-known to the public.
As part of our primary and secondary research, we researched using the internet the top 50 rated
thrillers. After finding the top 50 thrillers we them broke them down into categories of their genres.
From this will be able to identify the most popular thriller genre. Below is the list of The ‘Top 50
Thrillers…’
1. The God Father (1972)
2. The God Father, Part 2 (1974)
3. Pulp Fiction (1994)
4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Rear Window (1954)
6. Fight Club (1999)
7. Psycho (1960)
8. The Usual Suspects (1995)
9. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
10. North By Northwest (1959)
11. The Matrix (1999)
12. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
13. Memento (2000)
14. Se7en (1995)
15. Léon (1994)
16. Taxi Driver (1976)
17. Vertigo (1958)
18. Double Indemnity (1944)
19. M (1931)
20. The Third Man (1949)
21. Alien (1979)
22. Das Leben der Anderen (2006)
23. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
24. The Shining (1980)
25. China Town (1974)
26. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
27. The Departed (2006)
28. Aliens (1986)
29. LA Confidential (1997)
30. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
31. Rebecca (1940)
32. El laberinto del fauno (2006)
33. Some Like it Hot (1959)
34. Metropolis (1927)
35. District 9 (2009)
36. Touch Of Evil (1958)
37. The Prestige (2006)
38. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
39. The Great Escape (1963)
40. Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
41. Strangers on a Train (1951)
42. Safety Last! (1923)
43. Les diaboliques (1955)
44. Notorious (1946)
45. Sin City (2005)
46. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
47. The Big Sleep (1946)
48. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
49. Jaws (1975)
50. Le salaire de la peur (1943)
This Slide Shows us each film in the top 50 thrillers again but this time with their genre…
1. The God Father (1972) = Crime/Drama Thriller
2. The God Father, Part 2 (1974) = Crime/Drama Thriller
3. Pulp Fiction (1994) = Crime/Drama Thriller
4. The Dark Knight (2008) = Crime/Action Thriller
5. Rear Window (1954) = Crime/Mystery/Romance Thriller
6. Fight Club (1999) = Mystery/Drama Thriller
7. Psycho (1960) = Horror Thriller
8. The Usual Suspects (1995) = Crime/Mystery Thriller
9. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) = Crime Thriller
10. North By Northwest (1959) = Action/Mystery/Crime Thriller
11. The Matrix (1999) = Action/Adventure/ Sci-Fi
12. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
13. Memento (2000) = Mystery Thriller
14. Se7en (1995) = Crime/Mystery Thriller
15. Léon (1994) = Crime/Drama Thriller
16. Taxi Driver (1976) = Drama Thriller
17. Vertigo (1958) = Crime/Mystery/Romance Thriller
18. Double Indemnity (1944) = Crime Thriller
19. M (1931) = Crime Thriller
20. The Third Man (1949) = Mystery Thriller
21. Alien (1979) = Horror Sci-Fi Thriller
22. Das Leben der Anderen (2006) = Drama Thriller
23. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) = Action Sci-Fi Thriller
24. The Shining (1980) = Horror Thriller
25. China Town (1974) = Mystery Thriller
26. A Clockwork Orange (1971) = Crime/Drama Thriller
27. The Departed (2006) = Crime/Mystery Thriller
28. Aliens (1986) = Crime/Action/Horror/ Sci-Fi Thriller
29. LA Confidential (1997) = Crime/Mystery Thriller
30. Reservoir Dogs (1992) = Crime/Drama Thriller
31. Rebecca (1940) = Mystery/Romance Thriller
32. El laberinto del fauno (2006) = Mystery/Drama Thriller
33. Some Like it Hot (1959) = Crime/Action/Drama Thriller
34. Metropolis (1927) = Action/Drama/Sci-Fi Thriller
35. District 9 (2009) = Action/Drama/ Sci-Fi Thriller
36. Touch Of Evil (1958) = Crime Thriller
37. The Prestige (2006) = Mystery/Drama/ Sci-Fi Thriller
38. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) = Crime/Drama/ Mystery Thriller
39. The Great Escape (1963) = Action/Drama Thriller
40. Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) = Crime/Drama Thriller
41. Strangers on a Train (1951) = Crime/Mystery Thriller
42. Safety Last! (1923) = Comedy/Romance Thriller
43. Les diaboliques (1955) = Crime/Horror/Mystery Thriller
44. Notorious (1946) = Romance Thriller
45. Sin City (2005) = Crime/Action Thriller
46. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) = Mystery/Drama Thriller
47. The Big Sleep (1946) = Crime/Mystery Thriller
48. Hotel Rwanda (2004) = Drama Thriller
49. Jaws (1975) = Horror/Drama Thriller
50. Le salaire de la peur (1943) = Action/Drama Thriller
Genre
Tallied Ratings
Ratings
Action
IIIIIIIIIII
11
Crime
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
24
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
18
Sci-Fi
IIIIIII
7
Drama
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
21
IIIII
5
II
2
Mystery
Romance
Comedy And Adventure
As you can see from the table on the previous page the most popular Thriller Genre according to
out online research was a Crime Thriller.
