A Brief HistoryThe Thriller

Early WorksM (1931)

Murders in the zoo (1933)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Psycho (1960)

All of these clips show classic conventions of the thriller genre, some show dark sequences with claustrophobic shots that build tension for the viewer.

A common thriller film is known to promote intense excitement, anxiety, fear and nerve- wracking tension.

The great, British film director Alfred Hitchcock was known as the master of suspense/thriller, along with Psycho above he also directed greats that paved the way for the modern thriller such as; The Lodger (1926), Blackmail (1929) and Vertigo (1958).

The Modern Thriller‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) has been the most successful thriller film of all time, in terms of top grossing US box office blockbusters. The second part of Nolan brothers’ trilogy made over $530m in the US box office; With the third installment just behind with $448m earned.

M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Sixth Sense’ released in 1999 received great praise as a great thriller that really did ‘thrill’ with it’s surprising twist. The film features a duller colour palette that is iconic to the thriller genre.

‘Inception’, written and directed by the highly talented visionary Christopher Nolan was a major success in the US box office making just over $62.5m in it’s opening weekend. Wally Pfister, the cinematographer of the Dark Knight trilogy was awarded an Academy Award for his ‘Achievement in Cinematography’ on ‘Inception’.

‘ARGO’, A new thriller feature film directed by Ben Affleck, was released on the 7th November 2012 and received high praise as a great nail biting suspense film that intensifies it’s audience with a near impossible mission to retrieve several hostages who take refuge in the Canadian Ambassador's home in Iran which is in revolt as the country reaches revolution.

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is based on the events of Osama Bin Laden's death from the US SEAL team that was deployed to take him down. ‘Hurt Locker’ director Kathryn Bigelow directs another decent thriller based in the middle-east. ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is set to release on the 25th January 2013 in the UK.