Research into the History of Thriller Films - Miss Georgiou

Research into the History of Thriller Films

Introduction

The thriller genre is created by the using suspence, tension and shock as the main elements. Thrillers get the audience involved by making the audience bond with the characters. Thriller films tend to be fast-paced, surprising, and unexpected. Thriller films provide a sudden rush of emotions to the audience for example, excitement and exhilaration. Thriller films aim to keep the audience on the edge of their seats as the plot peaks towards a climax. Under the thriller genre fall sub-genres such as psychological thriller, crime thrillers and mystery thriller. Thriller films usually contain a protagonist attempting to get away from a antagonist.

1920's-1930's
This is the first time period where thriller films appeared. Alfred Hitchcock's first thriller film was The Lodger. This was a thriller film made from a silent film and its plot followed a plot along the lines of a Jack the Ripper story. Alfred Hitchcock made vast amount of thriller films in this period also including The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. There was also various other directors in this film period such as George Cukors, Walter Forde and Michael Powell.  

This is a picture from Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger. This film is a black and white silent film and straight away as the audience we can tell that this is a conventional thriller film as it shows a possible female victim and a tall, half masked killer. The film contained actors such as Ivor Novello who starred as the main character The Lodger. But also a mix of other character who had appeared  in other silence films during the era such as Marie Ault and many others. The narrative had been successful as it followed the real life events of what happened in London.  

1940's
Hitchcock's films continued into the next era directing Foreign Correspondent but also the Oscar Award Winning Rebecca. It follows the narrative of the romance between young women and a rich widow which is seen by a housekeeper whom is the killer who tries to convince the young women to commit suicide to taunt her husband in the memory of  his first wife hence the title Rebecca.

In the picture above it shows the young woman being convinced by the killer to commit suicide. The killer looks like a terrifying, sinister person who puts evil thoughts into her mind which is conventional to the thriller genre. We can still see that into the era of the 1940's black and white films were still being made but no longer silent ones and this film had dialogue within it.

1950's
Hitchcock's Films in the 1950's started to be involved with technicolour because of this films became more life like. Hitchcock started to employ more glamorous stars. His first technicolour film was Strangers on the Train. The plot of his earliest film in the 1950's involved two strangers on a train, hence the title, trying to plot against each other and murder each other.

This was different from Hitchcock's other narratives that usually involved one killer against a hopeless victim, whereas this film involved to killers battling against each other. This film involved two high profile actors Farley Granger (who had been in another Hitchcock's film called Rope) and Robert Walker (whom starred in comedy films and other various genres he also had illnesses previous to the making of Strangers on a Train. 

1960's
This was the era when the modern thriller was born. The most famous thriller of them all and the most recognized scene as well. Hitchcock struck again with Psycho. After Hitchcock's classic thrillers of the previous decades he produced a shocking and engrossing thriller Psycho which narrative involves a motel owner and a taxidermist. The film starred such actors such as Anthony Perkins (who starred in romantic comedy's and other genres and was also nominated for a Tony Award for his role Look Homeward.) ,Janet Leigh (who was killed off early in the movie but won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in her role in a movie.)

One of the most famous thriller film scenes was in Psycho. Was where the shadowy mother figure brandishes a knife towards the camera killing the woman in the shower. The narrative of this film carries on to the present day of a masked killer killing innocent victims and has become a convention of the modern thriller movie.

1970's and 1980's
After the twist of the thriller films in the 1960's this era saw the films of the genre become even more violent and also sparked more directors with even more extreme and more exciting narratives. This would be the last era that the father of thriller films, Hitchcock would be involved in.

One of his last films Frenzy, followed the story line of a serial killer based in London which follows the killer raping women and then strangling them with neckties. Barry Foster plays the serial killer in the movie, whom has previously played a dutch detective in his previous film. So had been on the opposite sides of the law over the course of the two movies.

Also in this era Steven Spielberg broke into the film industry with his low budget film Duel.

The plot involved a battle between a traveling salesman and a unseen truck driver which was unconventional to the thriller genre as the killer was killed as the end of the film leaving the traveling salesman (Dennis Weaver) to carry on with his life. It was unconventional in the way that killer's in previous films had always killed their victims without any problems being involved.     

1990's to the present day
This era started with Misery which was based on the book by Stephen King and directed by Rob Reiner.  But arguably one of the most famous thriller films in this decade was Silence of the Lambs by  Jonathan Demme. Its plot involves a young FBI trainee is after a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill by the advice of the fictional character Dr. Lecter.

This film contained a star cast of Jodie Foster (whom has been nominated and won countless awards), Anthony Hopkins (played Dr.Lector) and Scott Glenn (as the killer). 

