History of Thriller Films

The thriller genre has majorly progressed from the time of its origin, to the present day. Over such time, the conventions of the genre has been developed and established and in turn, so has the genre. The genre was influenced by Hitchcock's 'Psycho' thriller in 1960 as it was the first of it's kind. To gain a better understanding of the thriller genre, I have researched into its development throughout history - from Hitchcock to present day thrillers such as Prom Night and Se7en.

The influence of Hitchcock:

Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres and therefore was very influential to the genre as we know it today. Hitchcock produced many thriller films, some going back to the 1920's. In 1926, Hitchcock produced a silent thriller film called 'The Lodger' in which the narrative focuses on a similar character to Jack the Ripper. Thrillers are conventionally based on disturbing narratives that cause suspense as a result, which Hitchcock achieved in such film. Because of the lack of technological development in such era, the films created were all silent and therefore were very underdeveloped in terms of the the content an audience of today would recognised. In present day thrillers, sound plays a huge role in the manipulation of the audience emotions and therefore the lack of sound conveys the development of the genre due to technological advancements.

In 1929, he released another thriller called 'Blackmail', about a London woman who kills a man when he tries to rape her. This film was not only the first thriller film to incorporate sound, but was the first film of all time. Not only did the film include dialogue, it also included soundtracks. The incorporation of music in this thriller conveys how the genre has developed due to the gain of technological knowledge. In today's thrillers, sound effects are often used as well as music because of the available software. However the incorporation of music shows the stages the genre went through to get where it is today. Once again, the narrative appears very disturbing, a convention of the genre that an audience of today would recognise, conveying Hitchcock's influence in the genre.

In the 1940's, Hitchcock continued to produce and direct more thriller films. In 1941. Hitchcock released a thriller called 'Suspicion', an example of one of the first psychological thrillers. In such time period, we are able to identify the 'sub-genres' of the thriller genre beginning to emerge as the genre is developing. Suspicion is based on a woman who has fallen in love, but begins to think he is a serial killer and that he is trying to kill her eventually. Basic conventions of the genre identified today are evident in Hitchcock earlier work; female victim, male antagonist and disturbing narrative that leave the audience on edge. Once again, we are able to see the influence Hitchcock had on the genre. Also in the 40's, Hitchcock released the thriller 'Shadow of a Doubt' which was based on a true story of a serial killer. In the present day, thrillers often claim they are based on a true story to increase the realism of the narrative. This therefore makes the audience feel more vulnerable as they believe the narrative more; this is an example of how Hitchcock influence the genre again.

In 1954, Hitchcock released the thriller 'Dial M for Murder' which was based on the attempts of murder a husband carries out on his wife. This thriller reinforces the convention of female victim and male antagonist to establish the power/lack of power they have to highlight their characters to allow the audience to connect with them easily. Furthermore the narrative is based on murder, a regular theme that occurs in the thriller genre as it appears disturbing. Furthermore, Hitchcock produced the thriller 'Vertigo' which is based on the obsession that one character has with another. Obsession is a conventional theme of the thriller genre that is evident in present day thrillers such as 'Prom Night' and 'Obsessed', showing the influence Hitchcock had on the development of the thriller genre.

Psycho, 1960

However, Hitchcock's thriller 'Psycho' is one of his most revolutionary in the establishment of the thriller genre. The scene above in particular is infamously known as the 'starting point' of the thriller genre as it touched upon themes such as violence, murder, psychological deviance and crime; themes that are all evident in today's approach to the thriller genre. Furthermore, the film was identified for it's 'cinematic art' indicating it's emphasis on production, rather than just content. The genre has developed due to the technological advancements over time and therefore place an emphasis on technical elements such as editing, cinematography and sound. In my analysis of this scene, I have been able to identify such elements that are considered conventional to the thriller genre today. For example, in terms of cinematography Hitchcock has used a close up of the victim's reaction to the antagonist. This technique is conventionally use in the genre to reinforce the victim's vulnerability to the audience by making them focus on their emotional reaction and therefore the audience feel more on edge by their response; this is evident in the current thriller 'Prom Night'. Furthermore, slow paced editing is used in the build up to the murder, which creates suspense as it prolongs the narrative while hinting at a climatic event, leaving the audience on edge. This is evident in the thriller 'Scream'. Being able to identify elements of Hitchcock's work in present day thrillers highlights his influence in the development of the genre and it's conventions i.e. close ups and slow paced editing.

Thriller Film Adverts

Lastly, not only did Hitchcock influence the content the thriller genre, he also influenced the way in which the genre was presented. In each of the film adverts above, there is a clear motif in which colour is used. In each of theme black, white and red are used; colours that are still conventionally use din thriller adverts now because of their connotations. White is conventionally associated with the victim because it conveys innocence, whereas black is used to represent the dark personality of the antagonist. Furthermore, red connotes anger, love and blood which are typically evident in the thriller genre and therefore representative of the narrative. In the present day, these colours are also used in the thriller genre for the same effect, portraying Hitchcock's influence in the way in which in the genre is presented.

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Se7en is a thriller that was released in the 1990's. I have chosen to refer to this thriller as it conveys the shift in the thriller genre in terms of the technology used and how it's advancements has influenced the genre as we know it today. I am going to discuss the sound used in the opening scene to show the contrast between Hitchcock's thrillers and the thrillers considered to be more current, therefore effectively discussing how the thriller genre has developed throughout history. 

The sound used on the opening sequence is highly conventional to the thriller genre as we know it today. The first being the pitch of the sound, as it is very high and almost sounds very similar to screaming. Because of this, the sound creates a very disturbing atmosphere as it appears that there is background screaming, which implies an upcoming disturbing cause. Therefore the audience are made to feel on edge due to the eerie atmosphere created. Furthermore, the sound is also conventional in that it fluctuates and changes in volume. This is a convention of the thriller genre as the sound becomes unpredictable; it will be quiet one second and then loud the next. The unpredictable nature of the music makes the audience feel on edge as the change in volume makes it jumpy and irregular. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it effectively manipulates the emotions of the audience into feeling on edge. However, there is also a monotonous beat included in the soundtrack which sounds similar to a heartbeat; throughout the sequence the 'beat' increases in speed which may influence the emotions of the audience are heartbeats typically speed up when frightened, which may influence them to feel so. Overall, the opening sequence is solely based on non diegetic sound; sound that is not naturally occurring but rather added during the editing stages. Non diegetic sound is often used in the thrillers of today to make the audience feel uncomfortable, as the audience are unfamiliar with the sound and also, not expecting it. This style of sound is not evident in Hitchcock's earlier works when such technology was unavailable, conveying the shift in the thriller genre.