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Thrillers in the 30's and 40's
Thriller storylines were based on myths and surreal characters. Alfred Hitchcock played a big part and was recognised for his camera movement and work and this helped create shots like the point of view shot, increasing the viewers empathy. Some of Hitchcock's films at this time included the Lodger and Suspicion which started to build attention towards thriller films and Hitchcock himself. -
Thrillers in the 30's and 40's continued
Plot twists were added and became more prominent, making the storyline more interesting and exciting making more and more people wanting to watch. For example the main character was killed off early and there was a lot of murder in the films like in Psycho, a Hitchcock Film that came out later. Cinema was a relatively new idea which meant that it was popular, however the majority of people were upper class, restricting the amount of money that the films made as it wasn't available to the masses. -
Thrillers in the 50's and 60's
Thrillers in this time were starting to take off with more and more of a budget being given to the film directors. One of these was Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo were all released changing the industry with new techniques like 'dolly zoom' -
Hitchcock taking Thrillers to the next level
In the early 1950s, Hitchcock started to use a technique called Technicolor brand new for this era. This added a new layer to the thriller genre as people could now watch the movies in good quality colour. His plots were also getting more complicated as heroines died early in films like Stranger on a train and Psycho keeping the storylines fresh and interesting. -
Successful films in the 50's and 60's
Hitchcock then reached the height of his career with the release of movies like Strangers on a train, Rear Window and Psycho, mentioned later, which was a hit especially with the Technicolor and great story telling. He used point of view and new dolly zooms to make these film successful and stand out from the rest. -
Psycho
Psycho set records in the box office in the UK, France and other European countries. On a budget as small as $800,000, this film wasn’t expected to be the mass hit but it was making Hitchcock well over $15,000,000. This showed that the audience reacted positively with cinemas being fully booked as ticket prices slowly decreased making it more available to mass audiences. Hitchcock had cemented his place in Thriller history making some of the most well received, money making films ever. -
Sub-genres
Some new sub genres were used for example in Hitchcock's film Rear Window was a mystery and thriller genre. Even Strangers on a train was a crime thriller. Psycho was a psychological film and even set up a template for horror films pioneering the build up of suspense and the attention to detail even in small budgets. -
Thrillers the 70's and 80's
The genre took a violent turn. Thriller movies are almost turning into horror movies. The genre was taking a step forward as new storylines and sub genres were created like revenge and murder all making thriller a must see genre. Brian De Palma, a director, started to make thriller films and added to sub genres with obsession finding himself being compared to Alfred Hitchcock as he builds suspense and use cinematography to his advantage. He made films like Obsession and Mission:Impossible -
Thrillers in the 90's and 00's
Thrillers took a new turn and became more comical and satirical as a lot of the ideas about thrillers had been used and people were getting bored. This meant that people started to make spoofs and parodies of the thrillers in the past. This gave the genre a new life and introduced it to a new audience increasing the popularity. For example films like Johnny English and Fargo both taking a comical or dark comical approach to situations that a traditional thriller film would follow. -
Present day
The films have gone back to the start trying to be scary with added fast paced action. Special effects and CGI are now used a lot in storylines and the movie as the budget becomes bigger and bigger. The characters think more about their actions and evaluate it using flashbacks. Thrillers are now much faster, action packed and exciting keeping the audience attention with edge of the seat action with less of a focus on storytelling. For example, Fast and Furious and Mission Impossible -
Directors today
Many directors make thriller films but some stand out with their way of directing. Some examples include Quintin Tarantino, James Cameron and David Fincher. These directors are famous for non-linear storylines, use of CGI and handling of actors. David Fincher likes to confuse his audiences through cinematography. Tarantino likes to use lots of energy in his directing and to challenge conventions of particular genres. Cameron likes to push the boundaries of technology as shown in Avatar.