Se7en is a classic example of the modern day conventional thriller film involving a serial killer reenacting the seven deadly sins hence the title. being hunted down by detectives Brad Pitt and Morgan Freemen. Two iconic actors at their peak at the present time and nowdays.

Films from the naughtes onwards add all the elements of the previous eras before together to bring the best out of the thriller genre as its peak as it is better than ever before nowdays. Because thriller films contain near to the same plot as each other, Thrillers tend to borrow some elements from the horror genre to make them more realistic and gory so the audience can relate to them because they are more modern. Examples of these films are Eden Lake and The Last House of the Left. 

Top Thriller Films of all time

Hannibal - Hannibal is the highest grossing thriller film of all time which grossed $165,092,268 in 2.292 theaters. Release in 2001 it made $58,003,121 on its opening release. The film is set ten years after the film The Silence of the Lambs and the main plot is Staring attempts to catch Lecter before his surviving victim captures and kills him. The film revolves around these two characters played by Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore. This film was set at the target audience was teenagers upwards because the film was massive portrayed in the media which brought significant attention towards the films release. The purpose of this narrative it to show obsession to the audience as Starling is left trying to catch Dr. Lecter after a drug raid that he is connected to after finding his surviving victim.

The Silence of the Lambs - This is the second most highest grossing film of all time grossing in at $130,742,922. And on release date in 1991 earned $13,766,814. The film is a prequel to Hannibal but made before as Hannibal continues the story. This is perhaps why it grossed more as The Silence of the Lambs was a particularity interesting movie that the target audience want to see more of. The plot follows the story line that a U.S trainee, seeks the advice of Dr. Lecter to imprison a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. Dr. Lecter again played by Anthony Hopkins, this shows that he is one of the most popular thriller actors being in the two highest grossing thriller films. The target audience for this film is the same as Hannibal. The purpose of this narrative is to show the audience a modern and never seen before type of thriller film that involves a cannibal. It also shows the division between right and wrong as the main  characters involve a serial killer that has captured a girl and a US. Trainee in search of the serial killer.

Saw II, III and IV - This films series together grossed on average $70,000,000 but collectively accumulated $230,612,748 and are all placed in the thriller top tens. On its release dates it was seen in around 3000 cinemas. This film series is based around a killer called jigsaw placing people in traps to teach them lessons in life in what they have done wrong. The serial killer is played by Tobin Bell. And victims played by various casting actors. (As there are so many of them.) Saws target audience is around 18 upward this is because of its high violent scenes the the younger ages crave. This is what makes it a popular film and therefore is why its series is the highest grossing thriller series of all time. The purpose of this narrative "according to the serial killer" is to teach the general public lessons for there wrong doing, this is why they have been placed within a series of traps that they have to complete to survive and maintain their lives. As a result they are either brutally mutilated  or rarely escape unharmed. By this they are cleared of their sins and will not commit to any mistakes in the future.

 Summary
My research into the whole of the history of the thriller genre has made me see how the course of the genre has changed over a massive period of time. It has changed from a silent black and white film, slowly to technicolor and then onto massive budget productions with famous cast lined up for key roles. I have seen how the narrative of thriller genres has changed over the course of different eras and what the conventions of thrillers are and there expected narratives are. I have realized that Alfred Hitchcock has had a massive influence over the genre creating the modern plot of thrillers and having made one of the most iconic films and scenes over the course of five decades and how different directors have broken into the genre under the shadow of the master himself.

Narratives have changed as they have become more extreme as over the years the audience has asked for more as some of the stereotypical story lines have been used time over time again. In the early days of the genre story lines involving one killer and many victims were used such as the lodger. This typical narrative can be seen today in films such as scream. But the audience over the years of progression have asked for more gore and guts this can be seen in some decades after the first thriller film, Se7en was launched which showed the audience for a first time extreme scenes of demoralized bodies and death.

Conventions have changed over the time period of the thriller genre as well. In the early days of the genre female victims were used as they were seen as weak by superior men in the early 1930's for example they didn't have the same right to vote etc. Whereas in the modern eras as times have changed and women have equal rights to men more men have been used as victims in thrillers. For example in Duel and Se7en the main victims are men. But in addition men and women are used in equal proportions this can be seen by the modern thriller Saw where men and women are used in the traps set by jigsaw. Also the way that victims have been killed have changed for example in the early days of the genre knifes and physical strength have been used to nowdays various complex traps have been used as they are more violent and gory for the audience.  

 My research has helped me realize what the thriller genre's objectives are and what is the conventional plot and conventions to be followed when creating a film. This will help me when I am considering the narrative of my scene that I will be creating as I have taken inspiration from famous directors and the films that they have made which I have seen a few.