Odd narrative choices? Why would I reveal the killer at the very beginning?

Why would I reveal the killer at the very beginning?

(Se7en, 1995)

Whilst creating the narrative for my opening scene, I chose to treat it as if I was planning a film two-hours long so that I could fully flush out and accomplish the first two minutes in the way that I want to. So I knew that there were multiple ways in which I could start a thriller movie, either present the audience with a murder, a crime scene or meeting the detective/main character. But instead of creating a conventional film, I chose to oddly focus on the killer. Not a murder, but a killer getting ready for the day, which makes the opening scene all the more unique and uncomfortable for the audience. 

However, the reason why I chose to go with this was because the main character is the killer, and whilst it is not uncommon for films to introduce the main character at the very beginning, it is certainly not normal to introduce a murder this early on. For example, in the film Se7en, John Doe is not introduced until there is only roughly 30 minutes left, in which he reveals himself to the police in a dramatic and shocking scene.

(Se7en, 1995)

So I think that introducing a killer right on the spot at the very start of a film is quite unsettling, especially as this would be a character that we would later follow for the rest of the film. I also think that an interesting approach to revealing the main antagonist (/protagonist) would be refreshing to anybody in the audience who expects the same formula of thriller movies again and again, and hopefully this will make my film more interesting and stand out. This is why I chose to take my film down such a strange narrative direction. 

Storyboard

I started drawing my storyboard while working on the script, I wanted to try and carefully write and visualize each shot bit by bit. However, I soon realized that the process was taking far too long as I had spent hours making the storyboard, but I had only gotten through half of it. The process was only made longer as I was drawing the frames on paper, which was not efficient and I was also more prone to making mistakes. 

And so I swapped to drawing digitally, I used my iPad and stylus which allowed me to draw with a new touch. I was working faster and the drawings were getting closer to how I visualized them in my mind. I have a drawing app called Procreate, however, I stuck to using the drawing feature on OneNote as I was able to use a storyboard template that suited the organized way that I wanted my storyboard to be.

Script

First Draft 

First draft review

Now that it has been fully written out, my script does not sound the way that I originally intended it to. I read it over and over and I felt less keen about my idea and something just didn't feel right, and when working on the visualizations, it almost felt cheesy, not like a Thriller. I made it clear at the start of the project that I wanted to treat these first 2 minutes as if there were another 90 minutes to follow after, and so I needed to go away and re-think of better ways that I could make the audience excited for the rest of the film to follow. I still wanted to keep the original idea that I had already established, because I do like the morning routine that reveals the killer at the very beginning of the film.

Final Script

Creating my film title, Catch the Rainbow

The phrase, “to catch a rainbow”, means to pursue something impossible to obtain or unlikely to happen. Therefore, I decided to title my film ‘Catch The Rainbow’ which was inspired by the band Rainbow and their song, Catch The Rainbow from 1975. The song is about a medieval-time stable boy who gets with a lady of the court, who sneaks off to his bed of straw at night. Just when they think it might work out for them, it doesn’t. This is an example of trying to catch a rainbow and showing that nothing will ever go the way you want it to. Therefore, naming my film Catch The Rainbow, references the lead character’s goal of living a quiet life despite having a lust to murder people. In addition to this, with ‘Catch The Rainbow’ as the title, it provides foreshadowing for the audience who become curious and interested to see the film.

Originally, I planned on calling my film ‘Killer Queen’, which is a reference to the famous 70s/80s band Queen, and their song, Killer Queen. The story of the song is all about a ‘high-class lady’, who lives her life by the standard of the upper-class. The reason why I thought the song would have fit as the title is because it described the type of women that the killer of my film was attracted to. Therefore, naming my film, Killer Queen would have hinted towards the type of film I would be making, presenting the audience with a clear genre and clear themes. 

Making Mr Fantasy's costume - Accessories

 Creating The Costume: Accessories

Tie - 

I had a lot of choice when considering the Tie, nothing significant but its the small touches that help. So I chose a tie that linked back to some of my very first inspiration...

The tie I chose was quite a dull blue colour, but it was covered in a lot of small umbrella's. Its simple and there might not be much point in elaborating on this but it is something that I found to be really enjoyable whilst putting together the costume.

