2. The Thriller genre evolved from
crime films, this was because many of the
techniques used in thrillers are easy to
implement with the presence and pressure of
crime; for example tension created from the
threat of a killing.
The first well- known crime film
was ‘The Great Train Robbery’ (1903) and
this film opened they eyes of the viewers to a
world which they had never witnessed
before, a story behind a crime! This film was
very simple and was produced before the
dawn of movie sound therefore lacked in
captivating techniques, even so it was the
first strong film of the crime genre. Other
films produced around this time were ‘The
Black Hand’ and ‘The Moonshiners’ besides
being some of the first crime films these
were also some the films ever made!

3. The Crime genre slowly
developed as more films were
produced and from 1910-1928
many classic silent films where
produced, these include: ‘The
Musketeers Of Pig Alley’ (1912)
‘Underworld’ (1927) and ‘The
Racket’ (1928) all of these films
introduced the idea of a well
thought out story line which makes
the viewer think. As time went by
crime films became more popular
and this helped attract more
directors therefore bringing more
ideas to the table. Eventually films
began to use sound, from this
feature many new features were
born.

4. The very first recognised
Thriller genre film was ‘The Lodger’
(1926) directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
This film showed the evolution of
Thrillers; it was the first movie to have
the typical effects on the audience
which are included in most thrillers;
the techniques used where:
• Build up of tension
• Element of Surprise
• Strong emotions
• An Intelligent Story line
This was Hitchcock’s first major film
and with his new ideas and attention to
detail the Thriller genre was born.

5. Hitchcock (born in 1899) was a British
film director and producer who developed the
Thriller genre. As a dedicated hard worker and
strong businessman Hitchcock made himself
known for many reasons; despite directing and
producing his own films he also starred in many
of them and presented his own TV show ‘Alfred
Hitchcock Presents’ all of these enabled him to
become a cultural icon.
Before dying in 1980 he gained 60
years of experience in the film sector and
influenced a collection of more recent and well
know film makers, some of these include Steven
Spielberg and Tim Burton. Since his death
Hitchcock has been referred to as ‘the greatest
British film maker of all time’ and ‘the most
influential film maker to date’. The next few sides
will show the progression of the Thriller genre
much of which Hitchcock has contributed to.

6. M (1931) was a classic Thriller
directed by Fritz Lang (German). The story
line consists of a child murderer on the loose
and the police calling in other criminals to help
them catch the criminal. M was one of the
first films to introduce content which was able
to shock the audience, this continued to be
used throughout Thrillers because the
adrenaline produced from a terrified audience
intensified how immersive the film was. M
became a classic due to its strong abilities to
keep the audience immersed and the
introduction of innocent children.

7. Hitchcock’s major work began in the early
1940s, to improve his chance of success and film
quality Hitchcock moved to California; this helped him
get better actors and equipment therefore improving
the chances of his hard work to create a classic film.
His first well known thriller was: Suspicion (1941), this
focused largely on the tension created from the
constant suspicion of what Linda thinks Johnnie is
planning to do to her. This was the being of the sub-
genre ‘Psychological Thriller’ this new sub-genre
focused on the plot rather than action and created an
element of wonder to help keep viewers engaged until
the very end of a film.
Other Hitchcock 1940’s Thriller films included
‘Notorious’ (1946) which showed involvement of the
government; this was one of the first films categorized
as a ‘Political Thriller’ this sub-genre revolved around a
plot which consists of a government employed worker
going against his country and betraying their trust in
him.

8. Hitchcock joined Warner Bros.
Productions and adapted to a faster and more
intense schedule to produce blockbuster films.
Hitchcock started the 50s off with a strong
classical film ‘Strangers on a Train’ (1951) this
showed the development of the ‘Psychological
Thriller’ and introduced the idea that there can be
more than one bad guy and stories can be told by
multiple perspectives to give a stronger idea of
the plot. In 1954 Hitchcock moved to Paramount
Pictures; this period of his career would be his
peak.
In 1958 Hitchcock produced and
directed another film; he called it ‘Vertigo’ at this
point in his career Alfred had now become some
what of an expert in ‘Psychological Thrillers’ and
this film simple just improved the standards of
which where expected from a Thriller film, at his
peak Hitchcock’s films where almost
incomparable to any other Thriller’s produced
around the time because of his unique ideas and
intelligent Plots.

