Genre Research

IntroductionThe Thriller genre evolved

from crime films, this was because many of the techniques used in thrillers are easy to implement with the presence and pressure of crime; for example tension created from the threat of a killing.

The first well- known crime film was ‘The Great Train Robbery’ (1903) and this film opened they eyes of the viewers to a world which they had never witnessed before, a story behind a crime! This film was very simple and was produced before the dawn of movie sound therefore lacked in captivating techniques, even so it was the first strong film of the crime genre. Other films produced around this time were ‘The Black Hand’ and ‘The Moonshiners’ besides being some of the first crime films these were also some the films ever made!

Pre- TalkiesThe Crime genre

slowly developed as more films were produced and from 1910-1928 many classic silent films where produced, these include: ‘The Musketeers Of Pig Alley’ (1912) ‘Underworld’ (1927) and ‘The Racket’ (1928) all of these films introduced the idea of a well thought out story line which makes the viewer think. As time went by crime films became more popular and this helped attract more directors therefore bringing more ideas to the table. Eventually films began to use sound, from this feature many new features were born.

The Formation of ThrillersThe very first recognised

Thriller genre film was ‘The Lodger’ (1926) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film showed the evolution of Thrillers; it was the first movie to have the typical effects on the audience which are included in most thrillers; the techniques used where:• Build up of tension• Element of Surprise• Strong emotions• An Intelligent Story lineThis was Hitchcock’s first major film and with his new ideas and attention to detail the Thriller genre was born.

Hitchcock (born in 1899) was a British film director and producer who developed the Thriller genre. As a dedicated hard worker and strong businessman Hitchcock made himself known for many reasons; despite directing and producing his own films he also starred in many of them and presented his own TV show ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ all of these enabled him to become a cultural icon.

Before dying in 1980 he gained 60 years of experience in the film sector and influenced a collection of more recent and well know film makers, some of these include Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton. Since his death Hitchcock has been referred to as ‘the greatest British film maker of all time’ and ‘the most influential film maker to date’. The next few sides will show the progression of the Thriller genre much of which Hitchcock has contributed to.

Alfred Hitchcock

MM (1931) was a classic Thriller

directed by Fritz Lang (German). The story line consists of a child murderer on the loose and the police calling in other criminals to help them catch the criminal. M was one of the first films to introduce content which was able to shock the audience, this continued to be used throughout Thrillers because the adrenaline produced from a terrified audience intensified how immersive the film was. M became a classic due to its strong abilities to keep the audience immersed and the introduction of innocent children.

1940sHitchcock’s major work began in the

early 1940s, to improve his chance of success and film quality Hitchcock moved to California; this helped him get better actors and equipment therefore improving the chances of his hard work to create a classic film. His first well known thriller was: Suspicion (1941), this focused largely on the tension created from the constant suspicion of what Linda thinks Johnnie is planning to do to her. This was the being of the sub-genre ‘Psychological Thriller’ this new sub-genre focused on the plot rather than action and created an element of wonder to help keep viewers engaged until the very end of a film.

Other Hitchcock 1940’s Thriller films included ‘Notorious’ (1946) which showed involvement of the government; this was one of the first films categorized as a ‘Political Thriller’ this sub-genre revolved around a plot which consists of a government employed worker going against his country and betraying their trust in him.

1950sHitchcock joined Warner Bros.

Productions and adapted to a faster and more intense schedule to produce blockbuster films. Hitchcock started the 50s off with a strong classical film ‘Strangers on a Train’ (1951) this showed the development of the ‘Psychological Thriller’ and introduced the idea that there can be more than one bad guy and stories can be told by multiple perspectives to give a stronger idea of the plot. In 1954 Hitchcock moved to Paramount Pictures; this period of his career would be his peak.

In 1958 Hitchcock produced and directed another film; he called it ‘Vertigo’ at this point in his career Alfred had now become some what of an expert in ‘Psychological Thrillers’ and this film simple just improved the standards of which where expected from a Thriller film, at his peak Hitchcock’s films where almost incomparable to any other Thriller’s produced around the time because of his unique ideas and intelligent Plots.