I have mentioned previously that I have had many influence's throughout the creation of my film and that I also try to refer to my inspirations here and there, dropping in little Easter eggs. Whilst this is on a really small scale at the moment, I intend on doing into a much more grand scheme of it in future projects and tasks. 

To me the artwork showed yet another way of displaying Mr.Fantasy's hidden face, which is also elaborated through the signs of the umbrellas as people can cover their face with them. 

This is also prominent with the idea of the umbrella protecting people from rain, and as rain is commonly used as a sign on worry and doubt this is relevant through the idea of Mr.Fantasy hiding his face and identity from the audience in order to protect himself. This is a direct comparison as the umbrellas on the tie represent a physical umbrella to protect him from being caught.

(Golconda, 1953)

(JoJolion, 2011)

I first thought of this shot type when I first saw the trailer for The King's Man, in which there is one very quick shot of the main character suiting up and adjusting his tie. I thought that it looked really cool and it told me the kind of man this person is, which I thought was a really great example of the show-not-tell element to film making, and that is something I really want to achieve within my own work.

Cufflinks - 

Mr. Fantasy's plain suit may even prove to be a little bit too boring, and I started to get a little bit concerned and wondered if I've made the right choice or not. So I looked at the suit accessories that I had, I had cufflinks that peaked my interest, however they seemed a little too exciting for someone who's wardrobe is boring suits and grey. I thought they were too child-like and they wouldn't be taken seriously by the audience. That was until I came across them again, and as I looked at them I thought that they would work really well.

Now that I look at them they are very questionable to whether or not a murderer would wear them, but nevertheless, I do have my reasons. I mentioned in the 'Creating A Character' blog post that I looked at a very still faced expression for Mr. Fantasy, however since we don't see his eyes, I need to convey his emotionlessness some other way, which is wear my cufflinks come in. Robots are usually still faced with no expression, and they are like this throughout all sorts of media, emotionless shells. I suppose another example of how they would work is similar to the way that Stormtroopers in Star Wars wear those cold white, empty helmets with no expression whatsoever. 

(C3PO, Star Wars)

(Storm Troopers, Star Wars)

(Wonder Of U, JoJolion)

And this is why I will use the cufflinks, even though they will only appear for one or two shots, they will serve the purpose of presenting that creepy lifeless stare that Mr. Fantasy would have. Therefore, despite their slight childish-ness, they will hopefully work in the way that I want them to.

Designing a character for my film

Making my character mysterious

I enjoy designing characters, I think it’s really interesting when you can show lots about a person without having to say anything. Whilst I think it’s really fun to do, it can also prove challenging, so to get my ideas on-screen the way I want them, I started with creating a goal of this character that I was going to create. So I set my goal, I wanted this character to be someone with a much darker hidden personality beneath the surface, so that the outside shell was a complete façade and the small tendencies that this character would display would eventually give the audience enough to figure out what the inside of this character is like.

In case it isn’t apparent yet, I like to reference and observe other art forms in order to give my own work more depth. So I will look at all sorts of art, fashion magazines, manga/comics and even musicians in order to gain ideas for characters in order to flesh them out more. It was when I was researching that I recalled one of my favorite manga’s, in particular, I had recalled the part of the story where the main characters were in pursuit of a strange man in a bowler hat, but despite their best efforts they could not reach him. I thought this would be something interesting to look into as the design was beyond bizarre, after researching and watching video essays, it happened to be that the author, Hirohiko Araki, was inspired by a certain surrealist painter of the early 20th century, in which he implemented into the design of his character.

Wonder Of U from JoJolion (2011-2021), by Hirohiko Araki 

And through this I discovered the surreal artwork of Rene Magritte, in particular his many works of the ominous man in the bowler hat. Like Araki, I was fascinated by the artwork as it expressed a sense of unease, which would be an appropriate emotion for an audience to feel whilst watching a thriller film. I focused mainly on one painting which especially caught my attention, and is possibly one of Magritte’s most infamous paintings…

The Son Of Man, 1946

This painting represents the hidden nature behind the fake smiles and personalities of everyday normal people, which is exactly what I was aiming to achieve with this character of mine as there is going to be a darker personality beneath the surface. I thought of how I could implement this into my film, it would be simple to just make the character wear similar clothes and a bowler hat to what is seen in the painting. I’m sure it would be quite effective and it would act as an interesting reference for anyone aware of the art. However, I felt like copying the imagery of the man in bowler hat would be uninteresting for me to work with, and to me its important that I enjoy what I am doing and feeling passionate to output the best material possible. 

