Max Hall
What sub-genres of Thrillers are there?
Charles Derry, in his book The Suspense Thriller: Films in the shadow of Alfred Hitchcock (Jefferson McFarland Press, 1988), identifies 6 sub-genres of thriller. These are:
Political Thriller - This type of thriller, as its name suggests, usually revolves around the government. Storylines are often based around a government conspiracy or an assassination attempt. Examples include Arlington Road (Mark Pellington, 1999, US) and JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991, US)
Psychotraumatic Thriller - These types of thriller involve a character that has suffered a past trauma, and how it has effected them. One example would be Marnie (Alfred Hitchcock, 1964, US), where the title character turns to crime because of a childhood psychological trauma
Good vs. Evil - A thriller in which there are two people or groups involved in a moral confrontation where one is good and one is evil. An example would be Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951, US), in which two strangers embark on a plan of exchange murders. A more modern example would be Se7en (David Fincher, 1995, US)
Murderous Passions - Often revolves around the idea of a love triangle, in which on of the lovers murders another. Examples include Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944, US) and The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett, 1946, US) and its remake (Bob Rafelson, 1981, US)
Thriller of Acquired Identity - These are where the main protagonist has to come to terms with an unaccustomed identity. Examples include Nikita (Luc Besson, 1990, Fr/It) and The Assassin (John Badham, 1992, US), in which the female protagonist is forced to become an undercover assassin for the government
Innocent on the Run - This type of Thriller revolves around an innocent protagonist who is wrongfully threatened. One example could be The Fugitive (Andrew Davis, 1993, US), where the innocent protagonist, Richard Kimble, is unjustly accused of murdering his wife, and has the find the real killer whilst the police are searching for him.
What sub-genre should we use?
After discussing with the group, we decided that we should rule out the Political Thriller, as it would prove very difficult to find a filming location that would provide the right effect, as none of us have any access to any large political buildings.
We also decided not to go with the Innocent on the Run or Murderous Passions, as these types of film are very common, and it was difficult for the group to think of an original idea for a film under this category that hadn't been made before.
We eventually narrowed it down to two ideas (which can be seen in the 'Ideas' section under 'Planning'. The second idea, which we decided to go with, comes under the Psychotraumatic category, which we think will best suit us.