Genre Research: Thriller Movies

What is a thriller?

A thriller gives the audience a sudden rush of emotions, excitement, scene of suspension, apprehension, and exhilaration that drive the narrative, sometimes subtly with peaks and lulls, sometimes at a constant, breakneck pace.]

Thrillers can be divided into countless categories; i.e., action thrillers, psychological thrillers, military thrillers, spy thrillers, sci-fi thrillers, romantic thrillers, etc.

It "thrills" as one watches it.

Sub genres

There are many sub genres that are under thriller movie including:

Psychological thriller political thriller Action thrillerReligious thrillerLegal thrillerErotic thrillerDisaster thriller

1932FREAKS

Director was Tim BrowningIt’s a drama thriller with strong

elements of horror, because this is something audiences will never have seen before.

The cast is mostly composed of actual carnival (funfair) performers. Director Browning took the exceptional step of casting real people with deformities as the eponymous sideshow "freaks," rather than using costumes and makeup.

Among the characters featured as "freaks" were the human skeleton, "the bearded lady, "armless wonders" and the conjoined twins.

1934THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, who lead the way of action and suspense films at the time.

It’s a suspense thriller.It was one of his early films, and

the only one he ever remade The film is about foreign

countries, spies and association. The film ends in kidnap and assigns leading them with false information which ends with a suicide.

He builds the thrill with his exciting storyline and unknown places.

1940STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR

It’s a film noir thriller. by American director Boris

Ingster.The film builds the

intensiveness by an urban setting, heavy shadows, diagonal lines, voice-over narration, a dream sequence, low camera angles shooting up multi-storey staircases, and an innocent protagonist falsely accused of a crime and desperate to clear himself.

1946THE BRUTE MAN

It is a horror thriller, which plays with the minds of the audience.

It contains murderers, disfigured faces and life's of innocent, ordinary citizens whose life are in jeopardy.

‘The creeper’ is who they all fear.

The fact that it contains everyday life and ordinary happenings makes it more like reality to the viewer strong.

Director is Jean Yarborough

1949WHIRLPOOL

Directed by Otto Preminger.Its a thriller film noir The heroine is controlled by a

murderous hypnotists who makes her think she committed murder. Otto combines this will melodrama as the central characters distant marriage is threaded.

Film noir is a word used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas.

The film includes great thrill by the hypnotist which to an ordinary human is impossible but in the film the impossible is made possible. Something never done in English thrillers.

1953THE LIMPING MAN

Directed by Cy Endfield.Frank hasn't seen his

girlfriend for 6 years, on his way home he gets caught up with a suspected murder. the mystery of the ‘limping man’ unfolds at his feet and frank becomes in grave danger.

It’s a crime thriller, an was called an ‘outstanding success’

1955KISS ME DEADLY

Produced and directed by Robert Aldridge.

The plot involves attractive hitchhikers, who have escaped from mental institutes. Who to trust? a masterful hostage takes place, which turns disastrous...and a nuclear explosion kills them all.

Its a film noir.

1959 NIGHT TRAIN

Two strangers Jerzy and Marta are two stranger who end up holding tickets for the same sleeping chamber on a train. When police entre the train in search of a murderer, rumours fly. And evidence shows one of the man characters are culprit..

Tension is built up by the unknown crime this murderer has committed, and the fact there is a murderer on the train and he's managed to pinpoint the blame to an innocent citizen.

Directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.

1968ICE STATION ZEBRA

Its an action thrillerDirected by John Sturges.It is based loosely on a novel by the

same name, they both involve real life events.

Commander James Ferraday has new orders: to get David Jones, a British civilian and Captain Anders, a tough Marine with a platoon of troops to the North Pole to rescue the crew of Drift Ice Station Zebra, a weather station at the top of the world. The mission takes on new and dangerous twists as the crew finds out that all is not as it seems at Zebra, and that someone will stop at nothing to prevent the mission from being completed.

1960s PSYCHO

It is a psychological thriller. A new type of thriller emerged in the 1960s , with a modern emphasis

the shocking and engrossing thriller Psycho about a loner mother-fixated motel owner and taxidermist.

Psychological thrillers are often slightly more challenging than other mainstream movies.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock it is one of his best films, he made it shortly after his peak of fame.

1960sBRIDES OF DRACULA

It’s a thriller, yet has elements of horror and action.

They are three seductive female vampire "sisters" who live with Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania, where they attract male humans with their beauty and charm, and then continue to feed upon them. Dracula provides them with victims to devour, mainly infants and children.

All inspired by the book ‘Dracula’ Directed by Terence Fisher, he was a great

director of horrors for much of the 20th centaury. Still today directors are trying to reflect the

climax of the 1960s thriller films

1960s PEEPING TOM

Directed by Michael Powell Its a British physiological thriller. The title ‘peeping tom’ is used to

describe voyeurs The film revolves around a serial killer

who murders women while using a portable movie camera to record their dying expressions of terror.

Thrilled people because of its different aspects on society.