So with this I brainstormed different ways of achieving a similar effect and looked towards covering up the characters face, just like the apple does. I looked at ways to block the face with objects around the set, which would be a house. Using symbolic everyday items to cover his face such as knives and fragile things, which would be interesting, but to me I felt like there might have been a more subtle way to accomplish this. I wanted to hide the emotion of this character, but not take away his whole face. 

I concluded that the best way of hiding emotion and the true inner personality of my character would be to hide the eyes. Eyes carry a persons emotions, they could be smiling but not meaning it, and their eyes will tell us that, so by hiding the eyes of my character, it hides the one thing that shows a true personality. Whilst implementing this differently, it still uses the same concept The Son Of Man does, and it does it in a way that feels new and unique. Deciding how to cover the eyes was a simple enough task, I could go back to using everyday objects around the house to hide them, or I could play around with the framing of my shots which is what I finally decided on after testing it out with some early storyboard designs which are shown below.

‘

By covering the eyes and hiding emotion of my character, I believe that I have successfully been able to plan the way in which my character has a darker hidden personality beneath the surface of what we see. In doing so I think the character has become mysterious and interesting, making his morning routine an appropriate way to hook the audience and maintaining their attention.

Mannequin

I had the basic design and mystery of my character in place, and whilst its all well saying that there is a hidden personality beneath the surface, covering his eyes and hiding his emotions wont be enough to make it believable, especially it the short time I have. In order to make it believable and yet remain interesting, I felt like I would have to do more instructing with my actor. I had already cast a close friend of mine to star as this character and both of us are in the same A-Level Drama class, and he is very talented, so getting him to pull off a believable performance wont be the obstacle. In fact, the obstacle will likely be me, and how well I can instruct him to act the way I want him to. 

I was not entirely sure how I would want the character to act, in terms of his walk, gestures, the kind of things an actor has to think about in order to make what the audience see believable. In order to find the way that I want this character to move, act and interact I looked at a previous  performance of a great character in another Thriller series.

Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal, 2013)

I really enjoy Mads Mikkelsen's performance of the notorious cannibal, and whilst I prefer the recreation of Hannibal Lecter in the original Silence Of The Lambs (1991) film, I think the television rendition of the thriller icon is closer to what I want for my character. Hannibal is proper and quiet, which are two attributes I intend on adding to my own character, making seem like more of a background character, rather than someone taking the spotlight.

What Hannibal has is a slow and almost gentle walk that has great sense of authority, reflecting the monsters he truly is. I thought it was interesting, but I wanted something more unique that would slightly set aside my killer apart from all of the other infamous killers in film and television. In order to do this, I wanted to scare my audience, not to the point that they are watching it and wanting to leave, but in a subtle way that sends a small shiver down their spine. 

In order to achieve this, I researched phobia’s people have of things that aren’t real, which is when I discovered Automatonophobia, the fear of wax figures, dolls and other inanimate human-like objects. This is when I stumbled across mannequins, the same ones that are used to display clothes in stores. They are still faced, lifeless bodies, similar to what is shown in The Son Of Man I mentioned above. These figures are eerie because they have no expression, and with no expression they carry no emotion. Just like the character in my film, there is a surface which will always hides his hidden personality. 

Knowing this, I now knew that I want to instruct my actor to perform with a near-blank expression similar to a mannequin, which makes him somewhat lifeless and still. Therefore, I think this would be an appropriate way to both set him apart from the average killer in films and make him unique and eerie for the audience.

Costume

Like I mentioned earlier, when designing a character I like to think about the kind of things that show what kind of character someone is, without telling an audience. In my opinion, most of the time it is better to show and not tell because it makes the audience think about what they are seeing before them, forcing them to engage with the characters on screen, and making it more immersive for them. But one thing was on my mind, I now had a mysterious character, but how can I make him normal?

