2. Thriller Genre - An
Overview
• Most thriller films have a crime at the
core
• The narrative and characters tend to be
very complex
• The plot will build towards a dramatic
climax
• Thrillers are hard to define as there are
many sub-genres such as crime,
psychological and legal
• In most thrillers, extraordinary events
happen in ordinary situations with
ordinary objects, places and people
3. History of the
Thriller genre• One of the earliest thrillers was Harold Lloyd’s ‘safety last’
(1923)
• Alfred Hitchcock is known to be the master of Thrillers. He
famously declared that his intention was to “give the public
good healthy mental shake-ups”. He helped to shape the modern-day thriller
genre and many recent thrillers are influence by his work, for example ‘The
firm’ (1993) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8k4wZp6Wio
• Starting with his early silent film The lodger (1926) which was a suspenseful
Jack-the-ripper story. He followed this with Blackmail (1929) which was his
first sound film. From 1940, he made a cameo appearance in every one of
his feature films except for The wrong man (1956).
• Silence of the lambs is one of the most suspenseful, psychological thrillers
ever produced. The film was a major critical and commercial success.
Demme's Best Director Oscar win made him the first (and only) film-maker
to have ever won for a thriller.