Thriller Genre - History behind

Dear Readers,

To understand my genre I need to look further into the history.

During the 1920s to 1930s:
      A man called Alfred Hitchcock made his first thriller, this being his third silent film in 1926 was called "the lodger." It was a Jack the Ripper type of story that was filled with suspense, which then led him onto his next thriller in 1926 which was called "blackmail." This was notable foe being his and Britain's first sound film. Then from 1935 most of Hitchcock's films where thrillers.



From a movie like this I note how important it is to use actions to portray words  as there were minimal words used and how important it was to use the right type of music to add suspense or fear.

     As the thriller film industry took off new types came into existence, such as 'crime thrillers' for example "Murders In The Zoo" by Edward Sutherland which was produced 1933 where Lionel Atwill played a murderous and jealous zoologist.


During the 1940s:
      Hitchcock continued to direct suspense thrillers, in this year he produced two films on of which was Oscar winning, these films were "Foreign Correspondent" and "Rebecca", Rebecca being the film which was Oscar winning.
       In 1941 he went on release a film called "Suspicion" This was about a women in danger from her own husband. During the next couple of year he released many more films including his own personal favourite "Shadow of a doubt" in 1943 which was based on true events.


       As time went on another type of thriller emerged called a 'psychological thriller' to which George Cukor's "Gaslight" of 1944 was the first. The film was about a husband who plotted to make his won if go insane n order to inherit her inheritance!  He went onto make a second one called "Noir" which is about a thrilling murder investigation.

During the 1950s:
       Hitchcock still continuing to create added "Technicolour" to his collection. This was the era of COLOUR! He produced more classic films such as "Strangers on a train" in 1951 which was about two train passengers who both staged battle of wits and traded murders with each other. He made 4 more movies in this time including the famous "Vertigo" in 1958.

        However the famous Marilyn Monroe made her appearance here when she preformed in Henry Hathaway's 1953 movie "Niagara" where she plays a character who plots to kill her husband.



During the 1960s:
      Hitchcock still progressing with his movie "Phsyco" in 1960 actually wasn't the first movie of this era! A director named Michael Powell's "Peeping tom" was the first movie out and it was about the psychopathic cameraman.

      However films such as Roman Polanski's 1965 movie "Repulsion" was released for the first time in English. This was a surrealist Thriller where a young woman who goes increasingly mad.
This era was filled with Thriller movies, some of which to mention are Terrence Young's "Wait until Dark" in 1967 was a famous thriller made about a victimised blind woman in her Manhattan apartment and a evil con man in search for drugs. Also movie such as "The triple cross" and "The deadly affair" both released in 1967.


During the 1970s - 1980s:
      This is when thrillers where hit by a violent wave. The 1972 "Frenzy", was Hitchcock's  first British film in almost two decades, given and R rating for it's explicit content.
     
       However famous films such as Steven Spielberg's low budget Tv movie "Duel" Clint Eastwood's "Play misty for me" both came out in 1971. These are two films that have scared the Thriller industry due to there individual obsessive behavouirs.

       Nevertheless the 80s brought us "Dressed to Kill" (18980), Assassination Thriller "Blow out" (1981) and "Body Double"

Finally 1990s - present:
        The 90s started with Rob Reiners "Misery" 1990 which was absed on a book by Stephen King, then in 1991 came "Sleeping with the enemy".
        The famous Jonathan Demme brought us "The silence of the lambs" in 1991 where a young FBI agent is in a phycological war against a cannibalistic psychiatrist named Hannibal Lector.
         David Fincher brought us "se7en" in 1995 which was about a search killer who conducted the seven deadly sins.

         Then the climb to present day saw films:

• Joy Ride (2001)
• The history of violence (2005)
• Cellular and Firewall (2006)
• P2 and Captivity (2007)
• Eden lake and Funny games (2008)
• Last house on the left (2009)
• Unknown - feat. Liam Neeson (2011)

So that's the knowledge I learnt about the profession of Thriller films.

So until next time...peeps!

#TheMediaofaNewGeneration