Just like with the title of my film, I looked in the direction of referencing music and musicians for costume ideas. I didn’t want anything boring, but then I wouldn’t be able to do anything oddly bizarre and call my character an “everyday person”, and I know that musicians have a knack for picking great outfits. I knew the character I wanted to create for my film, I knew that he was a seemingly normal person hiding a dark secret and a dark personality. However, I was stuck and confused on how I would translate something that in
to an average everyday office worker with nothing to hide. I began doing my thing, I scrolled through the internet, went through fashion magazines, art books and even album covers. I eventually found myself down a rabbit hole of bizarre and outrageous costume idea’s. 

I decided to come back and brain storm, and whilst I work I tend to listen to music, and it just so happened that I was listening to David Bowie when it clicked with me, I remembered the many stages of fashion Bowie went through, and with each style he looked drastically different. Sometimes he would look like the average guy I might expect to see on the train one Monday morning, and sometimes he would look like he was ready to go trick or treating. 

David Bowie - Inspiring the plain suit look

David Bowie - Representing the hidden personality 

But I think what caught my eye with these different fashion styles he went through, was the kind of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde dynamic that I was seeing. And it reminded me that I shouldn’t be looking for anything exciting, and that this character needs a boring costume that wont draw attention. The reason I bothered mentioning David Bowie and the way I found this idea was because I wanted to make it clear that there is some sort of hidden character beneath what we see, and I’m sure I have mentioned that too many times now. 

Naming my character

Up until now I have only referred to this character I’m creating as “character”, and so even if its not said or even shown throughout the film, I think giving this character a name would be the least I could do to help flesh him out even further, making him the most real person he can be. And just in case it’s not already clear, I like referencing icons, music, art and really anything else, and this is especially the case when picking titles and names. However, I wont just throw a random name into whatever it is that I’m creating, I make sure that there is a meaning behind it that makes it interesting, otherwise its just another meaningless name.

I’ve already established the fact that this name probably wont be very important, but of course I am still going to give it something special. And for the name, unlike the costume, I am going not going to choose anything boring. After all, names in films can make character so much better, Hannibal Lecter the cannibal, it just works. Darth Vader, it sounds menacing and makes the character so much more intimidating. 

So to me, naming this character something like John or Steve would be boring (I’m not saying that those are boring names) as it would just be a blank name. And so I went to listen to music again, looking out for a song title or a key lyric that sounded interesting. Eventually I chose to settle on a song by the name of Dear Mr. Fantasy from 1967, performed by the band Traffic, and the name of my character would be Mr. Fantasy. This is the same song used in Avengers Endgame during the opening scene in space. I chose this name because the song is moody and atmospheric, and at times its even bordering on eerie. I simply thought the name sounded cool, and the song fits.

Key Character Inspiration - The perfect antagonist, Kira Yoshikage

The perfect antagonist, Kira Yoshikage

(JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

When I first thought of a story for my film, I thought immediately about the main character. I knew that I would want to shine a spotlight on a murderer living in plain sight. The majority of Crime Thrillers involving murders involve a focus on detectives chasing a serial killer around, murder after murder, but I wanted to take a different approach towards the sub-genre. I wanted the killer to be the focus and the protagonist/antagonist. Which brings me to my main inspiration for the narrative and the character, Kira Yoshikage, who I believe to be the greatest antagonist in media and television. He is a serial killer living in a small town in Japan, he is young and works a small job at a department store - He lives a normal and quiet life. Which is why Kira Yoshikage makes for such a great and frightening antagonist, he does not have any overarching motives that makes him murder, and he does not have a traumatic past. 

(JoJo's Bizarre Adventure chapter 360)

Most of the time in media, serial killers are depicted as deranged and sick people living in dark and damp places. They usually have motives influenced by traumatic pasts and childhoods that have made them the murderers that they are. But in real life that is not quite the case, serial killers are normal people who have families, work day to day jobs and fit in with society all around them, which is exactly who Kira Yoshikage is. I wanted implement the goal of wanting to live a quiet life into my own character, it is a believable motive and it does not have any deep meaning behind it, my character would simply be like Kira Yoshikage in the way that he wants to quietly fit in with society despite being a murderer, making him somewhat realistic and a dramatically potent character within a cat and mouse chase narrative. 

Se7en - A Thriller sub-genre opening analysis

 What I took from a display of 'Pure Cinema'

I watched and reviewed the 1995 crime-thriller, Se7en, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The film follows a detective duo as they investigate a series of murders that follow accordingly to the seven deadly sins.

