Thriller Conventions

The aim for thrillers is to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. Central to the plot of a thriller is that one character will feel injustice has been carried against them, some thrillers will have a blurred line of good and bad, they will have red-herrings and cliff hangers and plot twists. A thriller provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, sense of suspense sometimes at a constant. Common methods and themes in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. . More common in mystery thrillers are investigations and the who done it technique. Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/death-traps, horror, and obsession. Threats to whole countries, spies, espionage, conspiracies, assassins and electronic surveillance are common in spy thrillers. 
Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces – the threat is sometimes unseen. An atmosphere of creepy menace and sudden violence, such as crime and murder, characterize thrillers. Thrillers often present the world and society as dark, corrupt and dangerous. But in Hollywood they usually feature upbeat endings in which evil is overcome. The tension usually arises when the character is placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap from which escaping seems impossible.