Still more genre submissions declined

Wes Craven himself in this interview agrees that the first film is "more of a thriller."

This is of no importance whatsoever when it comes to deciding the genre a title should have on IMDb. Elizabeth has linked to IMDb's definitions of the genres IMDb currently has. Do the titles you are talking about fit the definitions? This is the only question.

Since all the films are pretty much identical in content, I think it would only be fair to have all of them listed as thrillers.

Fair? Why would it be fair if one might not be a thriller and other ones are? This kind of reasoning is not useful at all in this matter.

This is of no importance whatsoever when it comes to deciding the genre a title should have on IMDb. Elizabeth has linked to IMDb's definitions of the genres IMDb currently has. Do the titles you are talking about fit the definitions? This is the only question.

Yes, the titles fit the definition perfectly. Also, if anyone else said it was a thriller I would agree with you. But this is the director of the film. If he says it's a thriller, his intentions were clear and those intentions show in the film.

Fair? Why would it be fair if one might not be a thriller and other ones are? This kind of reasoning is not useful at all in this matter.

As I said, the content of the films are identical to one another. They are designed to "thrill" you. I understand that the thriller and horror genres can overlap but The Ring is as much a thriller as it's sequels are.

But this is the director of the film. If he says it's a thriller, his intentions were clear and those intentions show in the film.

That isn't relevant at all. If the director has a different definition of the genre Thriller than IMDb has, it's still possible the genre Thriller shouldn't be attached to the title on IMDb. Only the title itself counts, not the opinion of fans, filmmakers or film experts. And also, not other films in the same franchise.

And also, not other films in the same franchise.

How is The Ring any less of a thriller than its sequels? They all cover the same themes and have the same tone/atmosphere. That's like saying Raiders of the Lost Ark isn't an adventure film but its sequels are. It's rare that a sequel not be the same genre as its predecessor and this is not one of those rare instances.

The movies I am talking about fit the IMDb definition perfectly. They definitely "contain numerous sensational scenes" and "a narrative that is sensational or suspenseful."

How is The Ring any less of a thriller than its sequels?

I have no idea, I haven't seen these films. The point is that it doesn't matter if one of them is more a thriller than the rest of them.

It's rare that a sequel not be the same genre as its predecessor and this is not one of those rare instances.

The fact that in some cases there can be a difference in genres is exactly why this information shouldn't be used to decide whether or not a certain title should have a certain genre attached to it on IMDb.

The movies I am talking about fit the IMDb definition perfectly.

I'm not disagreeing with you on this. I simply don't know because I haven't seen these titles.