9. Undeniably Hitchcock’s best film, released
in 1960 the film had almost ever aspect of
all previous Thrillers: shock, an intelligent
story line and strong emotions between
characters. The film is a ‘Psychological
Thriller’ and includes some aspects of
horror; this is ironic hybridisation. The film
developed the Thriller genre because of it’s
popularity; the took in over $32m at the box
office and inspired the famous Tim Burton.
The most famous scene in the film is the
murder in the shower; even though the
scene is only 3mins long it uses all 4
technical codes in great detail; consisting of
77 camera angles, 50 cuts, sound bridge
editing and exquisite acting. The scene has
been referred to as a masterpiece by many,
even though the film was a breakthrough
for the Thriller genre Hitchcock still
commented that the acting of John Gavin
(Sam) was satisfactory; this shows the
demanding perfect standards which need
to be put into consideration when quality

10. Alfred Hitchcock’s last major triumph
in the Thriller genre before his death;
Frenzy (1972). The story line
revolves around a serial killer who
rapes his victims, in some ways the
filming of the movie is similar to
Psycho due to similar scenes in the
murders but other aspects are very
different for example some comedy
is used in Frenzy but not in Psycho.
Overall Frenzy was a film which used
all of Hitchcock’s previously used
techniques to create a successful
Thriller including his eagerness to
terrify an audience with an intelligent
plot.

11. After the reign of Alfred Hitchcock as leading
director and producer of thrillers ended there was
massive potential for any director to replace him,
in 1991 ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ directed by
Jonathon Demme was released; this film showed
that even though the greatest thriller producer
was gone this didn’t mean intensely thrilling films
couldn’t be produced. The plot consisted of a FBI
agent coming close and interacting with a known
serial killer, the thrills were projected from the
killers manipulate ability; and the risk of trusting
him. This again was a ‘Psychological Thriller’
and expanded the depth in which movies could
infiltrate a viewers mind and make them feel the
fear of the character.

12. The film was released in 1992 and arguable
introduced the ‘Erotic Thriller’ sub-genre,
while still containing thrills, action, an
intelligent story line and psychological
aspects the film also shows frequent nudity.
As all of these are in the same film this is
ironic hybridization; but this helps the plot
bring the viewer into the characters shoes
and involve them in the storyline. The film
was extremely successful bringing back
nearly $360million in the box office; this may
be because of it’s attention to detail whilst
writing the plot, this shows that even though
the appearance of a ‘Thriller’ has changed
over the years the basics (such as the
attention to detail in the plot) have stayed the
same.

13. Released in 2000 the film supported the
idea of mind reading; the plot consists of a
child psychologist creating a tool for
reading peoples minds, initially used to
read her patients minds she is then
encouraged to use it to help solve a crime;
this crime involves finding the location of a
serial killers last victim before he passed
into a coma. The film shows the
progression of the ‘Thriller’ genre because
since the beginning of the genre new ideas
such as futuristic and fantasy items (mind
reading tools) have been introduced. This
(if looked on over a broader scale) shows
that form the start the genre itself has
changed and many branches have grown
from the trunk as when a ‘Thriller’ is
released today it is no longer just a ‘Thriller’
but a specific type of ‘Thriller’.

14. The French film was released in 2002, and is a
strong ‘Erotic Thriller’ this is the latest sub-
genre to emerge from the ‘Thriller’ and
generally consists of a plot revolving around a
character with an occupation such as a dancer
or model; or maybe just a rich attractive
woman (typically a Femme Fatale character or
Damsel in Distress). The Femme Fatale plot
consists of a woman traveling to Paris and
meeting her doppelgänger; who later commits
suicide and leave the original character the
opportunity to steal her diamonds; seven years
later the character moves back and finds
herself being recognised. The ‘Erotic Thriller’
genre focuses on the male gaze approach
which involves showing the view what a
stereotypical male would want to see.

15. The film (released in 2010) is a strong
‘Psychological Thriller’, the plot consists of a
emotionally damaged investigator traveling
to a severe mental patient jail; where he
believes he is searching for a patient which
has escaped. The film is important to the
‘Thriller’ genre because it contains a
fantastic twist which isn’t revealed until the
very end of the film; this twists reveals that
the prisoner he is searching for is in fact
himself; this supports the aspect of intelligent
plots in Thrillers.

16. In the future I predict that the ‘Thriller’ genre
will continue to expand and soon will be
compatible with almost any genre even
comedy; the start of this could be shown by
‘Hot Fuzz’ this is because the film is a comedy
film but does show aspects of slightly thrilling
scenes, obviously this isn’t a ‘Thriller’ but I
think films like these could somehow develop
into ‘Thrillers’. Also I think the immersification
of films will increase due to 3D graphics; this
will mean the viewer may feel more emotional
because the graphics can help them to feel as
if they are in the characters shoes when using
techniques such as the point of view shot.