How can I make my thriller appealing to my audience? - Secondary Research

When I was conducting my secondary research I looked at the statistical yearbook from 2011 from the British Film Industry (BFI). I did this in order to find out the popularity of thrillers in the UK in comparison to other film genres.
Genre
For example, there were only 20 thriller film releases in the UK for 2010 out of 557. The majority of films were drama and comedy films. The top performing title for the genre was Shutter Island.
The yearbook also shows how few sites aired certain genres. The average number of sides at the widest point of release was only 73 sites, whereas fantasy films were shown at an average of 373. This indicates to me that thriller films do not have as wide of an audience as other, more accessible genres of films such as fantasy films.
Due to their shocking and often graphic nature, thriller films are usually rated at least a 15 by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). Films that fall under the genres of fantasy, animation and musical/dance will more than likely have low ratings which means that they are easy for people to watch. Parents can take their children to watch these films for example, which means that more sites will show the films.
Films with higher ratings are less likely to be shown in cinemas because of course the cinema wants to maximise their profits and showing films that are not likely to be watched under these circumstances would not be particularly beneficial.
However there were quite a few people who went to go and view these films, shown through the statistics for the average box office revenue per site. Thriller films, which were only shown at a total of 1,468 sites, took in £13,092 per site. Comedy films however, which were shown in a total of 17,420 sites, took in nearly £2000 less on average. This indicates that the sites which showed thriller films were probably more specialised cinemas. The cinemas which showed comedy films were most likely the more mainstream ones which shows that they have a wider audience, but were not as frequented.
The specialised cinemas are likely to bring in a certain, condensed audience which go there to see thriller films because that is specifically the genre which they enjoy. Mainstream cinemas such as ODEON or Vue are likely to show more light hearted comedy films because they appeal to most people.

12 out of the 20 thriller films that were released in 2010 were independent releases, such as "The Ghost", which was the top performing independent thriller title.

If we look at a compound bar graph to show the proportion of the box office by genre for all films, UK films and UK Independent films, we can see that usually UK independent films did better than ones funded by major production companies, especially so in terms of thriller films. When this is overlaid with the information for the proportion of releases of all films, UK films and UK Independent films, we can see that although some thriller films were funded by larger companies, it was usually independent ones which were more successful in the box office.
This suggests that people are more likely to watch independently made thriller films, and hence it would be wiser to release thriller films into specialised cinemas in order to reach the smaller audience. (This graph goes up to 50% in denominations of 10. The yellow bar is the top on the chart below the graph - All films. The red is UK films and the blue is independent UK films)

Audience
Through my research on audience, I found that most people watched films at home. Only 3.4% of people actually went to the cinema to view films. This indicates that it is not worth the hassle of trying to get an independently made film into the cinema because the audience it reaches will not be wide enough, most likely.
The next highest up group is through downloading or streaming. This would be the best method of getting a film out to people, owing partly to the cost free nature of this distribution method as well as the fact that it reaches out to almost everyone in the world, if they look in the right place of course.
There was also a gender divide in terms of audience. This is shown through the amount of people which were attracted to each film. For instance, rom-com Sex and the City 2 had a male audience of only 27%. However, the action film Green Zone had a female audience of only 24%. While these cases are rather extreme ones, it proves a point that certain genres are more attractive to certain genders.
However, certain films such as Shrek Forever After had an exactly 50/50 divide between gender. This is a kids animated film, which is likely going to be viewed by parents taking their children out at the weekend to watch it.
However, thriller film "The Ghost" was also a gender neutral film. This suggests that unlike rom-coms and action films, there is an unclear gender bias and they are enjoyed by both men and women.
The results also suggest that the largest age group who watch the top 20 and UK films is 15-24 year olds, with on average 29% of the six groups included in the statistics.

There has actually been a drop since 1997 in the proportion of cinema goers who are aged 15-24. It has gone from around 43% in 1997 to 38% in 2010. It hit an all time low in 2004, but has generally been on the rise since then.
There are certain films which appeal to certain age groups. For instance, the most popular age group for How To Train Your Dragon was the 7-14 year olds. Another popular film for this age group was The Princess and the Frog. These are both animated films.
For 15-24 year olds it was Kick-Ass; they made up 59% of the films audience. Other popular films for this particular age group were Four Lions and Karate Kid. These are action and comedy films.
As we travel through the age groups, there is clear evidence that action, comedy and drama films become more popular.

There is also a noticeable difference in the types of films which different social groups go to watch. For instance, the group classed by BFI as "AB", who are the wealthiest social group, tend to watch films such as The Ghost, Burke and Hare, and Four Lions. These are generally UK films which are either historically themed and slightly comedic. These films are generally fantasy and are not going to be ones which are necessarily relatable.
In contrast, films viewed by the lowest social class which BFI identify as "DE" tended to watch films which are more uplifting, such as StreetDance 3D or Kick-Ass. These are probably popular because they deal with subject matter that the audience may be familiar with, such as struggles in home life, rough streets and ultimately prejudice.

Audiences found that with Thriller films, they enjoyed being made to feel uncomfortable and disconcerted (Se7en). They enjoyed fast paced parts, intense music, and truly imaginative ideas (Looper), as well as ideas that pushed the boundaries of humanity. This would be twisted ideas of killings, ill concieved morals and sick justifications. These all alienate the viewer, yet leave them craving more, generally.

In conclusion, I found that thriller films appealed to a variety of audiences and that very few people visited the cinema in comparison to how many people actually watched films - this tells me that I have a far greater chance of achieving success through putting my film online.