The History of the Thriller Film

Throughout recorded history story telling has been a big part of all walks of human society. The conventions of a thriller film show traits that many of these storys have. So in a way the 'thriller' has always been around.

Alfred Hitchcock director of 'psycho'

Well known fairy tales such as little red riding hood (1697) also have the features of a thriller inbeeded in them and this is an early example of a psycho-stalker story, about a girl who walks through the forest to deliver food to her sick grandmother. A wolf wants to eat the girl but is afraid to do so in public. He approaches Little Red Riding Hood and she naively tells him where she is going. He suggests the girl pick some flowers, which she does. In the meantime, he goes to the grandmother's house and gains entry by pretending to be the girl.

Moving away from literature, the early 20th century witnessed the birth of the modern thriller film through a number of directors. Perhaps the best being Alfred Hitchcock. throughout the 30's and 40's Alfred had developed a recognizable brand of suspense-thrillers, such as 'Rebecca' and 'suspicion'.

 Hitchcock is renowned as being one of the first and best directors of his generation and many stereotypical enigmas of modern day thrillers stem from his own work.

People were enticed by this brand of film because much like now days, the suspense and adrenaline give the films a more jumpy and exciting feel. Many of the first thriller films used simple and effective iconography and sound effects that were put together using household objects such as washing boards and banging of metals to give the impression of claws and knives. Many of the old fashioned horror films used slow scenes, and close zooms to give the impression of violence and murder, as special effects were limited and no computer software was used.

before

Stephen Speilburg

Directors of these thriller films had to be cunning and clever to put together believable scenes that would excite an audience and keep them entertained. This made them perhaps more hardworking and clever then modern thriller directors who are spoilt by the use of modern cgi and better quality cameras.

Modern talented directors such as Stephen Spielburg are able to capture scenes on a rage of equipment making thrillers better then ever. the editing process is always digital and takes a long time to cut and crop every shot of a thriller film in order to give the maximum impact on an audience.