PsychoUndeniably Hitchcock’s best film, released in 1960 the film had almost ever aspect of all previous Thrillers: shock, an intelligent story line and strong emotions between characters. The film is a ‘Psychological Thriller’ and includes some aspects of horror; this is ironic hybridisation. The film developed the Thriller genre because of it’s popularity; the took in over $32m at the box office and inspired the famous Tim Burton. The most famous scene in the film is the murder in the shower; even though the scene is only 3mins long it uses all 4 technical codes in great detail; consisting of 77 camera angles, 50 cuts, sound bridge editing and exquisite acting. The scene has been referred to as a masterpiece by many, even though the film was a breakthrough for the Thriller genre Hitchcock still commented that the acting of John Gavin (Sam) was satisfactory; this shows the demanding perfect standards which need to be put into consideration when quality Thriller films are produced.

FrenzyAlfred Hitchcock’s last major triumph in the Thriller genre before his death; Frenzy (1972). The story line revolves around a serial killer who rapes his victims, in some ways the filming of the movie is similar to Psycho due to similar scenes in the murders but other aspects are very different for example some comedy is used in Frenzy but not in Psycho. Overall Frenzy was a film which used all of Hitchcock’s previously used techniques to create a successful Thriller including his eagerness to terrify an audience with an intelligent plot.

The Silence Of The LambsAfter the reign of Alfred Hitchcock as leading director and producer of thrillers ended there was massive potential for any director to replace him, in 1991 ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ directed by Jonathon Demme was released; this film showed that even though the greatest thriller producer was gone this didn’t mean intensely thrilling films couldn’t be produced. The plot consisted of a FBI agent coming close and interacting with a known serial killer, the thrills were projected from the killers manipulate ability; and the risk of trusting him. This again was a ‘Psychological Thriller’ and expanded the depth in which movies could infiltrate a viewers mind and make them feel the fear of the character.

Basic Instinct The film was released in 1992 and arguable introduced the ‘Erotic Thriller’ sub-genre, while still containing thrills, action, an intelligent story line and psychological aspects the film also shows frequent nudity. As all of these are in the same film this is ironic hybridization; but this helps the plot bring the viewer into the characters shoes and involve them in the storyline. The film was extremely successful bringing back nearly $360million in the box office; this may be because of it’s attention to detail whilst writing the plot, this shows that even though the appearance of a ‘Thriller’ has changed over the years the basics (such as the attention to detail in the plot) have stayed the same.

The CellReleased in 2000 the film supported the idea of mind reading; the plot consists of a child psychologist creating a tool for reading peoples minds, initially used to read her patients minds she is then encouraged to use it to help solve a crime; this crime involves finding the location of a serial killers last victim before he passed into a coma. The film shows the progression of the ‘Thriller’ genre because since the beginning of the genre new ideas such as futuristic and fantasy items (mind reading tools) have been introduced. This (if looked on over a broader scale) shows that form the start the genre itself has changed and many branches have grown from the trunk as when a ‘Thriller’ is released today it is no longer just a ‘Thriller’ but a specific type of ‘Thriller’.

Femme FataleThe French film was released in 2002, and is a strong ‘Erotic Thriller’ this is the latest sub-genre to emerge from the ‘Thriller’ and generally consists of a plot revolving around a character with an occupation such as a dancer or model; or maybe just a rich attractive woman (typically a Femme Fatale character or Damsel in Distress). The Femme Fatale plot consists of a woman traveling to Paris and meeting her doppelgänger; who later commits suicide and leave the original character the opportunity to steal her diamonds; seven years later the character moves back and finds herself being recognised. The ‘Erotic Thriller’ genre focuses on the male gaze approach which involves showing the view what a stereotypical male would want to see.

Shutter IslandThe film (released in 2010) is a strong ‘Psychological Thriller’, the plot consists of a emotionally damaged investigator traveling to a severe mental patient jail; where he believes he is searching for a patient which has escaped. The film is important to the ‘Thriller’ genre because it contains a fantastic twist which isn’t revealed until the very end of the film; this twists reveals that the prisoner he is searching for is in fact himself; this supports the aspect of intelligent plots in Thrillers.

The FutureIn the future I predict that the ‘Thriller’ genre will continue to expand and soon will be compatible with almost any genre even comedy; the start of this could be shown by ‘Hot Fuzz’ this is because the film is a comedy film but does show aspects of slightly thrilling scenes, obviously this isn’t a ‘Thriller’ but I think films like these could somehow develop into ‘Thrillers’. Also I think the immersification of films will increase due to 3D graphics; this will mean the viewer may feel more emotional because the graphics can help them to feel as if they are in the characters shoes when using techniques such as the point of view shot.