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Thrillers in the 1930's and 1940's
At this time, thrillers were mostly based on myths and contained characters that seemed surreal, such as King Kong and Frankenstein. -
Alfred Hitchcock 1930-1940
Alfred Hitchcock was recognised for certain trademarks. For example the camera movement he used would mimic someone’s gaze so the viewers were forced to engage in the film. He also framed his shots in a way that increased the viewers fear, anxiety or empathy and his unique editing style stood out from other directors. Most of his films have a plot twist at the end and the plot typically contains murder and other violence. -
Sub-genres
Psychological thrillers were very popular in the 1930’s and 40’s. This is a thriller story which emphasizes the abnormal psychological states of its characters. This adds suspense to the film and the characters usually accomplish something because of their mind, wit or smarts rather than by doing something physically. Psychological thrillers often have common themes such as death, reality, perception, identity, existence or purpose, and one or two of these themes are usually found in the film. -
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
This film was made in 1931, it was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starred Fredric March -
Thrillers in the 1950's and 1960's
At this time there was a bigger budget for thrillers so the quality and production improved therefore they became more popular. One popular sub-genre at this time was mystery thrillers such as rear window. -
Alfred Hitchcock 1950-1960
Alfred Hitchcock was still a successful director and one of his most successful films at this time was psycho. In the early 50’s he was able to use colour which made his films seem more realistic, for example he used this in strangers on a train. He used point of view shots to engage the audience and this is one thing that made him such a good director. -
Thrillers in the 1970's and 1980's
At this time thrillers were beginning to use more violence. We can see this in Hitchcock's 1972 film 'Frenzy'. They began being very much like horror films. -
Brian De Palma 1970-1980
At this time Brian de Palma was one of the most well-known thriller film directors. His films typically revolved around obsession and paranoia and the main character was often killed at the beginning of the film. This increased the audiences interest so his films were very popular. For example, Scarface and Carrie. -
Thrillers in the 1990's
In the early 90s, thrillers had recurring elements of obsession and trapped protagonists who are trying to find a way to escape the villain. There were also many thrillers about detectives/FBI agents hunting down a serial killer, for example, silence of the lambs and se7en. -
David Fincher 1990
David Fincher directed films such as se7en and the game, at this time more thrillers were being made as they were becoming more popular. Lots of Finchers films revolved around detectives as this was a successful sub-genre at the time. -
Thrillers in the present day
At this time thriller became even more like horrors because of the increase in on-screen violence. They were also gorier, including more blood and deaths. The hybrid-genre of action was also very popular and lots of thrillers now revolve around this. To modernise the plots, they involved more world-wide issues such as terrorism and government conspiracy. -
Martin Scorsese
Martin was a successful is a successful director in the 2000's, he directed the thrillers 'the departed' and 'shutter island'. the characters on his films are engaging and he includes modern in society in his films which shows how the thriller genre has developed over time.
