What is "thriller"

1889, "sensational story," agent noun from thrill (v.).

n. Something that thrills.

n. a suspenseful adventure story or play or movie

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information from the viewer is a common element. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

In 2001, the American Film Institute in Los Angeles made its definitive selection of the top 100 greatest American "heart-pounding" and "adrenaline-inducing" films of all time. AFI also asked jurors to consider "the total adrenaline-inducing impact of a film's artistry and craft".

Homer's Odyssey is one of the oldest stories in the Western world and is regarded as an early prototype of the thriller. One of the earliest thriller films was Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last! (1923), with a character performing a daredevil stunt on the side of a skyscraper.

Thriller may refer to:

• Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television

Thriller (also known as Boris Karloff's Thriller) is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons on NBC. The show featured host Boris Karloff introducing a mix of macabre horror tales and suspense thrillers. Reruns currently (November 2015) air on the MeTV television network.

Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.

Thriller was a short-lived comic book series published by DC Comics beginning in November 1983. The series was originally written by Robert Loren Fleming and drawn by Trevor Von Eeden. It was sold only through the direct market. The taglines for the series were, "She has 7 seconds to save the world " and "You can't read it fast enough". The "she" in question was protagonist Angie Thriller. The "7 seconds" referred to a team of operatives who assisted her in various conflicts.

Thriller is the sixth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 30, 1982, as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including pop, post-disco, rock and funk. Recording sessions took place on April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles with a production budget of $750,000, assisted by producer Quincy Jones.

Of the album's nine tracks, four were written by Jackson. Seven singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Three of the singles had music videos released. " Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life" were the only tracks that were not released as singles. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time, with estimated sales of 65 million copies worldwide according to various sources. In the United States, it is the best-selling album and has become the first album ever to be certified 32 times multi-platinum for 32 million album-equivalent units. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards in 1984, including for Album of the Year.

Thriller enabled Jackson to break down racial barriers in pop music via his appearances on MTV and meeting with President of the United States Ronald Reagan at the White House. The album was one of the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools—the videos for " Thriller", " Billie Jean" and " Beat It" all received regular rotation on MTV. In 2001, a special edition issue of the album was released, which contains additional audio interviews, demo recordings and the song "Someone in the Dark", which was a Grammy-winning track from the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook. In 2008, the album was reissued again as Thriller 25, containing re-mixes that feature contemporary artists, a previously unreleased song and a DVD, which features the short films from the album and the Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean". That same year the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame along with Jackson's Off The Wall LP.

In 2012, Slant Magazine listed Thriller at number one on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s". The album was ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number three in its "Definitive 200" albums of all time. The Thriller album was included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry of culturally significant recordings and the Thriller video was included in the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry of "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films".

"Thriller" is a song recorded by American singer Michael Jackson, composed by Rod Temperton, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the seventh and final single released by Epic Records from his 1982 studio album Thriller. A 14-minute video showing Jackson in a Halloween-themed performance premiered on November 14, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. It was first shown on MTV on December 2, 1983. The song was not released as a single until January 23, 1984.

"Thriller" has appeared on multiple greatest hits compilation albums from Jackson, including HIStory (1995), Number Ones (2003), The Essential Michael Jackson (2005) and Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) and was remixed for the Immortal album in 2011. The song has a voice-over from actor Vincent Price.

In the song, sound effects such as a creaking door, thunder, feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling dogs can be heard, and the lyrics contain frightening themes and elements. "Thriller" received positive reviews from critics and became Jackson's seventh top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart from the album, while reaching the top of the charts in France and Belgium and the top ten in many other countries.

"Thriller" was adapted by " American Werewolf In London" director John Landis into a highly successful music video, known independently as " Michael Jackson's Thriller". At fourteen minutes the video is substantially longer than the song, which ties together a narrative featuring Jackson and actress Ola Ray in a setting heavily inspired by horror films of the 1950s. In the video's most iconic scene, Jackson leads other actors costumed as zombies in a choreographed dance routine. Though it garnered some criticism for its occult theme and violent imagery, the video was immediately popular and received high critical acclaim, being nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 and winning three. In 2009 it was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, the first music video ever selected.

Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night (2006) is a compilation of 30 thriller short stories edited by James Patterson.

Thriller is a 1973 album by San Francisco funk group Cold Blood. Lydia Pense and the rest of Cold Blood were backed by The Pointer Sisters.

The album caused controversy because of its violent cover art. The cover was cited in 1978 in a congressional committee on domestic violence. The inside of the album cover, in the fold out, is the same model stabbing a man in the back.

Thriller is the third full-length album by Lambchop, released in 1997.

The album title was chosen as a reference to the Michael Jackson album of the same name, one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, as an in-joke by frontman Kurt Wagner regarding the low sales of the first two Lambchop albums.

The track "Your Fucking Sunny Day" was released as a single from the album in a re-recorded "clean" version, under the title "Your Sucking Funny Day".

Three of the songs, "Hey Where's Your Girl", "Crawl Away" and "Superstar in France" are cover versions of songs from the album Poor Fricky by East River Pipe also released on Merge Records.

The sleeve is a painting by Wayne White, a childhood friend of Wagner who also provided cover art for Nixon, Aw Cmon and No You Cmon by the band.1

Thriller is a viral video featuring the CPDRC Dancing Inmates of a high-security penitentiary. In 2007, the inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a maximum security prison in Cebu, the Philippines, imitated the zombie dance featured in the music video of Michael Jackson's " Thriller". The footage, uploaded onto video-sharing website YouTube, became a viral video. The idea behind the dance came from the prison's chief, Byron F. Garcia. Garcia first conceived the idea of exercising as an enjoyable way of keeping the prisoners mentally and physically fit. Music was then added to provide additional motivation. The convicts marched and danced to several songs, including " In the Navy" and " Y.M.C.A." by the Village People.

Garcia posted the prisoners' dance regimes onto the internet in April 2007. The most popular of the presentations was their Thriller performance. The video showed over 1,500 male inmates emulating Michael Jackson's dance moves from the original Thriller short film. Jackson fan Crisanto Nierre played the role of the pop star, with the openly gay former pizza chef Wenjiel Resane playing his girlfriend. The video became one of the most viewed on the internet, receiving 300,000 views per day at its peak. As of December 27, 2014, the Thriller viral video has received over 54 million reported views. The clip also garnered complaints, with one professor stating that the dancing does not rehabilitate CPDRC inmates. The prison and its officers faced allegations of prisoner abuse, claims which both the officers and inmates denied.

The prisoners have performed numerous other songs, including " Radio Ga Ga", " Together in Electric Dreams", " Holding Out for a Hero", and several songs from Sister Act. One of their performances involves the inmates holding portraits of figures such as the Dalai Lama, Pope John Paul II and Mahatma Gandhi. As a result of the prisoners' internet fame, many visitors come to CPDRC to view the monthly performances held by the convicts. Their presentations are seen from viewing platforms surrounding the exercise yard. At the jail, visitors can have their pictures taken with the inmates. They can also buy souvenir prison shirts.

Thriller is the third studio album by pub rock band Eddie and the Hot Rods and it reached #50 on the UK Singles Chart. Released in 1979, it is produced by Peter Ker. The album builds on the sound they have established in the previous studio album Life on the Line. Shortly after the release of Thriller, the band was sacked by their record company and forced to join EMI Records. The album was reissued in 2002 with two bonus tracks: "Horror Through Straightness" and "Highlands 1 Hopefuls 2". These songs had been the B-sides to the singles released on the album.

The album featured two singles: "Media Messiahs" and "The Power and the Glory", both of which did not chart on the UK Singles Chart.

Linda McCartney provided backing vocals on "The Power and the Glory". Reception of the album was muted.

Thriller is the third EP released by South Korean boy band BtoB. It was released on September 9, 2013, consisting a total of 6 tracks with Thriller as title track and the promotional single of the album.