history of the thriller genre (famous directors and movies)

The thriller genre is a young one only starting out in the early 1900's. The thriller genre uses tension, suspense, excitement and enigmas as a way to entertain the audience and keep them guessing. Anticipation is one of the main elements used in any thriller movie as it really engages the audience because the aim of a thriller is to keep the audience alert and look out for every "clue". No matter the sub genre there must be a "highly stressful" climax as thrillers tend to play with an audience's mind and emotions throughout the movie. Wikipedia defines a thriller as something that "provides the sudden rush of emotions, excitement, sense of suspense and exhilaration that drive the narrative".


Most commonly thrillers tend to have antagonists who are extremely clever, cunning and knows how to manipulate and control situations, a lot more than the protagonists of the film. Protagonists usually have a "quest" of some sort in thrillers where they must outsmart the antagonist to find their target or goal however this is not the case in all thrillers. All of the suspense and tension tends to come from the fact that the threat upon protagonist is either unseen or well hidden therefore it is almost like the protagonist is blind in their "quest". "Thrillers often present the world and society as dark, corrupt and dangerous" which creates unease in the audience and again is another reason they are on edge and alert throughout the film as they have an insecure and vulnerable atmosphere created. Clues are always scattered throughout the film in order for the audience to realise and notice them and in the end be able to have that point where everything clicks and they can more often than not finally understand the "hidden" threat.


One of the earliest thriller films is the silent film "The Lodger" (1926) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This director really set the scene for thriller movies as his traits are widely used and easily recognisable. His best thriller movies includes "Blackmail" (1929), "Number seventeen" and probably his most recognisable "Psycho".


Fritz Lang has also made a mark in the thriller genre with one of the earliest spy thrillers "Spies" (1928) as well as the chilling thriller "M". Later on in the generation Alfred Hitchcock continued to perfect his thriller skills with movies such as "Suspicion" (1941) and "Shadow of a doubt" (1943). In the early 1900's psychological thrillers were very popular as seen with "Gaslight" (1944) directed by George Cukor. In the 1970's the thriller genre began to see entries of films that were more violent such as Hitchock's "Frenzy" and Steven Spielberg's "Duel" which created alot of talk as well as a cult following it. From the 90's onwards the obsession thriller genre was very popular as well as the "serial killer" thriller such as "Silence of the lambs" (1991) by Jonathan Demme. Over all the thriller genre has seen a progression over the years where the films have become more violent, explicit and even more psychological than ever thought possible yet is obvious that this particular genre will continue to grow throughout the years.