There are multiple captivating scenes throughout the film, using everything at its disposal such as lighting, mise-en-scene, etc.. the film has moments of 'pure cinema' throughout it. Making for incredibly climactic scenes and intense moments of dialogue. Whilst dialogue might clash with the idea of 'pure cinema', the scenes involving said dialogue would be just as effective with or without sound.

The film establishes our characters through the art of mise-en-scene and pure cinema, this is apparent in the very beginning when we are first introduced to the character of Detective Somerset, all of which is completely in four simple shots. 

The opening shot presents the audience with Detective Somerset starting his day in his kitchen apartment. The framing of this shot places Detective Somerset between a wall and a shelf, making him compressed and vulnerable. In addition to this, he has his back to the camera, placing more focus on his vulnerability. The noises of traffic tell us we are in a busy city.

The audience is presented with Detective Somerset delicately fastening his tie. With this we can establish that he is a professional and proper man, with high standards regarding the way he dresses. The over-the-shoulder/mirror shot reveals his face for the first time. Showing us that he is a middle-aged to elderly man, allowing the audience to piece together who he is.

This is the most informative shot, showing the audience the things that Detective Somerset carries around with him. The most important being the badge, showing us that he is a police officer. We also see a knife, pen and a gun, all of which are weapons in their own way. To contradict the weapons, we see a handkerchief, showing a gentle side to him as seen in the film.

The fourth and final shot tells the audience more about Detective Somerset, as he picks off a piece of fluff or dust from his jacket. This brings back the sense of his professionalism, showing the audience the previously seen high standards. This also tells us that he is a clean person, which is also reflected throughout the presentation of his apartment.

This film opening does everything it needs to do, it presents the themes, gives us a clear idea of who the character is and somewhat establishes a setting, it is enough for the audience to go by within this first minute. What this film opening does exceptionally well at is making the audience curious, they will ask to themselves questions about an older man as a police officer, and its because of the way this scene is shot and presented that those questions are asked.

Se7en is a remarkable film that has had so much thought and care put into it. For example, Detective Mills shoots John Doe six times, and earlier in the film we establish that he has only ever shot one bullet before, making a total of seven shots. This is even more significant as this film is a murder mystery, and the only on-screen death is when someone is shot by a police officer. I find the subtle and hidden details like this really interesting, and I think its things like this that make films rewatchable and enjoyable.

(Se7en, 1995)

Se7en is a film that I have been able to take away a lot from, I know that there are things I am going to implement into my film and into many of my future projects. For this current project, I took away the first three shots from this opening scene, as I believe they are effective at showing the audience what kind of person my character, Mr Fantasy is.

I replicated the first shot because it created the effect of someone watching Mr Fantasy, and that someone is the audience. Making the audience a part of the scene is more uncomfortable as we dont know who the Mr Fantasy is. The other effect created of Mr Fantasy being vulnerable with half of his back facing us makes the audience anticipate something to happen, making for a more intense scene as he is the single focus of the shot.

I chose to replicate the second shot in order to reflect Mr Fantasy’s level of professionalism as he delicately fastens his tie. Much like Detective Somerset, this tells us that Mr Fantasy is a very proper ‘gentleman’ like person with high standards of his own appearance. This also shows the audience more about what kind of life he lives, working a good job with high expectations, etc. 

I replicated the third shot to show the audience who the character is. Similarly to how Detective Somerset is set up with the badge, gun and knife, we establish that he is a police officer. For Mr Fantasy however, we see a notebook and pen, a knife and a folder with photographs on the front. This shows the audience that his work is related to photography and reporting, however the knife is the key to showing us that Mr Fantasy has a darker side to him that has not yet been revealed. 

Thriller Sub-Genre's

I already explored the basic conventions of the Thriller genre, but I was further tasked with exploring four Thriller genre's. 

Psychological Thrillers

Firstly I looked at Psychological Thrillers, which usually follow narratives with domestic settings which thrills are provided through the physiologies of the main characters and the situations that they are thrown into.

Themes: Identity/Perception/Mystery

Conventions: Frightening characters/Death/Crime

Example: (The Silence of the Lambs, 1991)

Action Thrillers

I took a look at Action Thrillers which is a sub-genre that I really enjoy watching. Action Thrillers are usually films featuring a race against the clock, lots of violence and fights, and a clear antagonist.

