THRILLER MOVIES
GENRE RESEARCH
DEFINITION OF A THRILLER
Thrillers are a genre of literature, film, and television
programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main
elements. A common subgenre is psychological thrillers.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK (1920’s)
He has helped to shape the modern-day
thriller genre, beginning
with his early silent film The
Lodger (1926), a
suspenseful Jack the
Ripper story.
The LodgerHitchcock had clearly been watching contemporary films by Murnau and
Lang, whose influence can be seen in the ominous camera angles and
claustrophobic lighting, which are typical features of a thriller.
The Spiral Suitcase
ROBERTSIODMAK(1940’s)
He directed the American psychological thriller The
Spiral Suitcase (1946). It is
based on Ethel Lina White's novel Some Must Watch.
MICHAEL POWELL(1960’s)
He directed the 1960 film Peeping Tom.
While this film was
denounced when first
shown, it now has a cult following.
Peeping TomThe gruesome story is about a
psychopathic killer (Karl Boehm) who photographs his victims
immediately prior to murdering them–he gets his kicks out of viewing the helpless terror on
their faces.
1980’s
2000’s
SUB-GENRES
These are sub-genres of the
thriller genre which give more detail to
how a thriller should be laid out,
in addition to giving specific examples of
specific films for each sub-genre
category
Psychological thriller
Mystery thriller
Crime thriller
Disaster thriller
Political thriller
Religious thriller
Conspiracy thriller
Supernatural thriller
OFTEN TAKE PLACE WHOLLY OR PARTLY IN EXOTIC SETTINGS
THE HERO MUST THWART THE PLANS OF AN ENEMY
THE HEROES IN MOST THRILLERS ARE FREQUENTLY "HARD MEN" ACCUSTOMED
TO DANGER
AN OMINOUS OR MONSTROUS ELEMENT IS COMMON TO HEIGHTEN TENSION
ELEMENTS THAT DEFINE A THRILLER
A THRILLER IS DEFINED NOT BY THEIR SUBJECT MATTER BUT BY
THEIR APPROACH TO IT“
”