Research into the History of Thriller Films - Miss Georgiou

Thriller is an extensive genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the essential elements. Thrillers ponderously encourage the audience's moods giving them a high level of anticipation , uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. A thriller provides an immediate rush of emotions, excitement, and enlivenment that drive the narrative. It keeps the audience engaged with the film/scene, keeping them at the 'edge of their seats' as the narrative builds towards the climax. A thriller usually consists of a villain-driven plot, where he/she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome. Common sub-genres of thrillers are psychological, crime, erotic, mystery and spy genre which deals with fictional espionage. Successful examples of thriller are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Date	Film	Directed/Written By	Information
1923	Safety Last	Directed by: Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor Written by: Hal roach, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan, H.M. Walker, Jean C. Havez, and Harold Lloyd. Starring: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Westcott Clarke	First ever thriller film made. The film is a romantic comedy silent film. Harold Lloyd is the main character who performed a daredevil stunt on the side of a skyscraper above moving traffic. The film was a highly successful and critically welcomed, and it cemented Lloyd's status as a major figure in early motion pictures. It is still viewed popular as one of the great film comedies. This film fits into the experimental stage of Christian Metz’s genre theory, because it was the first ever thriller film made. Every other thriller made after this had to have elements of this film or it would not be classed as a thriller.
1927	The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog	Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock Starring: Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June, Malcolm Keen, Ivor Novello	A film based on the famous serial killer Jack the Ripper. The film is a British silent film. The film is about the hunt for a 'Jack the Ripper' type serial killer in London. The typical conventions within a thriller are from this particular film. It begins with a screaming look of a young blonde woman. Firstly the scream is seen conventional with thrillers, as when one is frightened and scared it is seen typical for anyone to scream. Secondly, the use of the young blonde female is extremely stereotypical of young females seen to be weak and also as she is blonde she is seen to be innocent  and vulnerable. This film fits into the experimental stage of Christian Metz's theory of genre. The lodger was one of the first thriller films to be based on an actual real life event.
1960	Psycho	Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John Mclntire	Horror/thriller film based on the 1959 novel "Psycho" (by Robert Bloch) - which was inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murder. It is considered one of Hitchcock's best films and praised as a work of cinematic art by international film critics and film scholars. The film was ranked among the greatest films of all time, it set a new level of acceptability for violence, unexpected behaviour and sexuality in American films. Psycho being another well-known thriller film, falls into the classical stage because the time period in which it was created; as well it is being based on a novel.
1962	Cape Fear	Directed by: J.Lee Thompson Starring: Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Martin Balsam, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin	Psychological thriller film, it was adapted by James R. Webb from the novel "The Executioners" by John D. Macdonald.  The movie concerns a lawyer whose family is stalked by a criminal he helped to send to jail. In thrillers there are usually events which take place which are not normal for everyday life. In this film the criminal had raped someone and was sent to jail. Once the criminal came out of jail he wanted revenge and therefore went looking for the lawyer who sent him to jail. At the end the antagonist and protagonist both battle, typically the hero wins as in the film the lawyer was seen on a boat the next morning with his family. It has been remade since 1991. Cape Fear is considered a classical thriller because of the time it came out, a bunch of classical thriller came out around the 1960's. It's also based on a novel.
1948	Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein	Directed by: Charles Barton   Starring: Stars the comedy duo Bud Abbott and Kou Costello	An American   comedy/thriller movie - in the film Abbott and Costello meet a number of horror/thriller characters such as, Frankenstein's Monster and Count Dracula. This is one of those typical thrillers which consist of monsters and horror. Although this film was made before many classical thrillers, it is considered a parody because of the comedy element.
1996	The Sixth Sense	Directed by: N.Night Shayamalan Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel, Osment, Toni Collette	A film about a young boy who is able to see and talk to the dead, and a troubled child psychologist who tried to help him. This type of thriller consists of the supernatural sub-genre and key elements of thriller, such as the conventions, engima and mise-en-scene. This film is considered to be in the deconstruction stage because of its surprise and ending and the mix of the horror and suspense genres.
1996	Scream	Directed by: Wes Craven  Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Roger L.Jackson, Jamie Kennedy, Liev Schreiber	Horror/thriller film. It's based on a high school student who becomes a target of a mysterious(enigma) killer. Scream is a deconstruction thriller because of its many sub-genres.
2000	Scary Movie	Directed by: Keenen Ivory Wayans Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Shannon Elizabeth, Jon Abrahams, Kurt Fuller, Carmen Electra, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Dave Sheridan	A horror/thriller comedy film which parodies a number of well-known horror/thriller films such as  The Sixth Sense and Scream. The film begins with a young female victim receiving a threatening phone call while home alone one night. Firstly this is seen conventional in the thriller genre as there is a typical young female who is alone. Scary Movie falls in the parody section of Christian Metz Theory, this is because of the number of parodies made over certain thriller films. Scary Movie has gone out to make a number of sequels.
2000	Memento	Written and Directed  by: Christopher Nolan Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano	American psychological thriller film - was met with near universal critical acclaim It is presented as two different sequences:  a series in black-and-white that is shown chronologically, and a series of colour sequences shown in reverse order. The two sequences "meet" at the end of the film, producing one common story.
2008	Eden Lake	Written and Directed by: James Watkins Starring: Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Jack O'Connell and Finn Atkins	A couple escape their everyday life to an idyllic remote lake in the green English countryside.  Along the way they meet a young boy who is reluctant to talk with them. Their trip is disrupted by the presence of negligent teenagers and their dog. The next morning problems begin to arise, such as their car tyre becoming impaired. This is just the beginning of the thriller which already seems to grab the audience's attention.
2010	Black Swan	Directed by: Darren Aronofsky Starring: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder	Psychological thriller film. The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City Company. Nina Sayers, a young dancer in a prestigious New York City ballet company, lives with her mother, Erica, a former dancer. The company is preparing to open the season with Swan Lake. The director, Thomas Leroy, has to cast a new principal dancer after forcing Beth Macintyre into retirement. Leroy wants the same ballerina to portray the innocent, fragile White Swan as well as her dark, sensual twin, the Black Swan. Nina auditions for the part, performing flawlessly as the White Swan, but not quite able to emulate the characteristics of the Black Swan. Although Nina does not do well during her audition, she approaches Thomas and asks him to reconsider her as the lead role. He tells her she is the ideal dancer to cast as the White Swan, but she lacks the passion needed to correctly portray the Black Swan.
2011	Unknown	Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn. Frank Langella	The film is based on the 2003 French novel published in English as 'Out of My Head' by Didier Van Cauwelaert. A biochemist and his  wife arrive in Berlin for a conference at which a scientist and his controversial Arab funder will announce breakthrough research. While his wife checks into the hotel, he grabs a cab to return to the airport for his briefcase, left at the curb. During the journey he meets an accident which puts him in a coma, from which he awakes four days later without identification and with gaps in his memory. He goes to the hotel: his wife refuses to recognize him and another man has claimed his identity. With help from a nurse, the cab driver, a retired Stasi agent, and an academic friend, he tries to unravel what's going on, with the help from his suitcase. Throughout the film a sense of enigma is used throughout the beginning to the end.
2013	Insidious: Chapter 2	Directed by: James Wan Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkins, Barbara Hershey	American supernatural horror film. It is a sequel to 2011's Insidious. A husband and wife who seek to uncover the secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. It’s the mid-’80s, and there’s a boy who communicates with dead people in his dreams, and somehow he is helping to facilitate their migration from a realm called the Further into his own life. A medium is hired to erase his memory, in hopes this will prevent these dreams and subsequent freaky stuff from occurring.  It's the Dad who now has a family and  dreams of the dead people - despite being dead already, they have a fear of aging — has taken over his present-day mind and body. This is a plot that requires a surprising amount of focus to grasp, especially for a thriller/horror movie like this.

