What is a thriller film?

(Alfred Hitchcock, a successful thriller director and producer).

Essentially, the thriller genre makes the audience feel suspense, tension and excitement. So, thriller films create an adrenaline rush for the audience as they are usually fast paced so make the audience's emotions mirror those of the character. Red-herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers are used a lot in the villain-driven plot lines. Ultimately, thrillers make the audience alert and on the edge of their seats.
There are 5 common sub genres:
- psychological thrillers

- crime thrillers

- mystery thrillers

- political thrillers

- paranoid thrillers

Information from: wikipedia