The Genre of Thriller

Thrillers are a genre of Media that is mostly based around the atmospheric side of things, choosing themes such as Murder and Ambiguity to both draw in the audience with suspense and tension and then subvert the expectations with an unusual ending. This genre was brought into the mainstream by Alfred Hitchcock, a legendary director from England who directed such classics as; Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds and Rope. He redefined the genre for the medium of films by creating a simplistic filming style that both left the audience in the dark, but would gradually reveal more and more as the plot went on. This implementation of the Action code which was founded by Barthes proved both critically and commercially successful, and created a status for Alfred that was unprecedented. An example of one of Hithcock's first accomplished thrillers is published below in trailer format:




This simple film that was done in a mere 7 takes took the concept of Thriller to previously unbound levels, creating immense character depth and kept the audience on a cliff hanger as to the conclusion, a trait that is branded with Thrillers. This piece also incorporated a brilliant filmmaking tactic of "Dramatic Irony" - Which is where the viewer is aware of something that the other characters are not, in this case, a murder.

After Hitchcock got the ball rolling in the late 40's, 50's and 60's, other film makers caught onto the popularity of this genre and this caused a completely new breed of sub genres coming out that ranged from psychological (Cape Fear, Repulsion) to Romantic Thrillers such as Charade. These movies all found critical and commercial acclaim and led into the 1970's, which was credited as the decade that took the Thriller genre into a more violent direction.

Straight off the bat in 1971, the Sam Peckinpah directed Psychological Thriller Straw Dogs gained a lot of controversial attention from the Media for its graphic Rape scene. The movie was banned on VHS until 2002 due to the graphic rape scenes, and this immediately sent a violent streak down the Thriller genre. A few years later, in 1973, the Horror Thriller film starring Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now, came into cinemas and again redefined the sub-genres of horror. With the slogan of "A Psychic Thriller", this film gave way to a new breed of Thriller films based around horrors. An example of this type of horror would be The Exorcist. This is perhaps the most notorious horror movie of all time, but also had the tense, mystery based atmosphere of a horror. A trailer of this is below:





This was the epitomy of the Thriller genre, with The Exorcist etched into film viewers brains for decades to come. After this film, there was more of a decline in the Thriller aspect in horrors for this decade, and instead there was more of a character based psychological turn in films such as The Conversation, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In the late 1970's, a small film by John Carpenter called Halloween came out of the woodwork, creating another new landmark for Thrillers in a decade. This was the first Horror/Thriller hybrid film to create buzz since The Exorcist, and rightfully so. This film created a beautiful sense of tension in the atmosphere of the film, slowly descending from an uneasy psychological thriller into a serial killer flick in a matter of minutes. The iconic Michael Myers was a scary foe and created a new genre of Thrillers; The Serial Killer Thriller. Films such as Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Hellrasier fit into this sub-genre beautifully, claiming commercial wealth and less so, critical acclaim. A trailer for Halloween is posted below:




The 1980's was mostly dominated with the offsprings of various horror/thriller hybrids, both to good result and bad. The most notable being Aliens, the James Cameron directed Space-Thriller. This film was noted down as a textbook example of how to improve on an already brilliant franchise, and gained a brilliant critical following, averaging a score of 87/100 on Metascore.com. The 1980's slowly drove away from the more violent and disturbing Serial Killer horror idea and stumbled back into the Psychological Thrillers, with Nicole Kidman's Dead Calm bringing an unsettling end to the decade with a psychological thriller about a woman stranded on a boat with a killer. This was a clever use of Thriller's repertoire of elements as it incorporated the basic fundamentals of a solid Hitchcock-esque Thriller. It featured an overwhelming sense of danger and inevitable confrontation mixed with tension, a small setting and generally did what a Thriller should set out to do. Entertain and gain a response from the audience, to "Thrill" them in its most basic format.

The onset of the 1990's saw an influx of Psychological Thrillers based around the themes of; Domestic violence, Obsession and Revenge. This was found in Rob Reiner's 1990 film, Misery. The concept of this film was about a famous novelist who is injured and found by a mentally unstable, stalker fan who then kept him captive in his care. The overwhelming sense of despair from the author's point of view is of a high standard and created a bone chilling feeling to the entire film. Films in this vein of "At home terror" included The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and Sleeping With The Enemy. As the decade progressed, more sub-genres emerged and big hits included The Silence of The Lambs, Seven and The Talented Mr. Ripley. All of these films are classic 1990's Thrillers that left a lasting impression on critics and audiences worldwide. Below is a trailer of the Eerie Psychological Captive Thriller, Misery, that is a fine showcasing of the different kind of thrillers that were around in the 90's:





Along with the Psychological thrillers, there was room for multiple genre hybrid pieces such as Quentin Tarantino's widely praised Crime/Drama/Thriller/Black Comedy piece, Pulp Fiction. This Oscar winning film is a fine indication of the kinds of creative hybrids that came about in the 1990's.

In the vein of Captive Thrillers, the decade just gone saw another influx of Thrillers based around this concept. The aptly named Captivity, starring Elisha Cuthbert, was a more violent thriller that centred on the capture of two protagonists who are then driven to insanity through torture. This incredibly dark and grim type of Thriller became more popular as hits such as Hostel, The Last House on The Left and Funny Games came out, creating a new breed of dark, sadistic thrillers that were based striking imagery and deviated from the original Repertoire of Elements that were incorporated into earlier Thrillers. A trailer for Funny Games is below, which is the most sadistic example of the brutality in this new breed of Thrillers:





The Mistaken Identity sub-genre appears to be making more of a rise in this present decade, most notably with Liam Neeson's Unknown which came out earlier this year. This mistaken identity thriller sub-genre was most present in the late 70's and 80's along with the Horror Hybrids.


Repertoire of Elements

The genre of Thriller has a set number of principles that they follow in order to create a "successful" film:

-Suspense is used to create an atmosphere in which the protagonist is constantly made to feel uneasy or in danger
-Tension is used in scenes involving the antagonist. For example, music will shift in tonality and key to match a film like "Halloween" wherein Michael Myers is chasing a victim. This will evoke tension from the overall misc-en-scene and create an uncomfortable viewing experience. This is also referred to as "Edge of your seat" thrills, wherein the viewer is so attached to what is happening on screen they are fixated on it.
-Cliffhangers are frequently used as a means to end the story. This is more noted in the Serial Killer Thrillers such as Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street, wherein the antagonist is assumed to be dead so the atmosphere eases up before one last jump scare where the antagonist is revealed to be alive. This creates an uneasy feeling for the audience as they expect closure, so this subversion of expectations leaves them with a thrilled unsettling experience.