Its controversial subject and the extremely harsh reception by critics effectively destroyed Powell's career as a director in the United Kingdom. However, it attracted a cult following, and in later years, it has been re-evaluated and is now considered a masterpiece

1971 DIRTY HARRY

Directed by Don Siegel Its an American crime thriller A sadistic serial killer who calls himself

"Scorpio" murders a young woman in a San Francisco swimming pool, using a high-powered rifle from a nearby rooftop. SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan finds a ransom message promising his next victims will be "a Catholic priest or a nigger" if the city does not pay $100,000. When Scorpio kills a young black boy from another rooftop, the police believe the killer will next pursue a Catholic priest. They wait for Scorpio near a Catholic church where a shootout ensues, but Scorpio escapes, killing an officer.

Scorpio kidnaps, rapes, and buries alive a teenage girl, then demands twice his previous ransom before the girl's air runs out.

Scorpio continues on his mission before it is short lived. But how.

1972PLAY MISTY FOR ME

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Its an American physiological thriller film. Dave Garver is a radio disc jockey who nightly

broadcasts from his studio in California, often incorporating poetry into his programme. He has a brief sexual affair with — and then is stalked by — Evelyn Draper, an obsessed female fan. While attempting to patch up his shaky relationship with his girlfriend, Tobie Williams.

Just when he believes Draper might be out of his life forever, she becomes Tobie's new roommate under the false name of "Annabelle“. This results in a final confrontation between Garver and his psychopathic fan.

Eastwood displays a vigorous talent for sequences of violence and tension. He has obviously seen Psycho and Repulsion more than once,

1978CAPRICORN ONE

Capricorn one is an science fiction thriller movie.

Written and directed by Peter Hyams

Seconds before the launch of Capricorn One, the entire team is pulled from the capsule and the rocket leaves earth. The life support system was faulty and NASA can't afford the publicity of a scratched mission. The plan is to fake the Mars landing and keep the astronauts at a remote base until the mission is over, but then investigative journalist Robert Caulfield starts to suspect something...

1987A PRAYER FOR THE DYING

Its a political thrillerDirected by Mike Hodges Martin Fallon is an IRA bomber who

tries to blow up a troop truck but instead kills a bus load of school children. He loses heart and quits the movement and goes to London trying to leave the U.K. and start a new life. The IRA wants him back (he knows too much) and the local crime boss, Meehan, will only help him if he performs one last hit, on a rival crime boss. When Fallon does perform the hit, he is seen by a catholic priest. He refuses to kill an innocent again and must find a way to escape the police without killing the priest who can identify him.

1996TRAINSPOTTING

British thriller filmDirected by Danny Boyle, based

on a novel of the same name.A wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip

through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the drugs affects his relationship with family and friends, includng: 14-year-old girlfriend Diane, and clean-cut athlete Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them.

2006THE DA VINCHY CODE

Its an action thrillerDirected by Ron HowardProfessor Robert Langdon is

in Paris on business when he's summoned to The Louvre. A dead body has been found, setting Langdon off on an adventure as he attempts to unravel an ancient code and uncover the greatest mystery of all time

2011THE RESIDENT

Dr. Juliet has ended her relationship with her boyfriend Jack and is seeking an apartment in to live alone. She finds a bargain in an old apartment building owned by the Max and one night she goes out with him. However she concludes that it is too soon to have a love affair and she asks Max to leave her apartment. Max is a deranged man obsessed on her and he spies on her from secret openings in her apartment. Max is drugging Juliet every night and sexually abusing her. Juliet decides to install a monitoring system in her apartment. She learns the truth about Max but how to escape from the insane landlord?

Directed by Annti Jokinen. Its an supernatural action thriller film.

FAMOUS DIRECTORS:

Alfred Hitchcock

Views on Hitchcock: “he acknowledged master of the

thriller genre he virtually invented, Alfred Hitchcock was also a brilliant technician who deftly blended sex, suspense and humour.”

Hitchcock created many aspects of the thriller film in including "subjective sound“.

His famous films include: Rear window, Psycho, Vertigo, Rebecca, Notorious.

He revolutionised the thriller film genre and gave it the strong, thrilling backbone.

FAMOUS DIRECTORS:

Terence Young

Directed the following films: Dr No (James bond), Action of the Tiger, Cold Sweat, etc.

He quickly became an expert in making thrillers.

He made low on a low budget, but managed to turn it in to a worldwide mega seller. This is what gave Young his famous and worthy title. In the end Terence Young was often compared to James Bond, as he had many similar characteristics. He would wear expensive suits and change his shirt at least three times a day.

Terence was born in China, Shanghai and started his screen writing in 1930’s.

He was in close competition with Alfred Hitchcock.

KEY ELEMENTS OF A THRILLER FILM....

The key elements that make a thriller are the camera angles and timing. In many situations timing of movement id used to lead the audience in suspense and get them full f mystery.

All thrillers must have a gripping, powerful story line. That doesn't lead to disappoint. In many cases the last few scenes of thriller can be breathe taking and the suspense build to this point needs to come across as much as the ending.

It must keep the audience on the edge of their seat, this is why many directors involve the use of abnormal situations and characters.

Super villains, love interest etc. Are other powerful aspects.