Hannibal in this chart is a 18 rated film, which is seen as the most successful thriller of all times. The narrative and characters involves that ten years after tracking down a serial killer a FBI agent Clarice Starling is unjustly blamed for a bungled drug raid. Starling and her connection to Hopkins come to the attention of Lecter's only surviving victim, Mason Verger, a wealthy child molester whom Lecter left horribly disfigured and paralysed after having been assigned as Verger's court-appointed therapist.  The most successful thriller film has achieved the best results from the target audience, due to the amount of viewers, this 18 age certified film is the most achievable film that has targeted their audience perfectly.          

The Red Dragon is the 5th in the box office chart above, it is a 2002 American thriller film based on Thomas Harris' novel of the same name featuring psychiatrist. The plot and characters involves Psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter hosts a dinner party in his townhouse in Baltimore, Maryland. Lecter is later visited by Will Graham, a gifted FBI agent, with whom he has been working on a psychological profile of a serial killer who has removed edible body parts from his victims, leading Graham to believe that the killer could be a cannibal. During the consultation, Graham discovers evidence implicating Lecter in the murders. Lecter attacks Graham, almost disembowelling him, before Graham overpowers Lecter. Lecter is sentenced to life imprisonment in an institution for the criminally insane while Graham, traumatized by the experience, retires. The Red Dragon is seen to be successful as being one of the top ten in the box office, however not as successful as the other four above - this may be because of the film not targeting the wrong audience or allowing it to be appealing for a wider target audience.

The Cell 2000 is the bottom ranked thriller film in the box-office, it is a science fiction psychological thriller film. The narrative and characters consists of a child psychologist Lopez, she is an expert in an experimental treatment for coma patients.  A virtual reality device that allows her to enter into the minds of her patients and attempt to coax them into consciousness. When serial killer Carl Rudolph Stargher falls into a coma before the FBI can locate his final victim, Agent Novak persuades Deane to enter Stargher's mind and discover the victim's location. Stargher's victim is imprisoned in a cell in the form of a glass enclosure that is slowly filling with water by means of an automatic timer. This thriller has become a success, but it is not well known such as the top 5 rated. This may be because of the film not targeting the correct target audience or it may of just not appealed to the audience as much as the most successful films.

I believe that my research will help with planning my own thriller film as, I have an idea of what type of sub-genres I could include - allowing me to plan my narrative. Also, the typical codes and conventions used within all these examples of thriller films is that there is an element of suspense. Suspense is the most important conventional element, which is used to keep the audience engaged until the end. In my planning I believe I would use a sense of enigma as in most thrillers there is always a mystery to be tackled, and at the end most thrillers would defeat the antagonist.