Top Thriller Genre
1. Crime Thriller
2. Drama Thriller
3. Mystery Thriller
4. Action
5. Sci-Fi
6. Romance
7. Comedy and Adventure
Crime Thrillers may be the most popular because
they are probably advertised and promoted the
most. Also there are many films around which are
said to be Crime Thrillers, so are known the most.
Examples of Crime Thrillers are:
Jaws, The Bourne Identity, The Punisher, The
Football Factory, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V.
For the second part of our primary and
secondary research, we created and
handed out surveys to 40 people and asked
them to complete it. An example of our
survey is on the left...
We had 3 different survey for 3 different
age groups. The one on the left is for the
lower age group. We did this because we
wanted a wider variety of results.
We put our found results into graphs
to give us a clear picture of what is
the most popular; genre, opening of
a scene and setting.
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked each type of genre and what was
the most popular.
People’s Favourite Genres
Spy Thriller
Legal Thriller
Political Thriller
Eco Thriller
Disaster Thriller
Conspiracy Thriller
Techno Thriller
Psychological Thriller
Medical Thriller
Erotic Thriller
Drama Thriller
Crime Thriller
Action Thriller
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Number of people picking each Genre
14
16
18
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked each ideal opening to a thriller and
what was the most popular..
People’s Ideal Opening to Thrillers.
Types Of Openings
Opening Titles Showing the Setting
A Nice Introduction To the Characters
Explosive Scene
Series1
Murder
Left With an Enigma
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Number Of People Picking Each Opening.
14
16
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked which theme they think makes a
thriller and what was the most popular.
Types Of Themes In Thriller
People’s Thoughts On What Makes A Thriller.
Suspense
Deaths
Lots Of Stunts
Series1
Gore
Jumpy
0
5
10
15
20
Number of People Picking Each Theme.
25
30
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked each type of setting to a thriller
and what was the most popular..
People’s Thoughts On The Best Thriller Setting.
Different Settings
Factory
School
Forest
Series1
A House
Underground
City
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Number of People Picking Each Item
16
18
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked each type of genre. These results
are from our online survey.
People’s Favourite Genres
Techo-Thriller
Spy Thriller
Psycological Thriller
Types of Genres
Political Thriller
Medical Thriller
Legal Thriller
Erotic Thrilelr
Series1
Eco-Thriller
Drama Thriller
Disaster Thriller
Crime Thriller
Conspiracy Thriller
Action Thriller
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Number of people picking each Genre
14
16
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked each ideal opening to a thriller and
what was the most popular..
People’s Ideal Opening to Thrillers.
Types Of Openings
Opening Titles Showing
The Setting
Nice Introduction To
the Characters
Explosive Scene
Series1
Murder
Left With an Enigma
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Number Of People Picking Each Opening.
16
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked which theme they think makes a
thriller and what was the most popular..
Types Of Themes In Thriller
People’s Thoughts On What Makes A Thriller.
Suspense
Death
Lots of Stunts
Series1
Gore
Jumpy
0
5
10
15
20
25
Number of People Picking Each Theme.
30
The Results
The Graph below shows the number of people who picked each type of setting to a thriller
and what was the most popular.
People’s Thoughts On The Best Thriller Setting.
Different Settings
Other
Factory
School
Forest
Series1
A House
Underground
City
0
5
10
15
20
Number of People Picking Each Item
25
From all of the results we collected by interviewing, online surveys, handouts and internet
research we can conclude our final results.
From our research we found that the most popular thriller
genre according to the people we Surveyed and asked
was Action thriller. We as a group felt that Action thrillers
may have been the most popular Thriller genre because it is
the most advertised genre and has many and probably the
most popular films around which are categorised under this
genre.
Action
= 54
Crime
= 47
Drama
= 27
Mystery
= 18
Spy
= 11
Disaster
= 10
Erotic
= 10
Psychological
=9
Sci–Fi
=7
Conspiracy
=7
Techno
=7
Romance
=5
Political
=4
Medical
=2
Comedy and Adventure =2
Legal
=1
Eco
=1
From all of the results we collected by interviewing, online surveys, handouts and internet
research we can conclude our final results.
Opening titles showing the setting: 8
From our research we found that the ideal opening to a
thriller is either an explosive scene or being left with an
enigma. Both of these results tie in which each other as an
explosive scene can be an enigma as, as the audience we
don’t know what is going on or the causes of the explosion;
it’s all a mystery to us.
A Nice Introduction to the characters: 15
Explosive Scene: 23
Murder scene: 9
Left with an Enigma: 23
From all of the results we collected by interviewing, online surveys, handouts and internet
research we can conclude our final results.
Suspense: 48
From our research we found out peoples thoughts on what
makes a good thriller and this was; Suspense. Suspense
keeps the audience intrigued in the film and also keeps the
audience interested and wanting to carry on watching the
film.
Death: 4
Lots of Stunts: 13
Gore: 2
Jumpy: 12
From all of the results we collected by interviewing, online surveys, handouts and internet
research we can conclude our final results.
Other: 4
From our research we found that the best and most popular
setting for a thriller is in a city. A thriller being set in a city
makes the film more realistic and maybe makes the
audience more frightened as it’s in a real life situation. The
city gives more places to include in your film and varies the
scenes.
Factory: 3
School: 3
Forest: 9
A House: 5
Underground: 19
City: 37