The History of Thrillers

What is a Thriller ?

Thrillers are films that are known to create high levels of

excitement.The also aim to create suspense, a high level

of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty,

anxiety, and unbearable tension. Thriller films have very

similar characteristics to other genres of film and often

become hybrids.

“If the genre is to be defined strictly, a genuine thriller is a

film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to

provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the

'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax.”

Early Thrillers One of the earliest 'thrillers' was Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last (1923), with the all-American boy performing a daredevil stunt on the side

of a skyscraper. The haunting and chilling German film M (1931) directed by the great Fritz Lang, starred Peter Lorre (in his first film role) as a

criminal deviant - a child killer. The film's story was based on the life of serial killer Peter Kurten (known as the 'Vampire of Dusseldorf'). Edward

Sutherland's crime/horror thriller Murders in the Zoo (1933) from Paramount starred Lionel Atwill as a murderous and jealous zoologist. And

various horror films of the period, The Cat and the Canary (1927), director Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) with Fredric

March, and The Bat Whispers (1930), provided some thrills

Director George Cukor's classic psychological thrillerGaslight 1944 (first made in Britain in 1939 with Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynward) featured

a scheming husband (Charles Boyer) plotting to make his innocent young wife (Ingrid Bergman) go insane, in order to acquire her inheritance. The

film noir Laura 1994 told about a thrilling murder investigation (for a beautiful missing advertising executive named Laura) conducted by a police

detective (Dana Andrews), with suspects including an acid-tongued columnist (Clifton Webb) and a gigolo fiancee (Vincent Price). And the eerie

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), from Oscar Wilde's masterful tale, refashioned the Faustian story of a man (Hurd Hatfield) who made a deal

with Mephistopheles (George Sanders)

to forever remain young

Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an

English film director and producer. Often nicknamed "The Master of

Suspense", he pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological

thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films

and early talkies, renowned as England's best director, Hitchcock moved to

Hollywood in 1939 and became a US citizen in 1955.

Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for

himself a distinctive and recognisable directorial style. He pioneered the use of

a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers

to engage in a form of voyeurism.He framed shots to maximise anxiety, fear, or

empathy, and used innovative film editing.His stories often feature fugitives on

the run from the law alongside "icy blonde" female characters. Many of

Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of

violence, murder, and crime. Many of the mysteries, however, are used as

decoys or "MacGuffins" that serve the film's themes and the psychological

examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes

from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual overtones. Through his cameo

appearances in his own films, interviews, film trailers, and the television

program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon.

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six

decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a

2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph, which said: "Unquestionably

the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than

any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without

him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his

characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no

one else. The magazine MovieMaker has described him as the most influential

filmmaker of all time, and he is widely regarded as one of cinema's most

significant artists.