Horror vs Thriller: What's The Difference?

Horror and Thriller: these two genres have been mixed and matched throughout films for nearly a century, and the difference between the two is becoming foggier and foggier. However, when looked at, the two couldn’t be more different. Here’s why.

I’m going to be comparing and contrasting a few different films, so bear with me.

HORROR:

‘Don’t Breathe’ (2016) - Dir. Fede Álvarez

This film is laughable at best, but provides us with a great example. So let’s take a little look see. The film follows a group of ruffians as they try to rob an old blind war veteran’s home. This turns on them as the film becomes apart of the new sub-genre of “don’t use a sense or the monster/bad guy will kill you,” and the old man turns out to be a badass that has near superhero abilities. It has some jump scares and some pretty funny scenes.

This film is the classic modern horror film. Why? Because we experience this fear as the characters do through screams and jump scares. We follow the eyes of the protagonist, and very seldom follow the antagonist. Every time the character gets scared, we go through it too. Every time something new pops up, we see it as it happens. It’s something that you’ll find with any found footage and most slasher films. It’s what keeps the audience scared and on their toes: the fact that nobody knows what will happen next.

This film also incorporates the tropes of most horror films as well: There is a disfigured antagonist who is much more overpowered than the ones running away, there is a spooky place that the characters can’t run away from, there’s the fear of death via slow and painful, and the shock value of rape and sexual torture/anxiety. You’ll find these characteristics in most horror films today, as they are apart of the genre’s reliable formula. And it works! Classic horror films have followed by these rules for decades, and some of them are widely regarded as fantastic. Others sometimes fall short.

I’m beating a skeletal horse by saying the film isn’t very good, because it isn’t, but if you want to see what I am talking about, go watch it for yourself. At the time of this article’s publication, it’s still available on Netflix, I believe.

He's gone a long way since the days of 3D blue Pocahontas. (Don't Breathe, 2016)

THRILLER

‘No Country For Old Men’ (2007) Dir. Coen Brothers

For the love of all that is sacred and holy, watch this film. Stop reading this if you haven’t seen it, and go see it. If you don’t have streaming service, rent or buy it if you can. It is a wise investment.

No Country For Old Men is how I epitomize a perfect thriller film. It has all of the aspects, but before I talk about those, I’d like to relay a quote from the great Alfred Hitchcock:

“We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let's 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 the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the 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 is a bomb beneath you and it is 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 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.”

-Alfred Hitchcock.

It’s a long quote, but it’s very important in distinguishing a thriller. No Country For Old Men nails this on the head, by giving us just as much of the villain’s journey as the “hero” (if you would call Llewelyn Moss a hero). Throughout Llewelyn, Sheriff Bell, and Carson Wells’ respective story arcs, we as the audience know that the menacing and psychopathic presence of Anton Chigurh is not far behind, aware every move each character makes. Without knowing that Anton was sitting in the trailer drinking milk, we’ve lost the creepy sensation that he was once right there, but now he’s hunting elsewhere. Without the intensity of the nighttime shootout between Chigurh and Moss, we forget that they’re both real men, always in one another’s thoughts. Without Chigurh causing the car fire, we won’t know how far this man will go to stay alive. And without the unpredictable scene moments before Sheriff Bell enters the motel room, we wouldn’t have been ripping our vocal cords, screaming “DON’T OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR, ED!”

When we as the audience can see the “bomb,” but the characters we root for are unaware, the feeling of suspense is ever-present, making films like No Country For Old Men knockout thrillers.

Nothing like warm milk and a child's haircut. (No Country For Old Men, 2007)

MIXING HORROR AND THRILLER

It’s recognized by many that no film has a singular genre, but an overall genre with sub-genres to help liven the script. Horror films and thriller films mix together well, and there are many movies out there that show it. John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ (1982) showcases a great example of a thriller film filled with horror elements. The team of men isolated in the arctic tundra, distrusting of one another as one of them could be the unseen alien, is the overarching thriller genre, whilst the grotesque and screaming alien forms taken on in the shadows give us the horrific twist that turns our stomachs upside down (thank you SFX artist Rob Bottin).

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the 2017 ‘IT,’ adapted from Stephen King and directed by Andy Muschietti. Based on the classic horror novel, IT has all of the horror film symptoms: the big scary monster (that most people in the world can scream at), the theme and fear of death, disfigurement, screaming, sexual anxiety, and being afraid of the dark, it’s no wonder this was the most well received horror film of the year. The film is heavy on the horror, but has small thriller-esque aspects such as the famous red balloon, and the intimidating appearance of the incredible Pennywise.

In the middle, we have a film like David Robert Mitchell’s ‘It Follows’ (2014). The film has the aforementioned horror and thriller flavors mixed in. Its themes of sexually transmitted infections and teenage guilt, with the “monster” popping up at any given moment give us everything we need in a horror film, yet knowing that the monster is out there, and seeing it walking towards us at a TERRIFYINGLY slow pace make it half and half on the genre. I’d say it’s perfectly balanced, seeing that the “It” that’s following, is incredibly present to the audience, but do we know what it really looks like? That is possibly the spookiest contribution in that film.

Spooky scary tall man NO THANKS (It Follows, 2014)

So there you have it. I commend you for sticking around this long, and I can only hope that you’ve learned to characterize some of your favorite films into their respective categories. Maybe you find that you like one film over the other? If so, go explore that genre, and nitpick everything you can about what makes it great to you.