The Difference between Horrors and Thrillers Films

I realised today that a horror film and a thriller, although different genres, contain elements which can be seen as very similar. So, I decided that I will research into horror and thriller trailers, in the hope that when me and my fellow colleagues comes to produce our thriller trailer, that it will not be mistaken as a horror trailer.

According to Wikipedia:

"Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural. Horror movies also usually include a central villain....Some horror films incorporate elements of other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, mockumentary, black comedy, and thrillers." - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film]

"Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, television, and gaming that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres...Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains. Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively." - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(genre)#Film]

Types of Horror Films:

• Psycho
• The Shining
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• The Exorcist
• Saw

Types of Thriller Films:

• Phone Booth
• The Silence of the Lamb
• The Da Vinci Code
• Psycho
• Se7en

The fact that Psycho is seen as both a horror and thriller film, shows hows similar they are. Jaws (1975) is also seen as a horror and thriller movie, along with many other films such as Saw (2004) which have multiple genres.

I wondered; what is the difference between a horror and thriller movies? And according to wikianswers.com;

Thriller shows someone specific being chase or stalked and not much killing but horror is basically killing throughout the whole movie!

Im going to compare two trailer, one a horror and the other a thriller. The Horror i will be reading is Hostel (2005). The Thriller i will be reading is Phone Booth (2003). I may also compare two horror trailer with each other, and two thriller trailers with each other, to see the similarities between them and what makes them that certain genre.