Who Watches Thrillers?

Michael Lam

The Thriller genre is mainly targeted at teenagers or young adults who are over 18 years old, this is because people of that age tend to seek excitement. Thriller films offer complex story lines that are interesting, they also include a possibility of violence and psychological matters that can be disturbing for younger viewers.

There are many different Thriller sub genres however, with each one appealing to different types of audiences.

Action Thriller

Action Thrillers are usually aimed at younger teenagers aged 15 and over, the sub-genre is mostly dominated by males who seek the excitement of guns, car chases and explosions. Females may be attracted to action thrillers as well however, this may be because there is an attractive male protagonist, an attractive female protagonist may also appeal to the male audience.

Horror Thriller

Horror thrillers are aimed at 15 and over, this is because younger audiences may find it too disturbing, scary and violent.

Horror thrillers create suspense by scaring the audience, the sub genre appeals to both genders, an example of this is when a male takes a female to watch a horror film on a date.

Psychological ThrillerPsychological Thrillers are usually targeted at people who are over 18, research also shows that a majority of females enjoy psychological thrillers because they offer a sense of mystery and an intellectual side that creates a puzzle like story structure.

These are the main sub genre’s of thrillers, the target audience varies with each sub genre, factors such as age and gender can differ with each film.This graph shows the popularity of the thriller genre as a whole, here the thriller genre is 5th

in terms of success in profits.