Themes: Conflict/Good vs Evil/Fighting

Conventions: Fights/Strength/Chases

Example: (Nobody, 2021)

Crime Thrillers

I looked at the popular sub-genre of Crime Thrillers, often films that offer a suspenseful account of crimes with narratives that often focus on the (acts of) criminals.

Themes: Murder/Crime

Conventions: Investigation/Death/Police

Example: (Joker, 2019)

Supernatural Thrillers

The Supernatural Thriller genre usually revolves around the involvement of otherworldly elements, such as fantastical monsters of the supernatural. 

Themes: Power/Unknown/Fear

Conventions: Monsters (Creatures)/Disappearance/Death

Example: (Stranger Things, 2016-)

What is the difference between a Horror Film and a Thriller Film? 

Horror and Thriller films both have different intentions for the audience. A horror film always has the intention of scaring the audience, whilst a thriller film usually focuses on the intention of keeping the audience on-edge and constantly curious. Whilst horror films will sometimes have a mysterious threat, there are usually very obvious threats to the main characters, weather this is zombies, killers or supernatural entities, etc. However, thrillers will usually aim to keep the threat hidden and clouded for as long as possible to maintain that "on-edge" feeling for the audience. As well as this, Horror films may have back and forth moments between the protagonists and antagonists, for example a heroic character might make a stand against the evil putting them at risk. Thrillers however, usually maintain constant an unpredictable tension between protagonists and antagonists.

What should an audience expect when watching a Thriller?

- Moments of high-stakes and tension

- Moments of heightened anticipation 

- Feeling on wonder

- Constant thought of "What? Who? When? Why?"

Mood Board

Padlet Pitch & Pitch Response

 

Overall, I found that I received positive feedback from my peers. They thought the idea was appropriate and fitted well within the genre, and they liked the idea of a seemingly nice person with a dark hidden side. The things that my peers advised me to think about more was the way that I presented a dead person, as I initially thought I would simply show a hand surrounded by blood. So I know that my main key focus is to make an interesting and effective reveal of the deceased, making it more shocking than cheesy and comedic. 

Credit Structure and Analysis

Our task was to pull apart the general structure seen within opening credits. We needed to see the order of the credits, for example, seeing where abouts the title would fit in between the starring actors’ names. 

To analyse the structure of Opening Credits I looked at the opening credits to Panic Room.

I have identified a list of credits that should be included within my film opening. 

The order that movie credits are presented in could be shown as such…

There are 4 main categories in opening credits...

Actors

- The people starring in the movie

Creators (Creative Producers)

- Director

- Designers (Costume, etc...)

- Music

Producers 

- Big name companies with funding (Columbia Pictures)

The Title

Conventions of Thrillers

    Thriller Conventions

I was tasked with finding the top 4 thriller films of 2021, find and watch the trailers and answer a few questions about them. The four films I chose were...

What have all of these Thriller films got in common?

Whilst watching the trailers for the four films that I chose to embed, I payed close attention to how the trailers displayed the themes and story of the film and how they were similar. I thought about how each one made the film look interesting and what kind of things they showed the audience.

Each film did it differently, but they all showed certain moments that created suspense for the audience, which maintains a sense of tension and allows the films to hook and maintain the audience's attention.

What are the differences between these films? 

Each of these films have their own different and unique styles that set them apart from one another. For example, each film and its different archetypes introduce us to the sub-genre, as for James Bond, we are quick to establish that it is a spy film. As for The Forever Purge, we establish that it is very similar to a slasher, however, it still remains a Thriller because there are obvious moments of conflict and tension.

Definitions of a Thriller film, what is a Thriller?

"Thrillers are about the feeling of thrills! They are movies and TV shows that keep you wondering what will happen next. They give viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation, and anxiety."

- Hellerman, 2020

"Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience."

- Konigsberg, 1997

(Psycho, 1960)

Mini Summary:

It's clear that the main objective of a thriller film is to excite the audience, build and maintain suspense and to keep things tense. To me, personally, I think a thriller film is a film capable of keeping an audience hooked and interested because they are in a constant state of "what happens next".

Why is it hard to define a Thriller film?

I think the difficulty in defining a Thriller film comes down to the extent of the genre's broadness, from many sub-genre's to different ways of displaying the thrilling content that grips and holds the audience's attention.