What do we expect of films within the genre of thriller?

What do we as an audience expect to be in a film of the thriller genre?
During a thriller we expect to be thrilled, we crave suspense, we want to be intrigued and we want a twist at the end to shock us. Although often if we are right about the ending we are just as satisfied because we have correctly predicted it, this often makes us feel like we are familiar with the genre and know a lot about film.

As an audience we expect certain themes within the film, such as:

• Anticipation
• Obsession
• Attraction
• Love
• Tension

We also expect there to be a villain, this villain can be in the following forms:

• Murderer
• Crook
• Gangster
• Strong Protagonist (we follow them throughout the story as our hero/heroine, even though he/she does wrong we empathise with him/her)
• Psychopath
• Sociopath
• Stalker
• Terrorist
• Fugitive
• Conman
• Corrupt Policeman

We also expect there to be mystery to draw us into the story and keep us thinking. There should be meetings between villains and heroes too, police raids are common, conspiracy and fraud. Stalking is also a convention which we see quite a lot within the genre.

Death should occur, it can either be pre-determined and planned, which is usually the case with a more sinister killer, or it can just be spontaneous, normally the killer is provoked or pushed over the edge to a place where they consider things they wouldn't normally do. This sort of killer is normally mentally traumatised by the guilt/memory of their actions.

As an audience we also expect dark colours to feature throughout the film, this gives a sinister feel and by concentrating this with shadows in particular areas of danger it signifies to us that something isn't right in that place. It adds to the feeling of suspense and emphasises villains and dangerous situations such as confrontations.

They normally feature detective characters who operate on the edge of the law, they don't abide by the regulations. Due to this they normally end up taking more risks and eventually solving the crime that other more cautious people may not have.

We expect deception, treachery, corruption and murder to occur. Often there are dark criminal underworlds and seedy underworlds where murder and plotting take place. Night shooting and shadows help to emphasise these places.