2. The aim for thrillers is to keep the audience
alert and on the edge of their seats. The
protagonist in these films is set against
a problem – an escape, a mission, or a mystery.
3. Alfred Hitchcocks first Thriller. Silent movie. A
landlady suspects her lodger is killing women
in London. A ‘jack the ripper’ story with
common features of films from the thriller
genre; False accusations and revenge.
4. Chilling thriller by Fritz Lang. When the police
in a German city are unable to catch a child-
murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
5. Director George Cukor's psychological
thriller featured a scheming husband plotting
to make his innocent young wife go insane, in
order to acquire her inheritance.
6. A trashy femme fatale schemes to kill her
mentally unstable husband
7. Hitchcock studied engineering at St. Ignatius College in London and quickly
obtained a job as a draftsman and advertising designer for the cable company
Henley's. It was while working at Henley's that he began to write, submitting short
articles for the in-house publication. From his very first piece, he employed themes
of false accusations, conflicted emotions and twist endings with impressive skill. In
1920, Hitchcock entered the film industry with a full-time position at the Famous
Players-Lasky Company designing title cards for silent films. Within a few years,
he was working as an assistant director.
In 1925, Hitchcock directed his first film and began making the "thrillers" for which
he became known the world over. His 1929 film Blackmail is said to be the first
British "talkie." In the 1930s, he directed such classic suspense films as The Man Who
Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps.
In 1939, Hitchcock left England for Hollywood. The first film he made
there, Rebecca (1940), won an Academy Award for best picture. Some of his most
famous films include Psycho, The Birds and Marnie. His works became renowned
for their depictions of violence, although many of his plots merely function as
decoys meant to serve as a tool for understanding complex psychological
characters. His cameo appearances in his own films, as well as his interviews, film
trailers and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1962-65), made him a
cultural icon.
8. Heavy focus on the unstable emotional states of
characters, in combination with mystery and
thriller. Themes include;
Reality
Perception
Mind
Existence/Purpose
Identity
Death
Black comedy - In recent years the blending of
psychological thriller and black comedy have become
common. Examples: Fight Club, Barton Fink, American
Psycho and the TV series Dexter.
9. Focuses on the efforts of the detective, private
investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the
mysterious circumstances of a crime by means
of clues, investigation, and clever deduction
