2. 1920’s
• "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog" is a
British psychological thriller that was made in
1927 by Alfred Hitchcock. It is based on the
story by Marie Belloc Lowndes and a play
written by Belloc Lowndes called ‘Who is
he?’. It is a black and white silent movie, and
the rating is a PG. This could explain the
reasoning for the carefully chosen scenes
which we wouldn’t expect in modern cinema
today. It is evident that a lack of technology
played a significant part in the age
certification decision.
http://www.flickchart.com/movie/FDA535C89A
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lodger:_A_St
ory_of_the_London_Fog
3. 1930’s
• ‘The Man who knew too much’ was
produced in 1934 by Alfred Hitchcock and
was one of the first of the early thrillers that
he made during the fertile phase of his
career. (He later created a remake of this
same film in 1956) It is a 75 minute movie. A
quote from the film is: Louis Bernard:
“[dying] A man... a statesman... is to be
killed... assassinated in London. Soon... very
soon. Tell them in London... tell them to try
Ambrose Chapel...” which gives an insight to
the genre.
http://www.flickchart.com/movie/D9CBC9D2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_HitchcockDE
4. 1940’s
• ‘Le Corbeau: The raven’ is a French psychological
thriller by Henri-Georges Clouzot that was released
in 1943. I thought this film would be an interesting
film to research as I wanted to add a French
element to my piece as it is one of the A-level’s I
am currently studying and it would be nice to
incorporate it into my work to give my final
opening section a slight edge. This film is in black
and white but used the occasional sound mix
which shows the developing in media ideas in
which films attempted to make their psychological
thrillers live up to the forms and conventions by
using different techniques. In my opinion, black
and white movies do not generally appeal to the
younger generation, due to the lack of creativity.
However, for this particular film, the music plays
an important role of changing and setting the
atmosphere successfully which I believe is
achieved.
http:/www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0035753/
5. 1950’s
• During the late 1930’s to mid-1940’s, the
second world war was taking place which
was reflected through many patriotic war
films and others that examined the
psychological effects of command and
the change of women’s roles. These topic
examinations were evident in some films
made during the 1950’s such as ‘reach for
the sky (1956)’ ,along with ‘Don’t Bother
to Knock’ by Roy Ward Baker which was
released in 1952. This film was also a PG
which suggests that after the war, there
was a great financial struggle which
could’ve put a halt to the progression of
films.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044557/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_film
6. 1960’s
• ‘The sinister urge’ is a 1961 psychological
thriller directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. For
some reason the film was not given an age
certificate rating. Even though there is no age
certificate rating, from the caption used on the
theatrical release that reads:“compulsive
killer strikes terror” along with “a psycho with
the urge to kill”. This gives the audience an
idea of the story line and level of shock to
expect, this is reinforced by the text at the
bottom of the theatrical posterthat reads:
“Shocking realism...Unbelievably daring”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sinister_Urge_(
film)
7. 1970’s
• ‘Sisters’ also known as ‘Blood sisters’ was
made in 1971 by Brian De Palma. It is a colour
movie. The age certification for this film is 18
and over. The film is about a Danielle Breton, a
young model. Her neighbour Grace reports to
have witnessed a bloodbath of violence at the
home of Breton but no-body believes her. In
the end she decides to solve the mystery
herself. Personally I don't feel the title in
anyway links to the storyline and doesn’t
intrigue the viewer to want to know more.
This choice of title could potentially mislead
the audience in what they are watching or
going to watch.
http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/-/2563/1830/-
/677332/Sisters/Product.html
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0070698/plotsumm
ary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
8. 1980’s
• ‘Dead ringers’ was released
in 1988 by David Cronenberg.
The certificate rating is 18
this means that extreme
violence is allowed to be
shown, including blood and
gore, also bad language, and
even sexual scenes which is
incorporated within the film.
http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0094964/
http://www.joblo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=
10115
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/18
9. 1990’s
• ‘Kiss the girls’ was released in 1997 by
Gary Fleder. This movie includes a
Serial killer who is being hunted down
by the police. The certificate rating is
18. In my opinion this film has been a
success due to it being based on the
best-selling novel by James Patterson
(Kiss the girls). Personally I feel the
mis-en-scene decisions allow the
audience/viewer to be more intrigued
which may not have been considered
as much in earlier films.
10. PRESENT DAY
• In present day psychological thrillers, there is a use of
different types of technology and Computer-generated
imagery. I feel that film makers concentrate less
technology doesn’t make the film scary it can be done
by the camera shots, angles and the speed of scene
cuts. This technique is evident in ‘The strangers’ where
the scenes in the opening section are roughly 5
seconds when the camera enters the home in which
the film takes place.
Evidence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWp14gtZ-u0
11. OVER THE YEARS:
• Over the years, many things have changed within media
which have allowed psychological thrillers to live up to their
genre. Technology has improved drastically which means
that psychological thrillers have the fear and thrill factor
that people love as they seem more realistic. Film
certifications are taken more seriously and for psychological
thrillers, the film certificate varies depending on the shock-
factor. Most psychological thrillers are certified between
15-18 years instead of the age range of the past which was:
12-18, the reason for this change is that present day films
of this genre contain more material that is sexual, horrific,
discriminatory and etc.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/18
