Research into the history of thriller films - Miss Georgiou

History of thriller films

The thriller genre usually include main aspects of tension and suspense and try to stimulate their audience to create anxiety, suspense and shock. They are also known to keep their audience in suspense by giving a cliff hanger, unaware of the fate to come. 

1920s/20s

Alfred Hitchcock helped promote the thriller genre and made most impact throughout the UK by introducing a new type of genre. He done this by creating the silent film 'The Lodger' based on Jack the ripper events.

• 1929 Hitchcocks next thriller was called 'blackmail' and was noted to be his and Britains first sound film. The film is about a woman who kills a man when he tries to rape her, it starts Anny Ondra, John Longden and Cyril Ritchard.
• 1928 one of the first spy films was created; 'spies' this projected and portrayed 'James Bond' films of the future.
• 1931 'German film' was created by Fritz Lang, the film was about the serial killer Peter Kurten and his life.

1940s
In the 1940's Hitchcock continued to create thriller films, in this year he produced 'Rebecca' which was oscar winning.

• 1941 'suspicion' is a romantic psychological thriller, this was about a woman who was in danger from her husband. It starred Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine.
• 1943 he released his person favorite 'Shadow of a doubt' which was based upon true events from a 1920s serial killer known as The Merry Widow Murderer. It starred Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotton.
• 1944 George Cukor's psychological mystery thriller 'Gaslight' was released, this was about a man who plotted to make his wife insane to inheret her inheritance. It starred Joseph Cotton, Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman.
• 1946 'The spiral staircase' directed by Robert Siodmak is an american psychological thriller is about a serial killer who murders disabled young women in the community.

1950s

In the 1950s Hitchcock creates more classic films such as 'Strangers on a train' (1951)

• 1954 'Dial M for murder'
• 1954 'Rear window' where a man convinced himself his neighbour was a killer
• 1953 'Niagara' by Henry Hathaway, this started the iconic Marilyn Monroe where she played a woman who plotted to kill her husband
• 1955 'Kiss me deadly' by Robert Aldrichs

1960s
Through the 1960s many more people were making thriller films other than Hitchcock, such as Michael Powell, J.Lee Thompson, Stanley Donens and Roman Polanski.

• 1962 J.Lee Thompson created 'Cape Fear' which featured a menacing character seeking revenge.
• 1965 Polanski's first english film;'Repulsion' where a young woman goes increasingly mad
• 1967 Terrance Young's 'Wait until dark' which was a famous thriller during its release date. It featured a victimised blind woman in her Manhattan apartment and an evil con man in search for drugs.

1970s/80s
There was a violent wave of thrillers in this period. In 1972 Hitchcocks 'Frenzy' was given a rating of R for its explicit context.

• 1971 came a film where an individual became disturbingly obsessed with their idol, this was Clint Eastwoods 'Play misty for me'
• 1980 'Dressed to kill'
• 1981 the assasination thriller 'Blow out' and 'Body double'

1990s/present

• 1992 'The hand that rocked the cradle' by Curtis Hanson is about a nanny who was seeking revenge against her dead husbands patient.
• The famous Jonothan Demme's 'The silence of the lambs' 1991 where a young FBI agent is in a constant psychological war with cannibalistic Hannibal Lector.

During present time, we are brought the best thriller films to date such as: Eden Lake (2008), The last house on the left (2009), Sinister (2013), Hostage (2005). Thriller films have evolved greatly over the past few decades as present audiences expect to see much more frightning and suspense filled films compared to audiences in the 30s and 40s who were naive to thriller films and were much more greatly disturbed and offended by psychological films. Modern day thriller films are much more grewsem, psychological and disturbing such as 'The human centipede' and 'The woman in black' compared to much less full on films such as ones in the 20s and 30s. Researching the history of thriller films will help in my research and thriller clip as i know what to include in my clip and know the standards i have to live up to. It has also taught me how the thriller genre has evolved from the early 20's to the present day.

Hannibal made $58,003,121 and is therefore number one on the box office thriller films. On its opening weekend, this may be because audience's prefer to watch more iconic characters on screen, this is shown in Hannibal as the character Hannibal Lector features in a TV series and is in a iconic 1959 Hannibal film also, which has been remade. This may have drawn viewers from the original to this one as the original was a massive success and therefore automatically has a high expectations. The cell is 10th on the box office list and made $17,515,050 on its first day, the reason why the public may not have enjoyed this film as much as Hannibal is because, The Cell may not appeal to the target audience as much as they may not enjoy action thrillers as much as scary psychological thrillers such as hannibal. Also The Cell doesn't have many well known actors in unlike Hannibal which has Anthony Hopkins in who is a well respected actor and therefore any fans of his will appreciate and go and see films he is in, but with The Cell, there aren't any well known actors which may not appeal to audiences as much.